The meeting on April 25, with Mr. Laurenz Melchers in the chair, was attended by 83 members.   
Membership now stands at 176, four of them joining since the last meeting. This is an almost 35% increase year on year. Mr. Jim Dwyer reported that the working groups are working well, with the Education WG now going beyond vocational training into higher education in general. 
The first of the evening’s three presentations was by Mr. Ch.Otgochuluu, a former Advisor of the President and currently Director, Economic Policy and Competitiveness Research Center (“EPCRC”). The organization uses internationally accepted methodology to evaluate the sustainable competitiveness of the private sector, and conducts locally-based, high-quality research in matters pertaining to finance, trade and infrastructure policy that directly affect Mongolia’s ability to compete in a global economy. It has produced a report titled Mongolia in World Competitiveness 2010, where Mongolia’s economic and social competitiveness has been assessed across the areas of business efficiency, government efficiency, infrastructure and the macroeconomic environment. The comparison had to be restricted to a small number of countries because of lack of resources, mainly funds, but among the 15 chosen, Mongolia was ranked below Bulgaria and above Ukraine. Mr. Otgochuluu spoke at length on an informative and interesting study EPCRC has made of the impact of air service liberalization on the economy.
Mr. G. Temuulin, Deputy Director, Erdenes-Tavan Tolgoi gave a thorough update on the Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi Project. Major decisions are being taken one after the other, and now there is the wait for everything to fall in place.
Dr. Graeme Hancock, Senior Mining Sector Specialist, The World Bank, spoke on Mining in Mongolia: Challenges and Opportunities. Dr. Hancock is leaving Mongolia soon, and his presentation on Monday was an appropriate valedictory, with sharp clarity and sane logic providing the sugar coating for some bluntly expressed disappointment. Between 2002 and 2010 the share of mining in Mongolia’s exports and GDP went up three-fold, and its contribution to Government revenue increased 8 times. This breeds complacency, delaying the realization that while “mining is fine, the bigger challenge is diversification and job creation”. The deserved hype over Oyu Tolgoi and Tavan Tolgoi has effectively hidden the fact that there has been no “movement towards development” on any other strategic deposit, as also the fact that only 200 or so of the 8,000 mineral occurrences in the country are in operation. Several legal/policy uncertainties refuse to go away, and some political/administrative issues linger.         
The four new members introduced at the meeting were:
1. JTA International, a health and social sector development consulting firm with 12 years’ experience operating in Australia and the Asia–Pacific region.  JTA offers extensive health and social sector expertise, national and international networks of consultants and tertiary knowledge institutions, and strong, cooperative relationships with partners, and has successfully managed 20 major contracts or sub-contracts with an approximate value of $USD300 million since 2000.
2. Mongol Tax, the first licensed company of the Mongolian Institute of Certified Tax Accountants. It was established in 2004 and  its team of accounting professionals and tax consultants helps all kinds of clients, such as international corporations, local companies, individual entrepreneurs, or NGOs, process their accounts, produce timely management accounts, and periodical reports, according to each client’s individual business objectives.
3. BASF, “the world’s leading chemical company”. With about 109,000 employees, six Verbund sites and close to 386 production sites worldwide, including one in Mongolia, it serves customers and partners in almost all countries of the world. Its three central divisions, five corporate departments and nine competence centers provide services such as finance, investor relations, communications, human resources, research, engineering and site management.
4. SouthGobi Business Council, founded in December, 2009, to contribute to the sustainable development of the country’s society and economy. It intends to provide entrepreneurs in its area with market news, support development of their specific business environment, and also of the general economic and business scene in the Gobi zone by strengthening the partnership between entrepreneurs, the state, non-state organizations, and mining companies, both local and international.