International Relations & Co-operation
Ulaanbaatar Dialogue (UBD)
Mongolia first proposed the idea of creating a regional security dialogue in Northeast Asia in the early 1980’s. At that time, Mongolia called for an all-Asian convention prohibiting the use of force to prevent conflicts. In 2000, Mongolia started studying the possibility of a new official dialogue which led to a conference under the theme “Security Perspectives of Central and Northeast Asia: Ulaanbaatar as a New Helsinki” organized by the Mongolian Institute for Strategic Studies in 2008. Conceived by the President of Mongolia, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asia Security Initiative (UBD) was publicly announced during the VII Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracy in Ulaanbaatar on 29 April 2013. Mongolia enjoys friendly relations with all countries of Northeast Asia, namely, the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, Japan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea as well as the United States of America. Mongolia has no territorial disputes with any of its neighboring countries. The country has played an active role in international multilateral mechanisms including the UN, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the Organization for Security and C-Operation in Europe (OSCE). The importance of the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue lies in the implementation of a dialogue mechanism in NEA.
UBD Overall Goals
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Building confidence in NEA: As confidence-building measures are increasingly important aspects in the prevention and reduction of military tensions between nations, UBD aims to build resilient confidence and diminish deeply-rooted mistrust through open discussions in Northeast Asia.
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Fostering mutual understanding and promoting regional cooperation: To achieve mutual trust, parties need to understand the perspective of others. In this regard, intercultural events such as NEA Mayors Forum and NEA Youth Symposium were held as part of UBD to encourage a wide range of cooperation in the region.
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Setting up an institutional mechanism of dialogue: UBD aims to reach long term goals of regional peace by setting up institutional mechanisms of dialogue in Northeast Asia. The ultimate goal of the Initiative is to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula and help promote confidence building and peacemaking in Northeast Asia.
UBD Principles
Mongolia invites regional partners to engage in dialogue and debate on region-wide issues of common interest. Mongolia understands that the ties that bind all interested sides can bring peace building and stability on the Korean Peninsula as well as in the region. To reach its goals, UBD prioritizes common interests, mutual respects, mutual trust, multilateral talks, and openness and transparency as its main principles.
UBD Parties
Mongolia, the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, Japan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and the United States of America are the major partners of the initiative. Other parties from international organizations as well as non-regional countries are always welcome to participate in the process.
UBD Forms
Recognizing that Track 1 discussions are official, wherein diplomats and government delegates usually express and justify their official positions, the UBD is designed to focus mainly on Track 1.5 and Track 2 efforts, since UBD intends to avoid overlapping or competing with other forms of dialogues. Track 1.5 and Track 2 channels are the most effective instruments for promoting mutual understanding. Officials and politicians get together with academics and talk about security issues under the Chatham House rule which contribute to mutual understanding and greater confidence. The outcome of UBD should be formal and practical security cooperation and consultation.
UBD Priority Areas
The UBD is designed to resolve or mitigate those issues that affect regional stability. To that end, this forum seeks to enhance security and cooperation in the following fields: traditional security issues, non-traditional security issues, energy connectivity, infrastructural development, environmental protection.
UBD Achievements
Within the “Ulaanbaatar Dialogue Initiative,” Mongolia has hosted a series of events focused on Northeast Asia that aimed to promote confidence building among the regional states. For example, the International Conference “Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security issues,” “Northeast Asian Women Parliamentarians meeting” (25 November 2013), “The Northeast Asian City Mayor’s forum” (18–19 August 2014), Conference on Northeast Asian Energy Connectivity (17–18 March 2015), Northeast Youth Symposium for Regional Cooperation (20 May 2015) respectively took place in Ulaanbaatar.
The International Conference “Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security” has been held annually since 2014. The conference is now evolving into an open and inclusive mechanism, bringing together representatives from all countries in the sub-region. The discussion topics cover a broad range of issues including security, energy, infrastructure, green development, opportunities of humanitarian cooperation and others. Each Conference was attended by more than 200 international and national delegates and representatives of the government entities, the United Nations and other international organizations and academia. The Government invitees to the conference include not only the Northeast Asian countries – China, the ROK, the DPRK, Japan, Russia and Mongolia, but also officials from other continents, including Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, the European Union and others. Since 2017, the conference upgraded to 1.5 levels gathering together both government delegates, whereas diplomats and officials usually express and justify their official positions on Track 1 and academia on Track 2.
