During its plenary session on January 29, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene introduced members of his Cabinet to Parliament, and the new ministers took oath to Parliament in accordance with Article 39.4 of the Constitution and Article 23.2 of the Law on the Government of Mongolia.
Cabinet consists of 14 ministries, including six ministries of general function and eight sectoral ministries.
Eight of the 17 cabinet members, namely S.Amarsaikhan, Ts.Nyamdorj, B.Battsetseg, B.Javkhlan, L.Enkh-Amgalan, S.Enkhbold, N.Urtnasan and Ch.Nomin, are first timers in a Cabinet role, while Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs Kh.Nyambaatar, Minister of Defense G.Saikhanbayar, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare A.Ariunzaya, Minister of Construction and Urban Development B.Munkhbaatar, Minister of Road and Transport Development L.Khaltar, Minister of Mining and Light Industry G.Yondon, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry Z.Mendsaikhan and Minister of Energy N.Tavinbekh were reappointed.
The new Cabinet has a record number of female ministers, four in total, three of whom are newly appointed.
The Constitution allows only the prime minister and up to four members of Cabinet to hold dual office as Parliament member. S.Amarsaikhan, Kh.Nyambaatar, L.Enkh-Amgalan and B.Javkhlan hold duel office in Parliament in addition to the prime minister.
GENERAL FUNCTION MINISTERS
Lawmaker S.Amarsaikhan was appointed as a deputy prime minister. He was born in 1973 in Ulaanbaatar. He graduated from Fresno City College in 1996, and from University of the Southwest in law in 2000. He served as consular officer of the Embassy of Mongolia in China, as investment and foreign trade manager of American Trade and Development LLC, as CEO of Oyunii-Undraa Group, as representative of the Ulaanbaatar City Council from 2012 to 2020, and as mayor of Ulaanbaatar from 2019 to 2020.
Ts.Nyamdorj, who served as minister of justice for many years, was appointed as a head of the Cabinet Secretariat. He was born in 1956 in Uvs Province. He graduated from Irkutsk State University with a bachelor’s degree in law in 1976, and from Saint Petersburg State University (SPSU) with a master’s degree in law in 1981. He served four terms as minister of justice. Ts.Nyamdorj served as a prosecutor of the State General Prosecutor’s Office, as first deputy minister of justice from 1990 to 1992, and as a lawmaker from 1992 to 2020.
Lawmaker B.Javkhlan was appointed as finance minister. He was born in 1975 in Darkhan-Uul Province. He graduated from the National University of Mongolia (NUM) with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1997 and studied banking economics at Indiana University. He worked as first vice president of Mongol Bank from 2010 to 2016. He was elected to Parliament n 2016 and 2020.
Newly-appointed Minister of Environment and Tourism N.Urtnasan was born in 1975 in Selenge Province. She graduated from NUM with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1998, and specialized in environmental journalism in Japan and Germany. She worked as a journalist and head of news service at Eagle TV from 1998 to 2000, as editor and reporter in charge of environment and responsible mining at the Mongolian National Broadcaster, as CEO of New World Television, as director of
Marketing Department of Uni C&C LLC, and as CEO of Uni Solar LLC.
B.Battsetseg was appointed as minister of foreign affairs. She was born in 1973 in Ulaanbaatar. She graduated from NUM with a bachelor’s degree in international relations in 1996, from the University of Finance and Economics with a master’s degree in business administration in 2000, and studied at Maastricht School of Management. She worked as CEO of Munkhiin Useg LLC, as CEO of Az-Khur LLC, as department head at the Foreign Investment and Trade Agency, as advisor to the minister of finance, and as deputy minister of foreign affairs from 2016 to 2020.
SECTOR MINISTERS
Parliamentarian L.Enkh-Amgalan was appointed as minister of education and science. He was born in 1970 in Khuvsgul Province. He studied information technology engineering and economy at the SPSU, Dakota State University and Hangdong University. He served as secretary of Montsame Agency, as CEO of Interpress LLC, as first vice president of MCS Group, chairman of the board of Unitel Group. He has been elected as lawmaker since 2012.
New Minister of Culture Ch.Nomin was born in 1983 in Ulaanbaatar. She studied economics and accounting at Cambridge College, University of East Anglia and Harvard Business School. She served as CEO of Terelj Suikh LLC from 2008 to 2011. She has been CEO of Mongol HD TV since 2011.
General Director of the Second State Central Hospital S.Enkhbold was chosen as minister of health. He was born in 1979 in Ulaanbaatar. He graduated from the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences and University of Health Science. He
served as head of the Diagnostic Imaging Center of the First State Central Hospital from 2007 to 2019.
The prime minister said the appointments were made in light of the professional qualifications of the nominees. In accordance with the amendments to the Constitution, the prime minister appoints Cabinet ministers. Therefore, no voting was conducted at the plenary session of Parliament.
During the session, the prime minister highlighted that the government will maintain the continuity of government policy and complete major projects directly related to the country’s development, such as oil refinery, railway projects, natural gas pipelines, the Tavan Tolgoi Power Plant and the Erdeneburen Hydropower Plant.
He introduced the four core government objectives, underlining, “First, the government will work quickly to develop a comprehensive plan to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccination of the population will be our priority. The government will promptly implement a comprehensive plan to support companies, employers and small and medium-sized businesses most affected by the pandemic. Based on the recommendations of professional organizations, we will gradually intensify our efforts to bring back citizens abroad.”
“Second, we need to prepare for the post-pandemic economy. The government will accelerate the development of science, technology and innovation. We will support and partner with national companies that have successfully competed in the global market for intelligence, cloud computing in fintech during the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The National Wealth Fund will be established to distribute natural resources fairly and equitably. We will work closely with Parliament to drastically improve the Oyu Tolgoi agreement.”
“Third, the government will create a new national system to support the middle class, and submit bills on education reform before the spring session of Parliament. Over the next four years, the National Organ Transplant Center, National Cardiovascular Center, Burn Center, and National Cancer Center will be built.”
“Fourth, we will support the establishment of an independent justice system in all respects and work harder to build an e-nation. All government services will be integrated in the e-Mongolia platform. The e-transition will be up to 90 percent by 2024. In this regard, the Ministry of e-Development will be established. Our government will maintain the correct policy continuity of all previous governments.”
