PARTS OF SPEECH

“Regardless of controversies before, during and after the 2008 election, a coalition Government was established and this has helped keep both parties from overstepping their limit and hurting the country. Talk that the coalition has had no benefits is, to put it mildly, rubbish.”

Baabar, noted commentator and former Minister.

“It is a good idea for Mongolia to introduce European standards but, instead of imposing them just as they are on business and society, the country would be wiser to select only the best ones and adapt them to local conditions.”

Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister.

“As the country’s President and the Head of its National Security Council I have a duty to ensure that the licence issuing process is transparent and that the license holder knows he has to follow the law of the land. Nobody should have the impunity to ignore human rights, neglect the environment, and disregard the law. These are all symptoms of the criminal corruption that stalks today’s human condition. I appeal to you to join the struggle to correct the distortion.” the message said.

Ts.Elbegdorj, President.

“If you can make a margin of $70 a ton selling through China or $5 a ton selling through Russia, which would you do? You have to look at the economic fundamentals. Sacrificing commercial value for a political objective needs to be very carefully weighed.”

Graeme Hancock, Senior Mining Specialist with the World Bank.

“Despite the financial crisis and difficulties we face in different industries, especially livestock, still we have 7-8 percent growth of GDP this year. That is quite promising, I think, for Mongolia. We now encourage other friends, not just our neighbours, to invest in Mongolia to provide more balanced economic development and greater sophistication in its industry.”

S.Batbold, Prime Minister.
 

“Mongolia has witnessed a dramatic turnaround in a year and a half, after teetering on the verge of economic collapse. Mongolia’s success stems first and foremost from the authorities’ strong policy response to the crisis, supported by significant resources from the international community. The authorities’ policy reforms have laid a solid foundation for managing the pending boom in the mineral sector and ensuring that Mongolia’s substantial mineral wealth leads to a period of sustained economic growth that spreads prosperity to all Mongolians. The outlook for Mongolia’s economy is extremely favourable.”

IMF Survey Magazine

“The more we have large mining players in this town, the better to help us grow into a significant mining country. Our lack of infrastructure is a growth problem. I remember when the government budget used to be a bit over $200 million. Now are talking well over $2 billion. The Concession Law and the list of more that 100 projects where private investors can pour money into railways, roads, power and housing projects are probably going to be the solution to our problem. Private companies can come in and operate them and get their money back. This is very serious bet on the future.”

D. Zorigt, Minerals Resource and Energy Minister.

“Mongolia will experience the highest GDP rate globally at 19% per annum for the next 10 years, a growth that will be propelled by the development of mineral resources, very active multi-billion dollar investments, surging exports and robust maintaining prices for commodities going  forward”.

Alisher Ali Djumanov, Chair of Eurasia Capital.

“Mongolia is clearly an underexplored location, with lots of riches to be found and with the exception of Rio Tinto, none of the players are there in any substance at this stage and as certainty grows in the country, diversified miners will look there. Australian companies are nothing if not entrepreneurial and there will always be someone taking a new frontier that others haven’t.”

Tim Goldsmith, PricewaterhouseCoopers global head of mining.

“The President merely acknowledged widespread public concern. When we travel outside Ulaanbaatar, we see the environmental damage. We cannot sacrifice our environment for minerals.”

D.Batkhuyag, Head of the Mineral Resources Authority.

“The threats of land degradation, and consequent desertification, are becoming a serious obstacle to the growth of Mongolia. It is about moving from quantity to quality of animals, but that is very difficult. We have tried to discuss this with the government, but it sounds as if we are trying to limit the earning potential of herders, who are also voters.”

Shoko Noda, Deputy Resident Representative of the UNDP.

“The most important thing in successfully running a company once it has gone public is retaining the trust of investors, which can be achieved only by keeping them fully informed of developments, and by total transparency in operation. Honesty and hard work matter and since there is no shortage of talent in Mongolia, I hope my achievement (in being the only Mongolian managing director of a foreign listed mining company) will be replicated in numbers.”

George Lkhagvadorj Tumur, Managing Director of Hunnu Coal.

“Those directly or indirectly involved will not like my saying this, but I have concluded after much reflection that the July 1 incidents were the result of a joint conspiracy between the two major parties. Since the time the coalition was formed people have also realised the complicity of both parties in the entire conspiracy. The main parties should stick to their own separate ways, principles and ideology, and not stick to the coalition, which is an arrangement for profit, and not based on any principle.”

N.Enkhbayar, former President.

“People with no political connections and support have no chance of running a bank in Mongolia.”

N.Davaa, a founder of Anod Bank.

“It is our ultimate belief that economic prosperity is not delivered by one particular industry or one particular resource. Economic prosperity and economic growth are actually made possible by the skill-sets of the people. Our decision to give priority to a rail route running east is driven by the logic of economic growth. Certainly when it comes to the resources of the south, while we are aware that most of it will go to the markets in China and northeast Asia, a significant portion needs to be delivered to industrial production in Mongolia itself, and that’s why the railway decision has been made.”

D.Zorigt, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister.

“In our scenarios for the future we expect global energy demand to rise as much as 40%. Between 1990 and 2010, about 1.4 billion people were added in countries where the per capita income was less than $10,000 a year. In the next 20 years we expect to see about three billion people moving into that range. That will have an enormous impact on energy demand.”

Daniel Yergin, Chairperson, IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates

“The decision by the Nuclear Energy Agency not to appeal the Khan Mongolia court ruling was unexpected, but we are encouraged that they have chosen not to challenge the decision. If the Mongolia Government persists with its possible plans to take over licenses legally owned by us to a Russian company, this would lead to Mongolia losing its reputation and to rethinking in the world business community about investing. Who wants to build a house if there is a threat that it could be demolished by the Government at will?”

Grant Edey, President and CEO of Khan Resources

“Mongolia’s mining industry is taking off as projects involving state-owned enterprises and corporate investments fuel market activity. We shall help Erdenes MGL establish draft mining agreements which can be used for the development of the Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit area and other future coal mine developments in Mongolia. We also expect to assist in the negotiation and finalization of the mining agreements between Erdenes and the international private-sector participants in the project.”

James Harris, Hogan Lovells head of infrastructure and project finance Asia.

“It’s incredible, these Old Etonians coming out to Mongolia. You can believe it’s going to happen, sure, the Mongolian mining boom. And sit in London and believe it. But this is different. They come here and they see it. They’re actually moving here with their kids.”

Eric Zurrin, head of UBS’s mining team in London.

“China would become a coal exporter once more if the country decided to develop large coal resources in the northwest Xinjiang province. These coal reserves are about 40% of total Chinese coal reserves but less than 5% of production. The government is considering developing large mines and coal-fired power plants in the region. If that plan goes ahead, China will be a coal exporter. If China decides that, it will have a significant impact on coal prices.”

Fatih Birol, Chief Economist, The International Energy Agency.

“China now has 9 GW of installed nuclear generating capacity. That will grow to 70 GW in the next ten years, so there will be a ten times increase in uranium demand in China. If you look to the future, we will surely need to purchase uranium from sources outside China. We will likely source over 50% of our requirements from outside China.” 

Lu Huaxiang, vice-president, China National Nuclear Corp.