The Trilateral Summit
The trilateral summit among the presidents of Mongolia, China, and Russia on the sideline of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a mechanism that maximizes the profits and benefits of a three-state economic cooperation that has been directed by Mongolia’s effort to establish a permanent institution, which supports a trilateral dialogue. In this sense, Mongolia’s initiation of researching it’s two neighbor states’ policies and stances in the region as well as on global issues and Mongolia’s attempt to coherently explain it’s policies and positions in order to gain support was crucial in building the aforementioned structure. The Three-State-Relations has reached a new structure and subjects based on Mongolia’s tireless pursuit of the successful initiation of the trilateral dialogue mechanism. This can be observed from the 2014 Dushanbe (Tajikistan), 2015 Ufa (Russia), 2016 Tashkent (Uzbekistan), 2018 Qingdao (China), 2019 Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) summits.
The Trilateral Meeting
“The Third Neighbor Policy” is a hallmark product of the active, independent and multilateral (multifaceted) foreign policy principles that Mongolia implemented, aimed at neutralizing its relations with its neighbors based on its historical lessons and the disadvantageous geographical context, starting from the 90s. “The Third Neighbor Policy” proves the unique characteristic of the Mongolian mindset, which can be described as: limitless and without any boundaries, overcoming all obstacles by seeking everything that is new. “The Third Neighbor Policy” has been deeply embedded in the foreign policy of Mongolia through the significant and essential decisions reflected on both “The National Security Framework of Mongolia” as well as “The Foreign Policy Framework of Mongolia” starting from 1990, which now has become a new aim for a government policy and theoretical-practical international relations’ research studies. The former framework declares that “By following the Third Neighbor Policy, Mongolia will develop a bilateral as well as a multilateral relations regarding social, cultural, economical, and political cooperation with highly developed democratic countries” in 2010. The revised version of the latter framework emphasizes that “On a policy level, for the first time, Mongolia has decided to widen and develop a cooperative partnership relations with the western-eastern nations and associations, the EU, Japan as well as the USA within the structure of The Third Neighbor Policy” in 2011. The US, Japan and Mongolia trilateral meeting is a Mongolian base medium as to exchange perspectives on the regional as well as the multilateral cooperation and integration with regards to the third-neighbors of Mongolia, starting from 2015. Trilateral meeting held in 2015 in New York (USA), in 2017 in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), in 2018 in Tokyo (Japan), 2020 in Washington (USA).
Baasankhuu G
International Economic Law
Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax, Law on Ratification (3 January 2020)
On 3 January 2020, the Parliament of Mongolia adopted a law on the ratification of the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax. The Parliament of Mongolia sets certain limitations to apply the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax.
According to subparagraph 1 (a) Article 30 of the Convention, Mongolia enjoys the right to not provide any form of assistance in relation to taxes of other parties in any of the categories listed in subparagraph 1 of Article 2, including:
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Taxes on income, profits, capital gains or net wealth which are imposed on behalf of political subdivisions or local authorities of a Party,
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Compulsory social security contributions payable to general government or to social security institutions established under public law,
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Taxes in other categories, except customs duties, imposed by one of the Parties, namely:
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Estate, inheritance or gift taxes;
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Taxes on immovable property;
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General consumption taxes, such as value added or sales taxes;
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Specific taxes on goods and services such as excise tax;
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Taxes on the use or ownership of motor vehicles;
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Taxes on the use or ownership of movable property other than motor vehicles;
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Any other taxes.
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The law specifies that Mongolia is not entitled to provide any administrative assistance in relation to the payment of taxes as defined in the Article 2.1 of the Convention, resolution of any debts invoiced based on single or several tax meanings or payment of any penalty.
United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts, Law on Ratification (15 May 2020)
The Parliament of Mongolia has passed legislation to accede to the UN Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts. This is an important consideration for Mongolia, a landlocked transit country, seeking to broaden and deepen its trade linkages so as to fully benefit from the country’s participation in regional and global value chains. The legal environment that facilitates seamless processes for domestic and cross-border trade is an important element in reducing trade costs.
Financing Аgreement for Capital City Cable Transport Project, Law on Ratification (14 May 2020)
Оn 14 May 2020, the Parliament of Mongolia passed a bill on ratifying the Financing Agreement for Capital City Cable Transport Project signed between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of Mongolia. The overall purpose of the Cable Car project is to improve public transport service and increase their variety and accessibility, develop tourism, and reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.
