During its weekly meeting, Cabinet updated the list of countries and territories where Mongolian state officials and their family members and business partners are banned from opening bank accounts and to access the ownership of property and real estate, adding Singapore, Switzerland and Hong Kong to the list.
Cabinet Secretariat G.Zandanshatar clarified that Cabinet reviewed this issue at the request of some lawmakers who said that despite the International Monetary Fund identifying Singapore, Switzerland and Hong Kong as being home to illegal tax shelters, Cabinet did not include them in its blacklist. G.Zandanshatar emphasized that Cabinet approved a plan to enhance the legal and regulatory environment for improving tax transparency and tax collection operations, and combating money laundering in Mongolia as the European Union included Mongolia in its list of tax havens on Tuesday.
During the Wednesday meeting, Cabinet members agreed to exempt VAT and import tariff on fodder of 12 different types and hay from December 4 to June 30, 2018 to help provide herders with cheaper hay and fodder. Cabinet agreed to fund a program to support the manufacturing of livestock products through a loan of 500 million USD, which will be granted by China to Mongolia, and Minister of Finance Ch.Khurelbaatar was tasked with establishing the loan agreement between Mongolia and China. Under the program, meat and livestock products will be exported from Mongolia to China through border checkpoints at Khangi in Dornogovi Province and Shiveekhuren in Umnugovi Province.
Cabinet members approved a plan to implement decisions from the 16th meeting of the Mongolia-South Korea intergovernmental commission on trade, economy, science and technological cooperation.
During the meeting, Cabinet agreed to dismiss Head of the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority (MRPA) D.Baatartsogt, appointing Kh.Kherlen as the new head of the organization. Kh.Kherlen served as head of the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority’s Cadastral Department from 2000 to 2006, and has been working in the private sector since 2012.
