EK TEAM BONDING OVER BBQ
EK organized barbecue as
a team building event on June 8th. The program
was a fantastic way for groups to challenge their culinary skills, work
together as a team, and have a load of FUN. Everyone ends the day
with a satisfying feast and a smile on their faces.
BAUER REPRESENTATIVE VISITED EK
On June 10th BAUER Technologies Far East Pte Ltd.’s Senior
Sales and Marketing Manager Wladimir Tissen visited Mongolia. EK employees
received certified BAUER Sales Approach training from Mr. Tissen. He met local
clients during his visit in Mongolia.
EK HOSTED UNDERSECRETARY OF
GERMAN MINISTRY OF ECONOMY, MR. ULRICH NIEMANN
On June 18th, EK CEO Mr. Oliver Schnorr hosted Mr. Ulrich
Niemann to widen and deepen bilateral cooperation in economic and energy affairs.
During his first visit to Mongolia Mr. Niemann had meetings with several
Mongolian authorities to intensify further German-Mongolian economic relations.
The meetings addressed challenges with existing German-Mongolian
projects and possible new collaborations. Ambassador Mr. Stefan Duppel will
leave Ulaanbaatar for his next station soon. We want to express our deepest
gratitude for his continuous support and advisory.
SUMMER RECEPTION OF THE
GERMAN-MONGOLIAN BUSINESS COMMUNITY 2019
The German Embassy Ulaanbaatar and
the German-Mongolian Business Association (DMUV) jointly organized the annual
Summer Reception of the German-Mongolian Business Community in the garden of
German Embassy on June 19th, 2019. EK
was one of the sponsors of this event. More than 200 guests attended the
event. Representatives of German and Mongolian enterprises, international
organizations as well as delegates from the Mongolian government had followed
the invitation.
His Excellency Mr. Stefan Duppel, Ambassador of the Federal
Republic of Germany to Mongolia and the President of the Board of
German-Mongolian Business Association, Dr. Oliver Schnorr, welcomed the guests.
The guests enjoyed a rich program including music performances. Furthermore,
the German-Mongolian Cooperation Award 2019 was awarded.
EK JOINED GOBI CLEAN ENERGY
ALLIANCE
Euro Khan has joined the Gobi Clean Energy Alliance
with Oyu Tolgoi LLC, Erdenes Mongol LLC, Mongolian Energy Association,
Mongolian Renewables Industries Association, Mongolian Association of Energy
Engineers etc, a forward-looking alliance in order to promote and develop the
vast renewable and other clean energy resources in the Gobi region,
Mongolia. This will benefit the economic development and the interests of
the people of the country and thus our neighboring countries, through power
exports. Companies declare that the purpose of the Gobi Clean Energy Alliance
is to serve as a focal point to move forward on the micro-to-macro issues that
need to be addressed to take this from concept to investment.
Economy
·
Bank of Mongolia leaves key interest rate unchanged
·
Meat and fuel prices trigger inflation to increase
·
May coal exports down 7.36 pct YoY
·
Mongolia-Japan teaching hospital opens
·
Drinking increases despite price hike
·
GGGI Mongolia to support the revision of Mongolian NDCs in two sectors:
Agriculture and IPPU
·
The growing wave of psychotherapy in Mongolia
·
Soum Governor: “Mining harming the whole ecosystem in Tsogttsetsii” –
Interview
·
Mongolia’s economy needs diversification part II – Editorial
Business
·
NRGI displays assessment result on Erdenes Mongol
·
Demand shift to eco-friendly production calls for immediate change in
Mongolian cashmere
·
Leading companies join Responsible Mining Codex
·
Oyu Tolgoi LLC releases its 2018 Year in Review
·
Legal Summary Of The Corporate Governance Code Of Mongolia
·
Mongol Advocates: Income Tax Rate in Corporate Income Tax Law
·
MSE and others urges T+2 from the FRC
·
Private equity firm Cerberus prepares first Mongolian investment
·
Startup seeks investors for hemp ‘bridge’ between Asia, Europe
·
ADB Provides Funding for Ecotourism Development
·
Legal provisions regarding the inheritance succession
·
Petro Matad losses deepen as it ramps up Mongolia exploration spending
·
SKYmedia taps Anevia to support OTT service
·
Oyu Tolgoi: Was it a mistake? – Editorial
ECONOMY
MOBICOM AND THE BCM ORGANIZE
DIGITAL ENTERPRISE 2019
The “Digital Enterprise 2019” was held on June 18,
2019, jointly organized by MobiCom and the BCM at the Shangri-La Hotel.
