Source: AFP               Date: August 24, 2011

Vice President Joe Biden continued his tour of Asia in Mongolia on Monday to discuss its vast coal reserves and using them to end poverty. Biden's visit comes a month after the now pending decision to grant the U.S. mining firm Peabody Energy 24 percent of the Western Tsankhi mining site at Tavan Tolgoi.

Biden talked with President Ts. Elbegdorj and Prime Minister S. Batbold about using foreign investment as a means of reducing poverty in Mongolia. Previously in June, Elbegdorj promised to give U.S. companies a role in its booming energy sector during talks in Washington, DC with U.S. President Barack Obama. Biden is the most senior U.S. figure to visit Mongolia since 2005, when former president George W. Bush made a brief stopover in Ulaanbaatar.

The United States sees Mongolia as a huge potential gain for investment and a strong ally. It is strongly interested in Tavan Tolgoi, one of the world's largest coal fields with 6.4 billion tons of reserves. Mongolia has been an ally of the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, sending troops to support the U.S. military. Mongolia is also recognized for its cautious foreign policy, seeking to retain friendly terms with its neighbors to the north and south: Russia and China.

During his visit, the U.S. vice president attended a demonstration of traditional Mongolian sports, including archery, wrestling and horse racing, before flying on to long-standing U.S. ally Japan.