Challenges Come with Mongolia’s Opportunities

Mr.Thomas Mirow, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, was in Mongolia for a brief visit in April. This was his first time here, but not the first visit by an EBRD President.  This came when Mr. Jean Limier visited Mongolia in 2006, to open the bank’s representative office in Ulaanbaatar. Mr. Mirow answered wide-ranging questions from MMJ during his stay here.
 
You have paid a first ever working visit to Mongolia. What were your anticipations before coming here? How were they different from what you have experienced?

I was very pleased to pay my first official visit to Mongolia. It is always important to have the opportunity to meet our partners both in government and in business and to see the impact our activities have in the countries where we operate.
I had the pleasure to meet the President, the Speaker of Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, the Governor of the Bank of Mongolia and representatives of the business community. I am also pleased to report that during our visit the EBRD signed the acquisition of a 25 per cent-stake in a Mongolia dedicated equity fund, the Mongolia Opportunities Fund.
I was very impressed by the current dynamics in Mongolia, the scope and breadth of our projects and activities in the country and by what I saw and heard during my visit both in Ulaanbaatar and to the Oyu Tolgoi mine in the South Gobi. The EBRD shares the Mongolian authorities’ view about the enormous potential of your country. But naturally these opportunities come with challenges of their own such as ensuring that mining revenues are managed in a proper and transparent way in order to benefit all of the Mongolian people.

What were the objectives of your visit to Mongolia? Have you accomplished your objectives? What were the accomplishments of this visit?

My meetings with the Mongolian authorities provided a better understanding of the challenges Mongolia is facing and I was able to discuss ways the EBRD can further support Mongolia in its transition process.
We looked at the country’s infrastructure needs of Mongolia, both in the mining sector, but also in the power sector and in municipal services, as well as in the corporate sector. We look forward to continuing our successful cooperation in Mongolia.

The EBRD signed an agreement to invest USD 10 million in the Mongolian Investment Fund. What do you expect from this investment?  

The US$ 10 million equity stake in the Mongolia Opportunities Fund  is aimed at increasing the availability of equity capital for the growing sector of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Mongolia. Importantly it is dedicated to the non-natural resource sector, supporting companies along the mining supply chain operating both in services and manufacturing, food processing and food supply sectors, as well as small scale infrastructure development.
The EBRD  investment will also contribute to the development of a private equity market in Mongolia and provide support to the country’s small and medium-sized businesses at a time when long-term equity financing remains scarce.

Please subscribe to our journal to read more.