Denying
criticism that the coalition government’s only success has been its decision to
allocate MNT1.5 million to each citizen, Minister of Roads, Transport, and
Urban Construction Kh. Battulga has said the government has actually adopted a
long-term and visionary development policy. Some 100,000 apartments will be
constructed, of which 75,000 are to be in Ulaanbaatar.  Migrants in the ger areas will be employed in
this building program, thus giving them income to repay loans taken to buy
their own apartments, which they would also help build.

Another
showpiece project will be the new railway routes, he said. They will ultimately
connect Oyu Tolgoi and Tavan Tolgoi in the southern Gobi
region with the Trans-Siberian Railway, affording direct access to export
markets through Vladivostock. This will make Mongolia
less dependent on China,
which would continue to offer access to other sea ports. “A government cannot
take decisions,” he said, “only on the basis of immediate economic benefits,
nor can it allow the demands of the market to dictate all our national
choices.” Noting that “70% of our foreign trade is with China”, most of it consisting of consumer goods
and food, he asked, “What would happen if China closed its borders one day?
Integrating our railway only with China’s will make us 100%
economically dependent on one country. This is something no nation can afford
to risk,” Battulga said.