22June2009
Posted by khuushuur under: mining.
Elbegdorj at Bloomberg
This post has received a buzzload of comments on its reposting on Mongolia Web News.
Watching
Elbegdorj on Bloomberg made me a bit puzzled. Why was he telling several times, basically begging, how he wanted investors to not “close the door”? Wasn’t it the investors that should be begging the new president? But then i recalled the buzz in town that if nothing would happen before Nadaam, the whole deal would be off.
So it might be true. The president is presured by the foreign investors to get the deal in this session of parliament. But Elbegdorj only just comes in and wants to put his mark on the deal. “An equity share is not a good proposal,” he said in the interview. Indicating he want to change some basic rules of the game. This leaves him between a rock and a hard place. So hee came in right in time to be able to be part of the deal, but it seems the choice is a deal he doesnt like or no deal at all. But it seems he doesnt want neither: He is asking the investors to hang on and give him time to get the deal he wants.
So if indeed the hard deadline is for July 10, what will happen if there is no deal struck? Will Ivanhoe Mines (IVN) leave? Will Rio Tinto back off? The future is unsure, but it looks like we will know a lot more when the horses start racing and the wrestlers are slapping their thighs on Mongolia’s natioanl Naadam holiday on July 11th.
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11June2009
Posted by khuushuur under: google; internet.
Google has launched a new feature as part of their Google News service. Instead of searching for the keyword “Mongolia” it now allows you to search for articles that indicate they are about Mongolia. So even if the title is “Crisis in Ulaanbaatar” it will list the article. Pretty cool. You can get it to work through this link: http://news.google.com/news?geo=mongolia (mind the “geo” tag) or you can surf to Google News (http://news.google.com/) there find:
Local News »
and type Mongolia in the box next to:
View stories near:
C’est ca.
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2June2009
Posted by khuushuur under: international.
This image really caught my eye. Putin’s look sent shivers down my spine. It seems quite a meaningful look, but i am too afraid to speculate.
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28May2009
Posted by khuushuur under: mongolia.
The Shoe Thrower?
Do you remember the Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi throwing a shoe at George W. Bush? The story and images were spread all over the media and internet. Brilliant entertainment. Though probably frowned upon by some, it must have been an inspiration to quite a few in the world as well.
Well, no we fast worward to Mongolia 2009. There is just a new President elected. Elbegdorj. And he is happy, celebrating his win with a crowd on Sukhbaatar square. You would expect people might throw their hat in the air. But then suddenly a guy in the crowd throws a shoe at Elbegdorj. He is captured by the police and later explains (from Mongolia Web News):
I was drunk and at one point I had to throw my shoes. I did not have any intentions. Just wanted to throw. When President George W.Bush visited Iraq, he was thrown a shoe as well.
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12May2009
Posted by khuushuur under: environment.
Vaste Numbers of Mongolian Gazelles
Good Old Kirk has seen them all:
In September 2007, Olson’s team were driving across the eastern Mongolian steppes studying the habitat of the Mongolian gazelle, one of the last nomadic ungulates to survive in large numbers.
Together with scientists at the Smithsonian Institute, they had been capturing gazelles and fitting them with GPS collars to track their movements, trying to work out where they travel and why.
As they drove east they began to encounter herds of a couple of thousand individuals.
“Groups of this size are impressive and beautiful to see,” describes Olson. Then the following day, at about midday, they drove to a hillside offering a great view of what appeared to be one such herd.
“But it was really one edge of a group that ended up being over 250,000 by one estimate.
“We were simply amazed at the sight. The image I have in my mind of seeing this massive aggregation of gazelles will always be etched into my memory.”
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9April2009
Posted by khuushuur under: culture; international; mongolia.
Islam Finder - Mongolia
The recent visit of president Rahmon of Tajikistan to Mongolia was the last one in a row of Islamic dignitaries. But also on the web, the islamic side of Mongolia becomes more apperent. There is a website that lists the prayer times in Mongolia. Of the Indian restaurants in town only Hazara gets a listing. Not sure if that reflects the religious orientation of the owners. Funny enough there is also mentioning of the islamic employees at Oyu Tolgoi mines. Somehow i doubt they are Kazakh….
Maybe the new Hazara Scholarship student mentioned by Asian Gipsy will get a listing soon. Not related to the restauarant, but to the Mongol Hazara ethnic group. What a great initiative, and especially for a private foundation!
—
technorati: mongolia
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5March2009
Posted by khuushuur under: international; mongolia.
The Post Cold War villian impasse is continuing. Since the Soviet Union collapsed Russian weapon trade might still fill a few movies (James Bond’s Goldeneye, Lord of War), North Korea might entertain once or twice, but even terrorism gets a bit boring after a while. So why not look at…..Mongolia
At the moment in Houston an exhibition on Genghis Khan (Chingis Khaan for friends) tries to explain the more detailed story of Mongolian warriors riding the steppes. Although not much appreciated in his home country, international movies as “Mongol” and the upcoming “The Mystery of Genghis Khan” have tried some diffirent angles on the great leader.
