Since it was liberalised in the early 1990s, Mongolia’s telecommunications sector has grown rapidly. As of the first half of 2014 the four major mobile operators reported more than 4.3m registered users in total. This figure is considerably higher than the population, which means many residents own more than one SIM card. Increases in mobile penetration have facilitated rapid technological improvements…
Rapid economic expansion in Mongolia over the past half-decade has played out across many of the country’s constitutive industries, and construction and real estate are no exceptions. Much of this growth took place in the residential segment, which has been the focus of an increasing number of large-scale, state-led development projects in recent years. Given the attention the construction sector…
The transportation situation in Mongolia has improved a great deal over the past few years. Substantial additions have been made to the road system, with a total of 5469 km being built between 2012 and 2016. In terms of rail a number of breakthroughs were made in 2014 that promise to expedite progress on lines that have been long delayed. Overall, real progress has been made and momentum remains strong;…
Despite abundant resources, Mongolia has struggled to shore up its energy security and decrease its dependence on Russia for refined fuel and electricity. The government has made some headway in diversifying fuel imports and improving its terms of trade, while several mid-stream projects could develop domestic refined fuel production. Meanwhile, important refurbishments of Mongolia’s ageing power…
With a focus on curbing political risk to encourage new investment, Mongolian authorities are striving to build a competitive industry to develop the country’s abundant natural resources. Copper regained its place as Mongolia’s top export in 2014, and is the primary focus of new exploration alongside gold and niche minerals such as fluorspar and rare earth metals. While the coalition government…
Recording steady expansion, the Mongolian insurance sector’s prospects are good despite the difficulties faced more generally in the economy. Sector indicators, such as premiums per person, premiums per capita, total capital and total compensation, also suggest that the country’s insurance companies are in relatively good shape and growing fast. As in many developing countries, awareness and penetration…
Recent times have seen a jump in economic growth and per capita GDP in Mongolia. A small market with a narrow industrial base, the country runs an open trade policy under its commitments through the World Trade Organisation, applying 5% tariffs on key goods such as minerals. Mongolia’s coalition government has sought to rebuild investor confidence with a slew of legislation since October 2013, a
The Company Established in 1924, three years after Mongolia’s communist revolution, APU – which comes from the name Arkhi Pivo Undaa, meaning “vodka, beer, drinks” – is the country’s largest beverage producer and its first national brand. APU was partially privatised in 1992 with 51% of its shares retained by the state and 49% floated on the Mongolian Stock Exchange. In 2001 the remainder…
The Company Gobi was established in 1981 with Japanese economic and technical assistance to process natural goat and camel hair and produce cashmere and camel wool products from these fibres. The company has since developed into one of the five largest cashmere producers in the world, and currently employees around 1000 people. Gobi was partially privatised in 1993, when 26.5% of its equity was floated…
The Company Separate from Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, Tavan Tolgoi (TT), or small Tavan Tolgoi, is one of the largest coal mining companies in Mongolia. TT has around 80m tonnes of coking coal reserves and 100m tonnes of high-grade thermal coal reserves. The company operates in Tavan Tolgoi, one of the world’s largest untapped coking and thermal coal deposits, located 267 km from the Chinese border in…