CEO and President of MobiCom Mr. Tatsuya Hamada, who is also chairs the BCM’s
Growth and Innovation Working Group, delivered the opening remarks. Member of
Parliament and Chair of the Sustainable Development Goals Subcommittee A.Undraa
also delivered opening remarks, along with Jon Lyons, Vice President of Erdene
Resource Development Corp. and BCM Board Member.
The three sections of the forums covered the topics of digital transformation
in Mongolia, next-gen cybersecurity, and data analytics and cloud computing.
Mongolian and international experts gathered to share their knowledge on the
state of digital transformation, including a keynote speech by Ling Wu, a
Principal Strategy Marketing Expert at Huawei Technologies.
“Mongolians are quick learners and have the ability to adapt to anything, and
so we have begun to implement digital transformation,” stated A.Undraa.
Source: GoGo News (Mongolian)
BANK OF MONGOLIA LEAVES KEY
INTEREST RATE UNCHANGED
Bank of Mongolia, the central bank of the country,
on Wednesday decided to maintain the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 11
percent.
“Considering the external economic environment and internal economic activity,
inflation is likely to be stabilized around the target level of 8 percent. So
we decided to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 11 percent as
needed to stabilize inflation around the target rate and maintain macroeconomic
stability in the medium term,” Byadran Lkhagvasuren, vice chairman of the bank,
told a press conference.
“Mongolia’s economic growth has regained its strength. Growth in mining sector
surpassed expectations and foreign direct investment inflows to the country
increased in the first quarter of this year,” he added.
The resource-rich Asian country’s gross domestic product expanded 8.6 percent
year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019, amounting 3.5 trillion Mongolian
tugriks (about 1.3 billion U.S. dollars).
Source: Xinhua
Click here to view the BoM statement
MEAT AND FUEL PRICES TRIGGER
INFLATION TO INCREASE
Statistics show that nearly 80 percent of the
inflation was caused by the rise in prices of meat and petroleum. For example,
meat prices increased by over MNT 2,000 per kilogram last month.
In addition, the exchange rate was one of the main factors that affected
inflation. The price of imported goods purchased on foreign currencies
increased and this caused inflation. For example, the average USD rate
increased 10 times or by 0.4 percent from the same period of the previous year.
In addition, the CNY/MNT rate increased by 2.3 percent and RUB/MNT – 5.6
percent.
In addition, the average household income and expenditure differ by MNT 36,000
at the end of last year. In particular, at the end of 2018, the average
household income was MNT 1.2 million and the expenditure was MNT 1.23 million.
However, three months later, the household expenditure has increased in the
first quarter of this year, doubling the gap. In other words, rising prices
have begun to stimulate public spending.
Source: ZGM Daily
MAY COAL EXPORTS DOWN 7.36 PCT
YOY
Mongolia saw a clear year-on-year fall of 7.36% in
coal exports in May, yet a slight rise compared with a month ago, official data
showed.
The country exported 3.69 million tonnes of coal in May, inching up 0.87% from
the previous month, showed data from the National Statistics Office of
Mongolia.
Over January-May, Mongolia exported a total of 15.14 million tonnes of coal,
increasing 5.81% from a year ago, with exports value worth $1.27 billion,
gaining 14.36% year on year, data showed.
In May, the inland country produced 4.42 million tonnes of coal, rising 1.38%
on the year and 13.18% on the month.
In the first five months, it produced 21.21 million tonnes of coal in total,
increasing 10.84% from the preceding year.
During the same period, Mongolia’s trade surplus totaled $948 million,
increasing 34.24% from the previous year.
Source: SXcoal.com
MONGOLIA-JAPAN TEACHING
HOSPITAL OPENS
The opening ceremony of the Mongolia-Japan Teaching
Hospital of the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences (MNUMS),
built with the non-refundable aid of the Government of Japan in Bayanzurkh
district, took place on June 16.
Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh, Minister of Health D.Sarangerel, Minister of
Foreign Affairs D.Tsogtbaatar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Taro Kono,
Director of MNUMS J.Tsolmon and other corresponding officials attended the
ceremony.
Alongside the construction work of the hospital, the installation of the latest
equipment and technology, such as high-capacity diagnostic MRI and CT
equipment, coronary angiography kit and fully automated analyzers were funded
through the aid.
Surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, gynecology, intensive care–health care
services for a total of 17 specializations will be available. In his speech at
the opening ceremony, PM U.Khurelsukh highlighted that the number of citizens
going to other countries for health care will decrease as a result.
Source: Montsame
DRINKING INCREASES DESPITE
PRICE HIKE
Despite some improvements over the last decade,
alcoholism is still a big issue in Mongolia, silently killing the population.
According to surveys by the National Statistical Office (NSO) and the police,
half of all men between the ages of 15 and 54 who were surveyed and a third of
women between the ages of 15 and 49 drank alcohol at least once a month.
An adult Mongolian drinks approximately 52.5 liters of alcoholic beverage
annually as of 2018, according to studies. It also suggests that Mongolians
have been drinking 1.9 times more beer and 1.6 times more alcohol since 2008.
Experts evaluated that on average, an adult consumes two bottles of alcohol
(0.5 liter), six cans of beer (0.5 liter), and a glass of wine (100 milliliter)
a month.
Source: The UB Post
GGGI MONGOLIA TO SUPPORT THE
REVISION OF MONGOLIAN NDCS IN TWO SECTORS: AGRICULTURE AND IPPU
GGGI is working alongside several of its member
countries to fulfill the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement (Nationally Determined
Contributions). With countries expected to submit their revised commitments in
2020, the Government of Mongolia is assessing the possibility and conditions to
raise the ambition of its current targets and has requested GGGI Mongolia to
support the revision of its NDCs in two sectors: Agriculture and IPPU
(Industry), as part of a consortium of development partners.
On June 13, 2019, and under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment and
Tourism and Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry (MOFALI), GGGI
Mongolia organized a Stakeholders’ sectoral Consultation Meeting to introduce the
Agriculture sector’s emissions baseline scenario, possible GHG emissions
reduction pathways. Representatives of MOFALI, government and non-government
organizations, international organizations and projects, science and research
institutes participated in the meeting.
Source: GGGI
THE GROWING WAVE OF
PSYCHOTHERAPY IN MONGOLIA
Stress is definitely the disease of the twenty-first
century. The causes are numerous: the frantic big-city lifestyle, traffic jams,
misunderstanding at work, inability to talk to friends, the pressures of social
media and consumerism, shifting values and uncertainty about the future – to
name but a few. In Mongolia, there is a definite rise in related alcoholism and
domestic violence, say psychologists.
Compared to the 1990s, there has been an increase in the number of young
Mongolians turning to psychologists in order to solve their stress-related
problems. In order to meet the rising demand for psychotherapy, the Sukhbaatar
District General Hospital in central Ulaanbaatar has opened four new consulting
rooms. These enable the public to receive one-on-one psychotherapy and
alcoholism therapy.
Today (20 June), for example, 14 people are attending the psychology
counselling classes and 42 others are meeting professional psychologists.
This particular hospital is clearly not an exception.
Source: News.mn
SOUM GOVERNOR: “MINING HARMING
THE WHOLE ECOSYSTEM IN TSOGTTSETSII” – INTERVIEW
O.Badarch, Governor of
Tsogttsetsii soum in Umnugovi aimag, tells Ch. Sumiya that while mining has
brought prosperity there and to the 20,000 people now calling it home, its
negative impact on the environment is taking disastrous proportions.
How many mines are active in Tsogttsetsii
soum?
Our aimag has 15 soums, and Tsogttstetsii is the smallest of them, only about
7,000 square hectares. Some 16 percent of this is under mining licences. Three
large projects — the State-owned Erdenes Tavantolgoi, the locally-owned
Tavantolgoi, which is the first mine of the aimag, and the privately-owned
Energy Resources — are extracting at the Tavantolgoi group of deposits,
together exporting about 20 million tonnes of coal annually. There are 20-30
subcontractors removing soil.
What has been the negative impact of their
operations?
There is no denying that work in these mines has brought about economic
development, but if living standards have improved, the local community has
also seen its quality of life badly affected.
Source: Mongolian Mining Journal
MONGOLIA’S ECONOMY NEEDS
DIVERSIFICATION PART II – EDITORIAL
The national link of export promotion remains
inadequate and many other problems, including the weak, decentralized,
scattered policy of the government to support exports, and lack of cooperation
of Mongolians, still linger. From a different point of view, human resource
exports became common in the modern world, while Mongolia did not have the
basics of it. This is simply a money transfer from abroad. There are many
social reasons that are failing and becoming a barrier to development. Not even
the first step of eliminating these causes are implemented. For example,
informal income, informal sources of livelihood, and informal networks are very
large. They have a huge impact on society, but it does not contribute to the
development of the country.
