1. The Ambassador of Mongolia in the People’s Republic of China T. Badral has held an online meeting with Government officials about Tianjin port:

On May 25th, the Ambassador of Mongolia in the People’s Republic of China T. Badral has held an online meeting with members of the Embassy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ulaanbaatar Railway, the Ministry of Roads and Transport Development about agglomeration issues occurring at the Tianjin Port.
During the meeting, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ambassador briefed everyone on the current circumstances at the port and what measures are being taken. Currently, there are about 4,000 containers awaiting loading onto 72 ordered trains. The Chinese Ministry of Transportation, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and China Railways Corporation have received diplomatic requests to increase the number of container trains from Tianjin to 3-4 per day.
Although rail freight in China is running according to schedule, the imminent growth in the economy following a controlled position of the outbreak is causing the agglomeration at the port.
The Deputy Head of Foreign Relations at Ulaanbaatar Railway, A. Anar: “There are two main terminals at the Tianjin Port, the larger terminal operates at the rate of 1 container train per day, or 30 container trains per month. Meanwhile, the smaller terminal operates depending on its capacity and demand, together the two terminals send about 7-10 container trains to Mongolia per week”.
In terms of Sino-European transit freight exports, there are regular trains towards Europe from 16 different Chinese cities. Ulaanbaatar Railway permits a maximum of 4 transit trains per day and 120 per month, depending on the availability of trains. On average, 30 container trains transit through Mongolia monthly. This May, the number of these permits given to the Chinese shippers was halved down to 62 container trains.
The Deputy Director of Ulaanbaatar Railway, S. Tseveendorj has also reiterated that Ulaanbaatar Railways is ready to continue transporting Mongolian imported containers from Tianjin to Zamiin-Uud.
A Wechat group of relevant officials has been set up to exchange up-to-date information, and the meeting is scheduled to resume next Monday.

2. L.Khaltar, Member of the Government of Mongolia, Minister of Road and Transportation Development Of Mongolia: Preparations are underway to open the new Chinggis Khaan International Airport on July 4. /MONTSAME/

Despite the new challenges facing the aviation industry due to the global pandemic, the Government of Mongolia has successfully organized flights to bring in citizens, drugs, medical supplies and vaccines from foreign countries to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. The Government of Mongolia has decided to start the operation of Chinggis Khaan New International Airport by July 1 of this year, and the relevant organizations are actively cooperating to put it into operation by this period.

3. In the Customs Control Zone in Ulaanbaatar, the problem of congestion of enterprises and citizens and traffic jams has been eliminated / iKON/

The Customs Department in Ulaanbaatar announced today the expected turnover of goods, state budget revenues and the condition of some terminals. In 2021, the customs office in Ulaanbaatar collected 908 billion MNT from the state budget, and as of May 25, it has collected 789.3 billion MNT, which is 86.8% of the plan.
P.Sukhbaatar, Deputy Head of Customs Control and Inspection at the Ulaanbaatar Customs Office,  said: “Customs is working extended hours from May 6 to June 30. This is because only certain types of goods are provided due to strict national curfews, and high amounts of citizens are being concentrated in the customs offices. In the case of customs in Ulaanbaatar, the turnover has increased by more than 20 percent compared to May 2020. Exports increased by more than 145 percent. Despite the strict embargo, foreign trade turnover increased by 21.2% compared to last year. To that extent, the design to contribute to the state budget is more planned than in the same period of the previous year.
The problem of congestion of goods and vehicles of enterprises and citizens in our control zones has now been eliminated”.
Overview of Foreign Trade Turnover from 01.01.01-2021.05.25:  Customs in Ulaanbaatar

• The number of declarations was 60,394, of which 58,304 were imported and 798 were exported.
• The total statistical amount was 1 billion 614.6 million USD, of which Imports were 1 billion 369 million USD, Exports were 148.6 million USD, and the amount of tax was 779 billion 339.4 million MNT.
• Compared to the same period of the previous year, the total number of applications increased by 4906 or 8.8%, import statistics by 237.3 million US dollars or 21.9%, export statistics by 148.6 million US dollars or 152.6%, and taxes imposed by 142.4 billion MNT, respectively increased by 23.3%.
• Statistics on goods subject to exemption are 116.3 million USD, which is 8.8% of the total import turnover, and the amount of tax exemption is 50.5 billion MNT.
• The main commodities that generate tax revenue are petroleum products, automobiles, and tobacco products. The amount of tax imposed on these products is MNT 395.5 billion and accounts for 54.5% of total tax revenue.

He also said that the decrease in the number of containers arriving in the customs control zones at the end of the period was due to the situation at the port of Tianjin, and that the customs office was preparing to receive the delayed containers.

4. The Civil Aviation Authority has set a flight schedule for June 2021.

5. Tavantolgoi-Zuunbayan railway development complete /montsame/

President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga toured, May 22 nd  and 23 rd , through the construction sites of the 416.1 kilometer railroad connecting Tavantogloi and Zuunbayan, and 240 kilometer railroad connecting Tavantolgoi and Gashuunsukhait.
Commenced development two years ago on June 24th, 2019, the 416.1-kilometer- long railroad connecting Tavantolgoi with Zuunbayan is ready to be commissioned this June.
During his work tour, the President dedicated milk as a good wish to “the first-ever strategically important development built fully by Mongolians on their own”, as he described.
President Battulga extended congratulations to the stakeholders, namely, Mongolian Railway SOE, Ulaanbaatar Railway joint venture and the General Staff of the Mongolian Armed Forces, while expressing his appreciation for their hard work dedicated to completing the railroad construction. He also applauded the commissioning of the apartment complex at Tsogttsetsii station.
The President pointed out his belief that if the railway construction continues and reaches Sukhbaatar and Dornod provinces, as well as to Bichigt Port, the developments can make a substantial contribution to the revival of the economy, while promoting the inhabitability of the Gobi.

6. The Mongolian Authority for Fair Competition and Consumer Protection (AFCCP) working group is inspecting the transport price influencing factors.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chinese side restricted the movement of goods through the border and limited the number of vehicles to cross the Zamiin-Uud border to a 100 per day. Also the regulations include switching truck drivers at certain points to eliminate local outbreaks. As a result, there has been a slowdown in freight turnover, increased congestion and rising freight prices. However, this situation is being exploited by some truck drivers, who are pushing up freight prices. The working group led by full-time members of the AFCCP, S. Tsogtgerel and N. Byambadorj are asked to work on the spot, while producing relevant solutions. We have talked to the officials about making a policy decision to eliminate the illegal price conspiracies.