The monthly meeting on June 27, with Mr. Peter Morrow in the chair, was attended by 78 members. Vice Director Ser-Od Ichinkhorloo reported that membership now stood at 184, as against 147 in the corresponding period last year.

Five new members have joined since the last meeting. They are:
1. United Management Corporation (UMC), which specializes in retail financial services, investment management and co-investment, private equity, and real estate portfolio management.
2. Credit Suisse, which provides companies, institutional clients and high-net-worth private clients worldwide with advisory services, comprehensive solutions, and excellent products in areas such as private banking, investment banking and asset management. It employs 50,100 people in 405 offices in 55 countries.
3. Mongolian Economy Magazine, which aims to provide accurate news of and informed insight into what happens in the  Mongolian economic, financial and business sectors. Apart from raising public awareness, the bilingual magazine hopes its contents will help strengthen interaction between domestic and foreign business institutions, and public-private partnerships.
4. CIS Mongolia,  the local unit of the international organization which, since its founding in 1992, has specialized in providing catering services in challenging environments to some of the world's leading petroleum, mining, civil engineering and engineering companies, as well as to the armed forces of many different nations.
5. Allens Arthur Robinson, an international law firm with offices throughout Australia and Asia. Seventy-seven of Australia's, and 55 of the world's, top 100 companies choose Allens Arthur Robinson as their legal adviser. With more than 30 years' experience on the ground in Asia across a broad range of industries, the firm offers clients technical excellence combined with business and cultural insights.
The first presentation of the evening was by Mr. David Lawson, Trade Commissioner, Australian Trade Commission, on "Austrade: Enhancing Business between Australia and Mongolia". There are now 87 Australian companies in Mongolia, and the number is set to grow. Austrade’s mission is to provide help to Australian exporters and investors. Any Mongolian company that wishes to access information on business with and in Australia can also approach the recently opened Austrade office in Mongolia. It has a Website in Mongolian.
Mr. Andrew Orgill, Director of International Office, Santis Educational Services and President of Inlingua, titled his presentation "Recent Development in Education". Ulaanbaatar alone has 94 state and 84 private schools, and its 23 universities are among the 200 or so nationwide. They will all have to adapt to emerging global changes in the concept and structure of education which include stronger response to market signals, accountability and diversification. Santis offers language services specific to business and mining needs, but its emphasis is on enhancing English language skills for use in various other areas in several ways, including through online learning which is low-cost and flexible according to the needs in remote provinces. Prime Minister S.Batbold has called for ‘domestication’ of English, and Santis gives priority to training English language teachers, especially because of the shortage in indigenous human resources. It also has special learning programs for children. 
Mr. D. Achit-Erdene, President, Mongolian Investment Capital Corporation (M.I.C.C.), spoke on “The Mongolian Investment Banking Landscape” which, despite promise and possibilities, remains uncrowded, with not one major investment bank having an office in Mongolia. All Mongolian investment banking deals so far would total USD2.325 billion. The 51 brokers at the Mongolian Stock Exchange last year shared total commissions of just USD1.5 million. Things will change once the MSE offers more security and services to entice Mongolian and Mongolia-focused international investment companies to come here. Another encouraging step would be if the Mongolian Government would open its pension fund to be invested in the market.    
Ms. D. Onchinsuren, General Director, Onch Audit and Co-Chair BCM Tax Working Group, gave an update on how the group has been interacting with a national working group on tax issues.