Continuing her official visit to Mongolia, Helen Clark, the head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), opened an international development conference in Ulaanbaatar on Thursday. The conference was organized by the UNDP and the Mongolian government.

In her speech, Clark said the exploitation of mineral resources could lead to enormous benefits, and she cited Norway, Canada, Australia, Botswana, and Chile. She said these countries have exploited their mineral resources using appropriate policies and have improved human development as a result.

On the other hand, she said, some countries have faced a natural resources “curse,” resulting in mismanagement, corruption, and political instability. In fact, she said, some countries with abundant mineral resources have developed more slowly than countries with few mineral resources.

Clark said if Mongolia implements good governance and a proper plan of development, it will not face this “curse,” and could improve health and education services to its citizens. She said the country’s choice of how to spend revenue from natural resources will determine future social and economic stability. Since Mongolia is in the early stages of its natural resources development, Clark said the country has an opportunity to implement policies that ensure the fair distribution of that revenue and avoid the natural resources “curse.”

Clark ended her speech by thanking the government of Mongolia for 50 years of cooperation with the United Nations, and said she believed that relationship will continue and strengthen.

Among the topics covered at the conference were the correlation between macroeconomics and human development policies; the responsible exploitation of natural resources; improving management of resources; determining priorities and challenges; and the use of aid and support from donor countries.