The country is not focusing on human capital. It is no longer okay to ignore
human and social capital. When the causes of political and personal relations
are combined, Mongolia will have a huge loss on human development.
Source: ZGM Daily
Click here to read part 1
BUSINESS
NRGI DISPLAYS ASSESSMENT RESULT
ON ERDENES MONGOL
Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) has
conducted an external assessment on the structure, operations and financial
information of Erdenes Mongol (EM) SOE over the last two years and presented
its results. Erdenes Mongol has 21 subsidiaries and the NRGI assessed the
financial information of five companies, namely Baganuur JSC, Shivee Ovoo JSC,
Erdenes Mongol LLC, Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC, and Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi JSC.
Since its establishment in 2006, Erdenes Mongol did not report any profit until
2015. However, the company’s net profit amounted to MNT 41 billion in
2016-2018. Such profitability was the result of increased coal prices and coal
transportation from Tavantolgoi to China.
Despite the increase in total profitability, EM and its subsidiaries do not pay
dividends regularly to the Mongolian State Fund. However, some state-owned
mining companies such as China Shenhua Energy, India’s Coal India, and
Indonesia’s Antam pay 30-100 percent of their profits regularly to the state
fund.
Source: ZGM Daily
See also: NRGI: Is ‘Wild
Growth’ at Erdenes Mongol Good for Mongolians?
DEMAND SHIFT TO ECO-FRIENDLY
PRODUCTION CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE CHANGE IN MONGOLIAN CASHMERE
The world’s leading brands that are shifting their
production towards more animal and environmentally friendly products are
demanding Mongolia’s cashmere shipment, which accounts for almost half of the
total supply, to convert to eco-friendly production. Mongolia exports most of
its combed cashmere to developed countries such as Italy, the United
States, and Britain. However, without ready-made cashmere products manufactured
under the cutting edge practices that are certified to have a good impact on
the environment, overseas buyers refuse to purchase Mongolian cashmere.
Some organizations that are against animal abuse have uploaded a video of
Mongolian herders combing a coat in a rude, old-fashioned way. This caused the
world’s apparel firms and cashmere processors to seek other options over
Mongolian cashmere.
H&M’s representative in Asia Sherry Gu said, “Some large-scale
international brands are turning away from products that are environmentally
harmful and abuses animals. However, this does not mean that cashmere products
will come to a complete standstill.”
Source: ZGM Daily
LEADING COMPANIES JOIN RESPONSIBLE
MINING CODEX
The leading firms in Mongolia’s mining industry
signed the “Memorandum of Understanding on Implementing Voluntary Mining Codex”
yesterday. These include the big names, such as Erdenet Mining Corporation, Oyu
Tolgoi LLC, Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, Energy Resource, Aspire Mining, Baganuur,
SouthGobi Sands, Terra Energy, and Monpolimet.
Mongolian National Mining Association and the Ministry of Mining and Heavy
Industry (MMHI) jointly commenced the campaign to promote accountability and
responsible mining practices. Three of the top five mining companies in
Mongolia, namely Erdenet Mining Corporation SOE, Oyu Tolgoi LLC, and Energy
Resource LLC that are directly affiliated with this event show the significance
of the codex. Also, Monpolymet, a leading company in the field of
rehabilitation experience, and other coal companies are joining.
The Codex has been developed under the UNDP’s Sustainable Natural Resource
Management program that has five core and 187 requirements. Companies have
voluntarily joined the codex and encouraging other companies to associate.
Source: ZGM Daily
OYU TOLGOI LLC RELEASES ITS 2018
YEAR IN REVIEW
Oyu Tolgoi LLC released
its 2018 Year in Review today. Oyu
Tolgoi had a very productive year in 2018 with strong achievements across all
aspects of the business including: safety, production, underground project
development, environmental and social performance.
In June 2018, the Board approved the 10 year business development strategy of
the company. The strategy defines the key priorities and the development path
for the next 10 years. The key priorities include a strategic mine development
plan, enhancing employees’ skills and capabilities, construction of a power
plant, the development of partnership opportunities and the local workforce in
the Umnugovi province, the implementation of the marketing strategy and as well
as the maintenance of our compliance framework.
