Prime Minister S.Batbold’s schedule in New York has been
very busy. He has addressed the summit meeting of the UN General Assembly which
is considering implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and
has held talks with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and international leaders
like Prime Minister of Bhutan Jigme Yoser Thinley, and former British Prime
Minister Tony Blair.

The Prime Minister told the meeting on realization of MDGs
that a national review of progress in the last five years had concluded that
the work had gone well and was 66 percent on course. Accepting that poverty has
not been significantly reduced, Batbold said the Government was focused on generating
employment, and was expanding vocational training facilities so that enough
Mongolians can find a job as its mining sector takes off. He also talked of
measures such as allocation of cash benefits, developing open governance, passing
a law on budgetary stability and increased investments in health and education.

The Prime Minister will address the 65th session of the
UN General Assembly on September 27 when he is expected to explain Mongolian
policy on international issues.  He is
also likely to refer to the special problems of landlocked countries.

At their meeting on Monday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
applauded Mongolia’s success in the MDGs program, and appreciated the service
of Mongolian troops in UN peacekeeping operations. Batbold gave the
Secretary-General a report on the cabinet meeting in the Gobi desert. “We
did it to attract the world community”s attention to the consequences of
climate change, including desertification,” he said.

The Bhutanese side
had asked for a meeting with Prime Minister Batbold to seek Mongolia’s support
in its bid to be elected to a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council in
2013-2014. The Prime Minister said he would carefully consider the proposal. Mongolia
is also planning to establish diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Bhutan
before long. The Mongolian Embassy in India now looks after the country’s
interests in Bhutan.

The Prime Minister met with Tony Blair, former Prime
Minister of Great Britain and now Special Envoy of the Quartet (UN, European
Union, Russia and USA) to West Asia on Monday. They discussed issues of Mongolia-Britain
cooperation and international matters. Blair appreciated the success of the
Mongolian government to improve people’s lives and said, “Your policy to
introduce European standards is wise, but it is important that you select only the
best ones and adapt them to local conditions.”