The monthly meeting on June 28, with Mr. Laurenz Melchers in the chair, was attended by 85 members. In the absence of Executive Director Jim Dwyer, Vice Director Ser-od Ichinkhorloo welcomed the five new members since the last meeting. They are: Independent LLC, importer and distributor in Mongolia of frozen New Zealand fish products; Mongolian Mortgage Corporation (MIK), working to promote and develop primary and secondary mortgage markets; Valiant Art, seeking to “bring new life to international art… with work from a little-known realm”; Firebird Mongolia Fund, a closed-end, limited-life fund dedicated to local Mongolian equity securities; and HoldTop Investment LLC, the first U.S. Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm to expand to Mongolia. Their induction takes the membership strength to 150.

The first of the evening’s three presentations was by Mr. Dennis Price, COO-Mongolia, Mongolia Energy Corporation, on his company’s Khushuut Coking Coal Project. Production will begin in August and will see a rapid rise before hitting a peak in 2013. The company has an agreement with Baosteel to supply coal to the Chinese company from 2010 to 2020. Trucks will take the coal to the Chinese border 340 km away, providing jobs to Mongolians. A power plant to be set up will supply electricity to areas outside the mine also.

Mr. Randolph Koppa, Chairman of Mongolian Mortgage Corporation (MIK) and President of Trade & Development Bank, talked on how MIK was and would be promoting affordable home ownership for Mongolians through capital market development. The Central Bank and nine commercial banks hold shares in MIK, which promotes and develops primary and secondary mortgage markets and positions itself as an intermediary between the two. Its success in raising medium- to long-term funds on domestic and foreign capital markets through a series of capital market tools to create and ensure a smooth functioning of a long-term financing system to promote affordable home ownership and urban development for Mongolia’s people will require right legislation, wise government policy, and free rivalry in the private sector. It has already given 16,807 loans worth altogether MNT233.7 billion.

Mr. Ch.Ganbat, Advisor to the Minister of Road, Transportation, Construction and Urban Development, gave a detailed presentation on the proposed industrial and investment cluster in Sainshand, and on how it is expected to promote sustainable economic growth in Mongolia. The country’s GDP is still “miniscule” in terms of the market value of its mineral resources, and the complex will be a key factor in “successfully developing our economic growth vision”, raising the GDP to USD41 billion in 11 years, he said. The Boston Consulting Group, a leading global management consulting firm, was retained for the work and, Mr. Ganbat said, it has not recommended setting up a copper smelter, which the Mongolian Parliament insists upon. The whole implementation will be in five phases, beginning with floating of tenders by August 20. The Prime Minister himself chairs the steering committee for this seminally significant concept of development through clusters and concentrated infrastructure.