Intensive demand for private and public construction is creating jobs and furthering the need in the residential segment, while domestic involvement in foreign-led mining projects is adding to the overall demand in the sector.

The government has announced ambitious plans thanks to rising foreign investment in the country's resource wealth. Big-ticket projects such as the plan to build 100,000 homes and give citizens MNT 1 million (USD 772) towards the purchase of their home are under way and are expected to boost Prime Minister S. Batbold and his administration chances in the upcoming 2012 elections.

Capitalizing on the momentum, Mongolian investment, trade and industry group Barilga held its fourth international construction expo in the capital in September, welcoming 120 organizations as well as representatives from the United States, China, Japan, and Russia. Supported by the Ministry of Roads, Transportation, Construction and Urban Development as well as the Mongolian Builder's Association, the event was aimed at establishing trade links and introducing new building technologies.

The government plans to implement a mid-term program to execute 41 projects with capital of MNT 13.3 billion. The project will be undertaken with loans from the Development Bank of China and cooperation with the Investment Department of Kuwait. Work on a new international airport for Ulaanbaatar is scheduled to begin in early 2012 and take three years to complete. Built with a USD 270 million loan from Japan, the new facility will be able to service all larger modern aircraft and provide better protection from high winds. The transport link comes amid plans to develop an eastern link from the Trans-Mongolian rail line heading east from Ulaanbaatar to the eastern Trans-Siberia route which will link Mongolia directly to a sea port for the first time, ending the current reliance on China for export of raw materials, goods, and products.

With the Oyu Tolgoi mine expected to employ some 4,000 workers—60 percent of which will be Mongolian—and the demand for other mining-related construction workers potential exceeding the capacity of the country's widely spread population of 3 million, an important issue arising in construction is labor. Chief of the Building and Apartment Policy Board of the Ministry of Road, Transportation and Urban Development B. Baasan said that the ministry's policy would be to train Mongolian workers to build the 100,000 apartments. 70 percent of the building material would come from domestic factories by 2016.