Source: Oyu Tolgoi
LEGAL SUMMARY OF THE CORPORATE
GOVERNANCE CODE OF MONGOLIA
The issue of a corporate governance started to receive
attention in Mongolia since the year 2000, and it is viewed that development of
corporate governance in our country is important for creation of appropriate
conditions for sustainable and proper management and organisation of companies,
in particularly of publicly listed companies, so that trust bonds between
shareholders and companies is maintained and ability of companies to attract
investment is improved.
Therefore, the Corporate Governance Code of Mongolia has been developed by
taking into account internationally recognised OECD principles of corporate
governance, recommendations proposed by ADB, EBRD and other international
organisations, international best practices and experiences, and local specific
conditions and realities.
The code is structured into 10 chapters, and content wise comprises guidance,
recommendations and explanations in addition to main principles to be pursued.
Source: Mondaq.com
MONGOL ADVOCATES: INCOME TAX
RATE IN CORPORATE INCOME TAX LAW
Taxpayers in Mongolia are separated into two
separate classifications – resident and non-resident, with different rates
applying to various revenue streams depending on whether the entity is s tax
resident in Mongolia.
A resident taxpayer is an entity that resides in a Mongolia on a permanent
basis and comprises of entities established under Mongolian law and foreign
entities that have their headquarters in Mongolia
A non-resident taxpayer is an entity that undertakes business activities in
Mongolia through a permanent establishment or foreign entities that earn income
sourced in Mongolia.
Taxpayers that resides in Mongolia on a basis – tax rates for common income
sources:
Source: Mongol Advocates
MSE AND OTHERS URGES T+2 FROM
THE FRC
Mongolian capital market professional organizations,
including Mongolian Stock Exchange, Mongolian Securities Clearing House and
Mongolian Association of Securities Dealers submitted a request to FRC on June
14, 2019 on resolving critical issues encountered in the development of
domestic capital market.
The request includes the following issues:
·
Re-adapting
the T+2 settlement cycle to ensure favorable environment for trading;
·
Improving
liquidity of some illiquid securities by reducing the gap between their market
price and book value; and
·
Reducing
the regulatory service fee charged by the FRC to support market professional
organizations.
Resolving these issues will assist in
increasing the market turnover, improving the liquidity of the
listed companies, creating more favorable environment for investors and
achieving the Frontier market status.
Source: Mongolian Stock Exchange
PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM CERBERUS
PREPARES FIRST MONGOLIAN INVESTMENT
New York-based Cerberus Capital Management is in
talks to make its first investment in Mongolia as part of a broader push into
the world’s riskiest markets.
The private equity firm, which manages $39bn of assets including shares in
Deutsche Bank and Avon, is in talks to buy a stake in the telecommunications
and consumer goods units of MCS Group, one of Mongolia’s largest companies,
according to people familiar with the situation. Cerberus may offer $110m for a
25% stake in the units, one of the people said.
The Mongolian deal is being negotiated by Cerberus Frontier, a new investment
team created in November when Cerberus acquired SGI Frontier Capital, a
Singapore-based private equity firm led by Gabriel Schulze and Alexander
Benard. They specialise in emerging markets, with a particular focus on
Mongolia, Ethiopia and the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Cerberus Frontier
plans to raise a new fund dedicated to emerging markets, the people said.
Source: FNLondon.com
STARTUP SEEKS INVESTORS FOR
HEMP ‘BRIDGE’ BETWEEN ASIA, EUROPE
Startup HempMongolia is inviting investors to look
into the country’s potential for hemp farming and production by hosting a trade
visit set for mid-August during which participants can meet government
officials.
“We need investors to help us accelerate production,” said Anar Artur, CEO at
Ulaanbaatar-based HempMongolia. “Our goal is to develop Mongolia into one of
the most advanced agricultural economies in Central Asia. Hemp can play a huge
part in that.”
HempMongolia has been working for the past three years enlightening government
agencies about hemp’s promise for the land-locked nation, which is sandwiched
between China and Russia.
Anar sees Mongolia becoming an international trade corridor bridging European
and Asian economies, with the nation developing into a regional supplier of a
wide range of hemp products. Favorable tax incentives, inexpensive labor and
cheap land lease fees are all investment incentives, Anar noted.
