The BCM monthly meeting on October 26, with Mr. Laurenz Melchers in the chair and 61 members in attendance, featured two presentations: the first by Mr. Sergey Gromov on “Investment Opportunities with Chinggis Khaan Bank”, of which he is CEO, and the second by Mr. B.Batbayar, CEO, National Life, on “High-end Health Care Products and Services”.

Mr. Gromov said his bank was not a retail bank and did not accept deposits from customers. It was a direct investment bank, with its MNT60 billion in capital coming from abroad and total assets approximating MNT150 billion. It also arranges syndicated loans. He gave details of several Mongolia-based companies whose financial needs the bank had helped meet.

Mr. Batbayar said National Life’s insurance schemes were meant to provide services to Mongolians who spend a relatively enormous amount of money in seeking medical care abroad. The company has various options, some with an overall annual limit as high as USD1,000,000 and covering all countries of the world, and some others for Asia-only with a limit of USD300,000. Group plans offer better terms than individual policies and he hoped companies would be interested in them.
Mr. Randy Myer, Chairman of BCM’s TVET Working Group, gave an update on its work. The Millennium Challenge Corporation has recently allocated USD23 million more to its original allocation of USD25 million for vocational training, and training in heavy equipment technology has now been added to the initial areas of mining, health, and construction.

Earlier, Executive Director Jim Dwyer welcomed the three new members since the last meeting.  They are Mongolia Energy Corporation (MoEnCo), an energy and resources developer which has approximately 330,000 hectares of concession areas in western Mongolia for coal, and ferrous and non-ferrous metal resources, aside from other projects in Mongolia and China; Landex Company, which has been  operating international freight forwarding since its establishment in 2000; and Bayankhundii Company, founded in 2001 to provide domestic freight forwarding service for heavy industrial machinery under contract.  See detailed company overviews which follow.  Jim reported that the 2009 membership year ended with 131 members.  The Board has high hopes most all members will renew as part of the 2010 membership drive which also envisions a significant number of new members.

New BCM Members - Company overviews:

1. Landex LLC was established in 2000 as an International Freight Forwarding Company.  Landex  handles FCL, LCL, Reefer and Bulk cargoes. The company is actively engaged in export, import, transit and domestic shipments and also provides customs clearance service to its customers. Landex cooperates with more than 20 companies engaged in the same field of business from Asia, Europe and America and makes its services available worldwide. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ,  www.landex.mn.

2. Bayankhundii Company was founded in 2001 and operates domestic freight forwarding service for heavy industrial machineries. The company has successfully implemented contract missions for Wagner Asia, Monnis International, Mon Speed, Yalumba among others. Contact: Fax: 976 11 687997, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

3. Mongolia Energy Corporation (MoEnCo) is an energy and resources developer and has approximately 330,000 hectares of concession areas in western Mongolia for coal, ferrous and non-ferrous metal resources, aside from other projects in Mongolia and China.  

MoEnCo has announced that an independent technical review of the proposed Khushuut open pit coal mine in Khovd Province, Mongolia, has estimated the life expectancy of the Khushuut Mine at 19 years and that the 600 hectares contain some 156.2 hectares of coal bearing strata. The total run-of-mine coal resources ranges between 134.7 million to 140.9 million tons at the assumed price of between USD60 to USD135 at the mine.

The total capital expenditure for developing the mine, excluding the construction of the Khushuut Road, was estimated to be HKD1,582.9 million (USD204 million) over two years. The total capital expenditure to be incurred on equipment, including both initial and replacement expenditure, over the projected 19 years of operation is estimated to be HKD3.5 billion (USD452 million).

MEC intends to engage an experienced international mining contractor to manage and conduct the mining operations, who will be responsible for the majority of the above equipment capital expenditure. MEC is currently building a road to link the mine to the Yarant Border Station at the Chinese border, a distance of approximately 310 km.

Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , www.mongolia-energy.com