Financing Agreements for Projects
Financing agreements for development projects that were approved by the International Development Association and ratified by the Parliament of Mongolia in 2020 are as follows:
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Livestock Commercialization Project concurred on 10 April 2020. The objective of the Livestock Commercialization Project is to improve livestock health, productivity, and commercialization of targeted value chains in project locations and to provide immediate and effective response in the event of an eligible crisis or emergency;
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Additional Financing to Ulaanbaatar Clean Air Project concurred on 10 April 2020. The objective of the Ulaanbaatar Clean Air Project is to enable consumers in ger areas to access heating appliances producing less particulate matter emissions and to further develop selected medium-term particulate matter abatement measures in Ulaanbaatar in coordination with development partners;
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Additional Financing to Third Sustainable Livelihoods Project concurred on 14 May 2020. The objective of the Third Sustainable Livelihoods Project is to improve governance and community participation for the planning and delivery of priority investments in rural areas of Mongolia;
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Ulaanbaatar Heating Sector Improvement Project concurred on 14 May 2020. The objective of the Ulaanbaatar Heating Sector Improvement Project is to enable access to and improve efficiency of district heating in selected project areas; and
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Emergency Relief and Employment Support Project concurred on 29 October 2020. The objective of the Emergency Relief and Employment Support Project is to provide jobseekers and micro-entrepreneurs in Mongolia with improved access to labour market opportunities and to provide temporary relief to eligible workers in response to COVID-19 crisis.
Financial Support for COVID-19
The Government of Mongolia is responding proactively to manage the negative impacts of COVID-19, yet the country remains vulnerable to the pandemic. Limited diversification of Mongolia’s economy also makes it particularly vulnerable to exogenous shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, triggering a severe economic slowdown.
The Parliament of Mongolia has passed legislations ratifying the following agreements to mitigate the adverse health, social and economic impacts caused by the pandemic and to alleviate poverty:
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the Agreement for COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan signed by the Government of Mongolia and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) ratified on 03 December 2020;
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the Loan Agreement for COVID-19 Rapid Response Program signed by the Government of Mongolia and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank ratified on 29 October 2020; and
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the Financing Agreement for COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Project approved by the International Development Association ratified on 23 April 2020.
Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA)
On 12 December 2019, the State Great Khural (the parliament) ratified the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement. This agreement came into force in Mongolia on 1 January 2021 and this is the first time that Mongolia joined a regional free trade pact. This shall be an uplift for the country’s participation in the integration of international trade and economics. However, due to the difficulties in international transportation because of the worldwide pandemic, Mongolia is also facing major difficulties at its major border port, Erlian – Zamyn Uud through which the country receives its imports from most of the countries. In particular, there has been a halt at this border port following the implementation of China’s strict measures to keep the domestic infections under control regarding the Winter Olympic Games that took place in February 2022. Authorities of both countries are actively working on solving the issue.
Law on Intellectual Property and Copyright
The Intellectual Property Law was newly adopted on 23 January 2020 and came into force on 1 December 2020. Previously, Mongolia had separate laws in copyright, patent, trademark and geographical indications. However, these laws replicated with each other in some areas as well as had conflicts in certain regulations. Therefore, the lawmakers eliminated these shortcomings by consolidating the common relations that are repeated in these laws into one uniform law to make application and compliance with the laws simpler and to prevent conflicts and loopholes between the laws. In line with the newly adopted Intellectual Property Law, the Copyright Law was renewed on 6 May 2021.
Investor-State Dispute Settlement
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In February 2021, WM Mining LLC (registered in the U.S.) submitted a claim against Mongolia to the International Center for Settlement Disputes (ICSID) regarding its gold exploration projects. Currently, the case is at its initial stage of the legal proceedings. The source of law for this dispute is the Treaty between the United States of America and Mongolia Concerning the Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investment (1994). This is the second legal dispute at this arbitration centre to which Mongolia is a party. The first case was opened in 2004 by the claim of Alstom Power Italia SpA (an Italian company) and Alstom SpA (an Italian company) against Mongolia, however, the Tribunal issued an order taking note of the discontinuance of arbitration upon the parties’ settlement.