Source: HempToday.net
ADB PROVIDES FUNDING FOR
ECOTOURISM DEVELOPMENT
The Sustainable Tourism Development Project (STDS)
is designed to improve opportunities for tourism in Mongolia and create new
avenues for local communities to generate income. Tourism has long been an
underdeveloped part of Mongolia’s economic potential. Tourism generated an estimated
$1.2 billion in revenue in 2017, making up just over 11% of Mongolia’s GDP that
year. New Tourism projects like that aim to maintain stable investment and
growth in the tourism sector in Mongolia. STDS along is expected to bring
greater economic benefit to about 11,000 local individuals in communities
around Mongolia, and will improve local environmental conservation efforts.
In a first, the Asian Development Bank will loan funds to Mongolia for the STDS
project, earmarked for better management of protected areas. The ADB wishes to
support the diversification of the Mongolian economy by expansion of tourism
sector. This will also help meet ADB’s goals of bringing greater economic
activity to rural communities.
Source: LehmanLaw Mongolia
LEGAL PROVISIONS REGARDING THE
INHERITANCE SUCCESSION
Inheritance succession means the manner in which the
property is distributed or transferred after the death a person either by
his/her own will or by legal provisions.
Pursuant to the Mongolian legislation following persons are entitled to the
devolution of the property and are deemed as rightful heirs:
·
Husband,
wife /the marriage shall be duly registered/, child and adopted child, child
born after the death of the person, parents and adopted parents.
·
If
persons stated above are absent or such people denied the interitance
succession, then grandparents, brothers, sisters and grandchildren.
·
If
persons stated above are absent or such people denied the interitance
succession, then great-grandchildren.
In case the rightful heirs mentioned above did not
reside at the same address together with the deceased person, then he/she shall
file the request on the receipt of the inheritance property to the notary
within 1 year upon the date of the death of the decedent. If, however, both the
decedent and the rightful lived at the same address such requests are not
required.
Source: LehmanLaw Mongolia
PETRO MATAD LOSSES DEEPEN AS IT
RAMPS UP MONGOLIA EXPLORATION SPENDING
Mongolia-focused oil explorer Petro Matad booked a
deeper annual loss, owing to a higher exploration bill.
Pre-tax losses for the year through December amounted to $18.4m, compared to
losses of $9.9m on-year.
The loss included $11.5m of exploration and evaluation spending, up from $4.4m
on-year.
The company had drilled two frontier exploration wells, Snow Leopard 1 and Wild
Horse 1, in the previously undrilled Valley of the Lakes in central western
Mongolia.
Operations were completed within the 2018 drilling season and within budget.
Snow Leopard 1 in Block V proved up a working petroleum system in the Taats
Basin, high grading nearby prospects as potential follow-up targets for future
drilling.
Petro Matad said three wells would be drilled in Block XX in 2019: Heron 1 and
Red Deer 1 were expected to spud in July.
Gazelle 1 would follow the drilling of Heron 1.
Site construction was now complete at Heron and Gazelle, and was underway at
Red Deer
Source: StockMarketWire.com
SKYMEDIA TAPS ANEVIA TO SUPPORT
OTT SERVICE
Based in Ulaanbaatar, the SKYmedia group provides a
wide range of capabilities including mobile phone and broadband data
connectivity.
SKYmedia has partnered with Anevia since 2014 when it chose Anevia’s
origin-packager and content delivery network solutions. The existing platform
has now been renewed and expanded with a latest-generation packager, NEA-DVR,
as well as NEA-CDN, plus an Anevia Genova encoder. The combined result is a
full end-to-end OTT video-delivery solution that will power the Sky GO service,
scheduled for launch this month.
This new investment comes at a time of healthy growth in demand for IP-related
services. The total number of Internet subscribers in Mongolia has increased by
more than 60% over the past five years and take-up of IPTV subscriptions has
grown by 116% in the same period, the firms said.
Source: RapidTVNews.com
OYU TOLGOI: WAS IT A MISTAKE? –
EDITORIAL
Whether it was a mistake or not, OT is a mega
project that is carrying Mongolia’s economy on its back. However, we continue
to see increased negative sentiment towards OT. Based on a metric called the Q
Score, the gap between positive and negative sentiments appears to have
consistently grown smaller from 2015 to 2019. There is now a need for the
public to clearly understand what issues the Mongolian government and the
investors are actually having differences on.
If Mongolian people don’t achieve clarity over OT and come to a shared stance,
there are growing concerns that the election fever might cause OT to stop and
push investors out of Mongolia. Rio Tinto faced similar circumstances a year
ago in Indonesia and ended up walking away from the 40 per cent interest they
held in the world’s second largest copper deposit Grasberg.
Source: Jargal DeFacto
