“We are committed to 100 per cent transparency.”
N. Altankhuyag, Prime Minister.
“How can they achieve in just 100 days something that they weren’t able to do in two years? It’s just a cheap gimmick by the government who are running out of option. You’re daydreaming if you think large amounts of investments will come flooding in each year.”
D.Byambasuren, former Prime Minister.
“When President Elbegdorj initiated the current protracted dispute with Rio Tinto in his speech to Parliament last year, he raised many important questions regarding the costs of construction and the Oyu Tolgoi governance structure… I see very little progress on any of the questions since then... I am not even sure that the government is better informed about Oyu Tolgoi activities now than a year ago.”
Julian Dierkes, of the University of British Columbia.
“Despite owning one third of the business, our government has been treating Rio Tinto like a friend rather than seeing them a business partner… However, there is no room for friendship in business… The current economic recession and the realisation of the difference between a friend and a partner are teaching Mongolians several important lessons.”
D. Jargalsaikhan, analyst and commentator.
“Oyu Tolgoi is the straw that stirs the mining drink in Mongolia, and is seen as the barometer for whether the government is serious about returning to investors’ good graces. That bodes well for getting the copper and gold project back on track, but doesn’t stand in the way of Rio Tinto’s needs to continue cutting costs… (U)ntil a consensus is reached, Oyu Tolgoi will need to see the fat trimmed just as much if not more so than any of the company’s other projects around the globe.”
Rich Duprey, in the Motley Fool.
“We have to concentrate on building and regaining the trust we have lost. Investors stopped believing in Mongolia because Mongolians insist on changing established contracts, change laws and regulations whenever they please.”
B.Byambasaikhan, Secretary of Economic Council.
“The beauty of democracy is that it consolidates every time it makes mistakes. We had a time that scared all investors and froze their interests. Learning from this, we amended our mineral policy and made investment laws more stable.”
L. Bold, Minister for Foreign Affairs.
“It is time for us to recover confidence. Mongolia has learnt a good lesson...the important thing for us is to create good jobs and good revenues.”
C. Ochirbat, deputy minister for economic development.
“We are concerned by reports that the Mongolian exit visa system is being misused to pressure foreign investors to settle civil and investment disputes. Such concerns could have a chilling effect on international investors considering whether Mongolia is a viable destination for foreign direct investment.”
Allyson Algeo, a spokesperson for the US Embassy in Ulaanbaatar.
“The way in which ETT is privatised will be an important example for future transactions, its success or failure will be watched very closely locally and by the international community.”
Nick Cousyn, of BDSec JSC.
“Are Chinese state investors investing in new production primarily to lower prices, rather than to develop profitable mining operations? One aspect of free market economics that even nominal Communists understand is that increasing supply in markets with inelastic demand can in fact reduce overall revenues – in fact can lead to a situation where buyers get more of the product for less of their money. As such, upstream investment in unprofitable production can make economic sense in a convoluted manner.”
John Rice and Nigel Martin, in The Conversation.
“The Government only needs to regulate and grant licences. It shouldn’t do any business. For example, in the case of OT, we don’t need to have any shares. The revenue can be in taxes.”
J.Tseveenjav, Director of the Mongolian Drilling Association.
“A well-managed Oyu Tolgoi in any form will be the cornerstone of Mongolian development, so that management must come first… There is no perfect solution to how to manage such a project. There is no sense in searching for an optimal solution when this search delays progress and leads to a decline in confidence in Mongolia…Once good practices – not necessarily the best practice – have been established around Oyu Tolgoi that will produce the resources and the time to address other issues.”
Julian Dierkes, of the University of British Columbia.
“There is still time for Mongolia to bring its fiscal house in order, but the clock is ticking.”
Gavin Bowring, of Asean Confidential, a research company.
“China has a command economy, and its leaders will command the appalling quality of China’s air to be cleared up. So what does this mean for commodities? If you want to clean a [petrol] engine in a car you need palladium. If you want to clean a diesel engine in a bus, truck, or ship, you need platinum. If you want to have a hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered car which has no pollution at all, you need even more platinum.”
Robert Friedland.
“Mongolia’s extraordinarily high growth rates of recent years are to be admired, but they are difficult to achieve continuously without experiencing the negative externalities associated with growth—inflation, environmental degradation, underinvestment in both physical and human capital, and of course the bust that inevitably follows the boom.”
James Watkins, of the Harvard International Review.
“The days when Australian mining magnates could dictate terms to Chinese buyers are over…Chinese acquirers are willing to bypass local tycoons and boards to go direct to shareholders.”
(Sonali Paul and Denny Thomas in a Reuters report.)
“Economic difficulties are not economic crises, they are not the same thing.”
N.Zoljargal, Governor of the Central Bank of Mongolia.
“We, Russia and Mongolia, have good large-scale joint ventures we have inherited from the past; moreover, we have good prospects for the future.”
Vladimir Putin, Russian president.