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In 2010, China Heilongjiang International Economic & Technical Cooperative Corp., Beijing Shougang Mining Investment Company Ltd., and Qinhuangdaoshi Qinlong International Industrial Co. Ltd. collectively submitted a claim against the Government of Mongolia for the restoration of its mining license (to conduct mining) of an iron ore deposit. The arbitration award was rendered on 30 June 2017 and the Tribunal ruled that it had no jurisdiction to hear the Claimants’ claims according to article 8.3 of the Agreement between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Mongolian People’s Republic Concerning the Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investments. Article 8.3 of the Agreement reads “If a dispute involving the amount of compensation for expropriation cannot be settled within six months after resort to negotiations as specified in paragraph 1 of this Article, it may be submitted at the request of either party to an ad hoc arbitral tribunal. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply if the investor concerned has resorted to the procedure specified in paragraph 2 of this Article.” The claimant pursued to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2019, and to the appellate court in 2021, requesting the courts to vacate the arbitration award. However, their claim was rejected by the decision rendered on 24 August 2021.
Baigal Enkh-Amgalan
International Criminal Law
Amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on the Crime of Aggression and War Crimes, Law on Ratification (31 January 2020)
On January 31, the Parliament supported a bill ratifying the 2010 Amendment of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which Mongolia signed in 2000 and ratified in 2002. In 2010, States Parties agreed to make amendments to the Statute adding the definition of the crimes and the conditions for the exercise of jurisdiction over these crimes.
Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court, Law on Ratification (17 December 2020)
The ratification of the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court is significant for Mongolia to fulfill its obligations under the Rome Statute of the ICC and implement the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council.
The Agreement between Mongolia and the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China Concerning Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Law on Ratification (24 April 2020)
The Parliament of Mongolia concurred with the agreement between Mongolia and the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China Concerning Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters signed between Mongolia and the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China on 26 June 2019. Mongolia has a bilateral treaty on mutual legal assistance in civil and criminal matters with the People’s Republic of China; however, this treaty is not effective in the Special Administrative Regions of China. Therefore, the agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters was established with the Special Administrative Regions. The establishment of the agreement will ensure legislative bodies of the parties to collaborate in investigation, judicial proceedings, and other prosecution actively.
Treaty between Mongolia and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on Extradition, Law on Ratification (24 April 2020)
The treaty between Mongolia and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on Extradition serves as a legal framework for the two countries’ law enforcement agencies to cooperate in arresting and extraditing fled criminals.
Inter-American Convention on Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad, Law on Ratification (8 May 2020)
The Parliament of Mongolia adopted a law on the ratification of the Inter-American Convention on Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad which was adopted by the 23rd Session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States and entered into force on 12 April 1996.
J. Battogtokh
B. Sosorbaram
Use or Threat of Force
Intergovernmental Agreement between Mongolia and Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Defense Sector, Law on Ratification (17 December 2020)
The Intergovernmental Agreement between Mongolia and Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Defense Sector is significant to intensify mutual understanding at the regional level and to strengthen the capacity of armed forces of the two countries. The Agreement provides a legal environment for developing cooperation in the defense sector and expands United Nations Peacekeeping training, interns, military hospital, military training, scientific research and defense industry.
J. Battogtokh
B. Sosorbaram
International Environmental Law
Cooperation Agreement between the Government of Mongolia and the Green Climate Fund, Law on Ratification (24 April 2020)
The Cooperation Agreement is essential for the successful implementation of seven projects by Mongolia with investment from the Green Climate Fund to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
J. Battogtokh
B. Sosorbaram
Other Topics
Cooperation Agreement on Social Protection between Mongolia and the Czech Republic, Law on Ratification (24 April 2020)
The ratification of the Cooperation Agreement on Social Protection between Mongolia and the Czech Republic allows Mongolian expats in the Czech Republic to receive their old-age pension in the country or have their years of service in the Czech Republic included in the calculation of their entitlement after returning to their home country.
The 2010 Amendments to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, Law on Ratification (17 December 2020)
The Manila amendments to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers were adopted on 25 June 2021, marking a major revision of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. The 2021 amendments entered into force on 1 January 2012 under the tacit acceptance procedure with the aim of bringing the Convention up to date with developments since its initial adoption and to address issues that are anticipated to emerge in the foreseeable future.
J. Battogtokh
B. Sosorbaram