Parliament’s State Structure Standing Committee and the Ulaanbaatar Mayor’s Office hosted a discussion on the amendments to the capital’s legal status on December 20 at the State Palace. Senior Advisor to the Mayor of Ulaanbaatar D.Munkh-Erdene introduced the amendments at the meeting. D.Munkh-Erdene noted that the Capital’s Legal Status was approved by Parliament in July 5, 1994, and the socio-economic state and population of Ulaanbaatar in 1994 was drastically different than that of today. He cited that 23 years ago, the population of Ulaanbaatar was 589,000, which has risen to 1.3 million, and there are more than 400,000 vehicles registered in Ulaanbaatar, an increase of 19.5 folds since 1994. He added that Ulaanbaatar’s GDP was 44 billion MNT in 1994, which had jumped to 15 trillion MNT in 2016. He emphasized that the extreme changes in these figures highlights the need for the capital to change its legal status. D.Munkh-Erdene stressed that the authors of the amendments believe that the following changes will stimulate Ulaanbaatar’s development.

• Legislate policies being executed by Ulaanbaatar’s leadership
• Adopt development models of developed countries’ capitals in Ulaanbaatar
• Promote manufacturing through innovate technology based on knowledge
• Reform Ulaanbaatar’s administrative rules
• Renew the rights and responsibilities of Ulaanbaatar’s residents

Member of Parliament D.Erdenebat noted that legislating policies being executed by Ulaanbaatar’s leadership is unnecessary, and a lot of advantages from urban re-planning and the capital general development plan, which were withdrawn in 2012, should have been included in the amendments. MP D.Terbishdagva said, “People follow their rights of the Constitution that provide Mongolian citizens with the freedom of movement and residence in any place within the country’s territory, but they are not able enjoy their constitutional rights to a healthy and safe environment and to be protected against environmental pollution and ecological imbalance.” D.Terbishdagva asked D.Munkh-Erdene if any measures and solutions to tackle this challenge have been included in the amendments. D.Munkh-Erdene pointed out that to reduce rural to urban migration, establishing a satellite town and supporting enterprises that will operate in the satellite town and its residents with tax facilities are outlined in the amendments.