Briefing journalists at the end of the regular meeting of the Government yesterday, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy D.Zorigt said that the 16 decisions taken included one to allocate funds from the budget to organize the Mongolian Nations’ Children’s Art Festival in Ulaanbaatar in July. Children between 10 and 18 from the Russian provinces of Buriatia, Tuva, Sakha, Khalimag, Irkutsk and Agiin and from Inner Mongolia and Shinjan Uygur autonomous regions in China will take part in the festival.
The meeting also decided to submit to Parliament law drafts on Customs Tariff and Tax and Value Added Taxation.   

The most important issue discussed was the State policy on developing the mineral resources sector through a national program until 2012. The meeting approved the drafts and decided to submit these to Parliament. It also wanted a fresh state policy on the oil sector to be formulated. Both assume special importance as mining will play a key role in Mongolia’s economic growth in the coming decades. Zorigt said that the Government plans to encourage state organizations and the domestic private sector to take a larger part in exploitation of mineral resources.    

He said he had presented a report on the oil sector at the meeting. He is responsible for preparing a policy document within April 1, setting out trends until 2015, which can then be passed into law.    

Mongolia has produced 300,000 tons of oil since 1993, earning MNT57 billion through its export. Activity in the sector has been intensified since 2006 and 18 exploitation agreements have been concluded. Altogether 21 companies produce oil in Dornogobi aimag and two of these have discovered new oil fields.    

The Ministry for Mineral Resources and Energy plans to cooperate with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science to train specialists to work in the petroleum sector.