In the meantime however Hollywood seems to have rediscovered the archetype of the brutal Mongolian Warrior. The blogs have been noting. In a month time 2 mayor movies were casting “Mongolians” and a US TV series is feauturing a Mongolian Warrior as its episode-villian.
Iron Man 2’s casting efforts involves the search for a “Mongolian gangster” and a MTV interpreteds that as “organized crime out of Mongolia”. The same blog mentions the Marvel Comics “resident Mongolian crime lord Haan Kaishek”. Sounds scary, in more than one sence.
If that is not your cup of tea there is a whole clan of extras sought for M. Night Shyamalan’s new film. After suprising audiences worldwide with the Sixth Sense, ‘M.’ has been more succesful in annoying or boring them ever since. For the new flick he is now looking for “Mongolian-American males and females between the ages of 5 and 85″ to join him in these efforts. But the most shocking reference popped-up in google news today: “Sam Attacked by Mongolian Demons” is the heading of an article that details the episode of a bizar series called Reaper. The actual episode title is Dirty Sexy Mongol. How more distasteful can we get? Well take a look at the guy. Even Steven Seagal looks more Mongolian.
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26February2009
Posted by khuushuur under: culture; history; mongolia.
-
An old invitation to a Mongol Kino movie show.
The young but renowned anthropologist Gregory Delaplace has opened the doors of his new personal website. It is an interesting mix of several topics that he has covered over the years. From ghost stories and “things invisible” to hiphop.
One of the most interesting bits is on the history of cinema in the west of Mongolia. It paints a picture of how cinema was spread in the socialist ages and how it rapidly declined in the days after.
The first cinema showing 35mm movies in Ulaangom was opened in 1954: not yet a proper kinoteatr, it was just a little building hosting a projector and a few spectators. The same year, jeeps (GAZ-51) were provided so that to widen the range of movie touring. At that time, some 30 programs were shown in the whole aimag, and each touring unit would cover 5 to 6 sum. The techniques were still poor though, and screening quality remained bad.
The report is co-authored by Vincent Micoud and developed in cooperation with a researcher from the Osaka National Museum of Ethnology.
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2November2008
Posted by Aaruul under: economy; mongolia.
Wanted to share David Dollar’s article on Mongolian economy in times of financial crisis. He is a US national, the World Bank’s Country Director for China and Mongolia in the East Asia and Pacific Region, based in Beijing.
For more : http://eapblog.worldbank.org/
“Mongolia’s steppes are especially beautiful in October. A light dusting of snow on the gentle rolling hills makes them look like a rumpled white blanket. A large share of Mongolia’s population still lives a nomadic lifestyle, herding livestock from one grazing area to another and living in the traditional ger, Mongolia’s version of the central Asian yurt.
In this beatific landscape, the financial crisis and collapse of global stock markets seem far away — but Mongolia will be sharply affected. In recent years the government has introduced a host of programs that have made herders’ lives less vulnerable and difficult: livestock insurance to protect herders from losses in the terrible freezes that occur every few winters; expansion of cell phone coverage throughout the countryside; and expansion of rural education. The global economic crisis, however, threatens the sustainability of these programs.
Mongolia is in many ways a typical developing country, depending heavily on resource-based exports — in this case, copper and other minerals. The copper price has boomed in recent years, which has helped Mongolia grow faster and expand public programs. Yet the end of the global boom means the end of the commodity boom. Within a short time the copper price has dropped from over $8,000 per metric ton to under $4,000 today.
The classic advice to commodity exporters is to save much of the revenue windfall during the boom times, which Mongolia has done to some extent. The country has accumulated 12 percent of GDP, saving an average of 3 percent of GDP for the past four years. But it has spent more of the windfall — some going to the very good programs noted above. But much of the spending increase has been unfocused, such as raising the government wage bill by 3 percent of GDP and introducing various giveaways to the public, amounting to 4 percent of GDP. Roughly speaking, we can say Mongolia saved about one-third of the windfall and spent the rest.
Now that its revenue is dropping sharply in line with copper prices, Mongolia will have some fiscal problems. This was one of the key topics at an economic policy conference I attended this week in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. Mongolian President N. Enkhbayar opened the conference, which was also addressed by World Bank chief economist Justin Lin and former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar.
Much of the discussion among parliamentarians, government, and civil society reflected a sense that the global economic turmoil presents Mongolia with both challenge and opportunity. Gaidar spoke of the current troubles as a “window of opportunity for reform.” During the boom, Mongolia’s decision-makers dithered about reaching agreement with the big international mining firms to develop world-class copper and coal deposits that are as yet untapped. Now, the global environment for mining is much less favorable, so to some extent Mongolia missed an opportunity. But Mongolia can still reach agreements that would be highly favorable to the country once prices rise again — as they inevitably will some day. Cleverly structured contracts can ensure that Mongolia gets a fair share of future windfalls.
Some see this as a good time to enact fiscal rules that require a larger share of future windfalls be saved. That way, the country can have stable expansion of development programs that are insulated from boom-bust commodity cycles. The challenge for Mongolia is to use the country’s mineral wealth in a way that preserves and enriches the country’s unique natural and cultural heritage.”
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