The BCM monthly meeting on June 22 was attended by 63 members. Executive Director Jim Dwyer took the chair, and welcomed the four new members --  Tuul Songino Water Resources; Bulgan Alt; the New Zealand Consulate; and the Australian Embassy in Seoul. BCM now has 121 members, already exceeding the total of 111 at the end of the last membership year on October 31, 2008.

All 5 BCM working groups are busy, preparing recommendations.  The Legislative Committee’s recommendations on the draft of the public-private-partnership law, submitted to the National Development and Innovation Committee (NDIC), resulted in BCM being invited to join its Working Group on ‘Private Sector Development Strategy’ for the GoM.  The Food & Beverage Working Group’s recommendations on duplicative inspection-based business barriers have been circulated to the Ministry and to officials at the State Inspection Authority where the IFC has funded a project to facilitate procedures.  The Mining Supply Chain database project has registered 1,155 entities and is now in the website development phase incorporating the database information.

In his update on bilateral relations, the Ambassador of the U.S. to Mongolia, Mr. Mark Minton, said Foreign Minister Batbold’s recent visit to the USA had been productive, with several developments that were sure to promote ties of cooperation. He met Secretary of State Clinton, Secretary of Commerce Locke, senior officials, and also attended the U.S.-Mongolia Business Forum. The U.S. Government and the MCC Board, chaired by Mrs. Clinton, have in principle agreed to divert the MCC funds meant for the UB Railway to other projects, though no specific alternate project has yet been formulated or identified. Approval would also depend on such a project meeting the Compact criteria and fitting a time frame. Mongolia has offered to contribute troops to the multinational peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. The USA will join international financial institutions in providing direct financial help Mongolia tide over its present economic crisis, but U.S. Congressional ratification of such decisions takes time. Educational exchange programs will be extended and expanded and Mongolia has agreed to continue to pay its share of the expenses, even in these economically difficult times.

Commercial engagement, however, will be the pivot of the relations between the two countries. The U.S. delegation to the presidential inauguration told Mr. Elbegdorj that “nurturing and fostering the investment environment” was essential and that the next stage of the relationship could be reached only if the private sector could work freely. Mongolia has so far got “extraordinary benefits” from its third-neighbor policy and these can be sustained only if “political considerations are kept out of commercial deals”. A 7-member Congressional team will be visiting Mongolia very soon and will be actively promoting the improvement of the commercial environment.

Mr. Do.Ganbold, President, Mongolian National Mining Association, reviewed key developments in the mining sector. BHP Billiton has closed its office here and some others might follow suit if there is no progress on investment opportunities. He said President Elbegdorj’s suggestion that Mongolia should ask for taxes and profits from Oyu Tolgoi, and not for equity ownership, would be very difficult to implement. He did not know if the President had discussed the matter with the working group on the agreement, or had sounded Parliament, but he was certain the investors will not agree to such basic change at this late stage. He hoped the whole issue would be resolved in the present spring session of Parliament, if not before Naadam itself.

Referring to the demand from certain quarters to develop Tavan Tolgoi piecemeal, and not as one single project, he felt this would be less beneficial to Mongolia. His opinion was that uranium exploration licenses could not be withdrawn by Government or parliamentary resolution. The drafts submitted by certain MPs about restrictions on mining in certain locations did not so much reflect the will of Parliament as the personal agenda of some vested interests. Answering a question on the Shivee Ovoo mines, he said progress had halted as the Government found Chinese proposals unacceptable.

Mr. Robert Coyle spoke of the environmental sustainability of projects funded or partnered by the EBRD. The social dimension of investment was more difficult than the technical side, but EBRD so far were very happy with their experience in Mongolia in this regard. Mr. Mark Mackintosh, Partner, UK-based Citrus, also talked about the environmental aspects of investing.

Mr. Mark Bailey, Executive Director, Leighton Asia, said as the largest contract mining group in the world they worked on the basis of certain values and showed how this human commitment has helped them "Build Relationships in the Gobi" in their lead contracting role for the Energy Resources mining project at Tavan Tolgoi. These values encompassed, among others, people, the environment, the community, safety and health, learning, performance, and success.