1. Regular parliamentary and local elections ran with DP taking the largest number of seats.
Regular parliamentary and local elections ran this year, resulting in the Democratic Party taking the majority of seats. As a result of the Parliamentary Election, 73 members have been sworn in, of whom 32 MPs are from DP, 26 from MPP, 10 from the ‘Justice’ Coalition of MPRP-MNDP, 2 from CWGP and 3 independent. DP and the ‘Justice’ Coalition established what they call the ‘Government for Changes’.
In the local elections, DP became the majority for the first time in its history.
2. The 850th birth anniversary of Chinggis Khaan was marked, creating the ‘Day of Mongolian Pride’
According to a Presidential Decree and a Parliamentary Resolution, it was decided to celebrate the birth anniversary of the Great Chinggis Khaan on the first day of the first winter month every year.
Under the parliamentary decision, Chinggis Khaan’s birthday was named ‘Day of Mongolian Pride’ and was made a public holiday beginning this year. Within the Day of Mongolian Pride, the Government declared the Falcon as ‘Bird of National Pride’.
3. Mongolian athletes grabbed five medals at the London-2012 Summer Olympic Games
Mongolian athletes — honored wrestler N. Tuvshinbayar and boxer N. Togstsogt grabbed silver medals in the judo and boxing competitions. Also, honored wrestler S. Battsetseg, boxer U. Munkh-Erdene and wrestler S. Nyam-Ochir won bronze medals. In connection, the Government made a decision to give lifetime monthly benefits to Mongolian athletes who win medals at Olympic Games, Paralympics and world championships. The benefits will start being given on January 1, 2013.
4. For the first time, Mongolia successfully traded ‘Chinggis Bonds’ at the international market
The Government made a decision to issue mid-term bonds worth USD5 billion on the world stock market. On December 5, bonds worth USD1.5 billion were successfully traded, bringing USD1.5 billion or approximately Tgs2 trillion to the account of State Fund.
The Government plans to spend income from the bond trading on infrastructure and constructional projects, but prohibits spending on recovering state budget losses and social welfare. USD500,000 of the USD1.5 billion Chinggis Bond that was traded at the international market have a 5-year term and annual interest of 4.125 percent; whereas bonds worth USD1 billion have a term of 10 years and annual interest of 5.125 percent.
6. Japan-DPRK talks held in Mongolia
On November 15-16, official intergovernmental talks between Japan and DPRK was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia with support of Mongolia’s President Ts. Elbegdorj. The last meeting of a working group responsible for normalizing DPRK-Japan relations which was first organized within six-party talks on Korean peninsula ran in Mongolia in September, 2007. At the meeting, DPRK delegates were led by Song Il-ho, Ambassador in charge of Japan-DPRK talks and the Japanese delegates led by Sh. Sugiyama, Director-General of Japan’s Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.
According to Mr. Sugiyama, the sides held talks in a friendly atmosphere. Mongolia considers that its agreement with relevant bodies to host this meeting in Ulaanbaatar is its contribution to satisfy regional stability in Northeast Asia and believes the meeting to be effective to normalize DPRK-Japan relations and deepen mutual understanding, reported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
7. Decline in coal exports cause a reduction in economic growth
According to expected performance of the macro economy for 2012, actual economic growth was predicted to be about 12 percent. It is quite lower compared to last year’s 17 percent growth in the economy. This reduction of economic growth was influenced by a reduction in China’s economic growth. The greater part of Mongolia’s exports go to China. China’s economic growth became sluggish due to the world financial and economic crisis and the European debt crisis. For instance, external and internal demand reduction caused China’s steel making production to decrease and its coal imports decreased by 10.7 percent in July of 2012 against the previous month. It led coal exporters of Mongolia to cut the coal export volume and some stopped exporting.
8. ‘Healthy Child’ campaign gives results
The Government implemented a nationwide campaign called ‘Healthy Child’ with the purpose to involve all children aged 0-18 in health examinations and built an e-database of the health state of all children. In the campaign, 816,941 children or 83.6 percent of all children were involved.
Some 68 percent of children involved in the health examinations have been found to have health problem such as cavities. Also, treatment activities for children who were diagnosed with illness started treatment.
9. Former President N. Enkhbayar received imprisonment sentence
Former President and Chairman of MPRP N. Enkhbayar was accused of misusing his official position and sentenced to prison. Last August, the Sukhbaatar District Court sentenced him to 4 years in prison. The Court of Appeal later confirmed the sentence. However on December 7, the supervising court at the Supreme Court discussed the case and remitted the sentence to 2.6 years. President Enkhbayar was accused of misusing official position in the privatization of the ‘Urgoo’ UB Administration-owned hotel and Ulaanbaatar Times Newspaper, causing a financial loss to the State.
10. Illegally smuggled skeleton of a ‘Tyrannosaurus Bataar’ dinosaur will be returned to Mongolia
Mongolia drew world attention to the case of a very rare Tyrannosaurus Bataar dinosaur skeleton which was uncovered in Mongolia’s Gobi desert and smuggled to the USA. It was attempted to be sold by Mr.Eric Prokopi through ‘Heritage’ Auctions. A relevant lawsuit was settled and the dinosaur fossil was returned to Mongolia’s ownership. The event makes Mongolia known worldwide for safeguarding its rare finds legally and joined international conventions and treaties. The illegally-smuggled dinosaur skeleton will soon be returned to Mongolia.