The Mongolia-Japan Business Forum took place last week in Ulaanbaatar.

The Ministry of Industry and Agriculture of Mongolia and Shizuoka Prefecture signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the agriculture industry last May. In the framework of the cooperation MoU, the Mongolia-Japan Business Forum was held.

President of Mongolia Ts.Elbegdorj made a state visit to Japan from July 21-24^th. During the visit, the Government of Mongolia held the Mongolia-Japan Business Forum in collaboration with the Japanese Business Federation (Keidanren).  As part of this, the Mongolia-Japan Business Forum was held in Ulaanbaatar last week.

Mongolia and Japan have agreed on a free trade accord. The business forum came to be after the two countries signed a joint statement to increase Mongolia-Japan trade and investment.

Japanese officials and businessmen of Shizuoka Prefecture arrived in Mongolia seeking closer collaboration with Mongolian businessmen.  In return, Mongolian manufacturers expressed interest in exporting their products to Japan. For instance, there are businessmen who want to export khalkh green tea to Japan. Some Mongolian businessmen expressed appreciation for the opportunity to import new or second hand industry facilities through leasing. The higher cost of Japanese facilities is not accessible to some manufacturers.

Officials of Shizuoka Prefecture offered long term training courses to Mongolian engineers at the Central Region Power Plants in Shizuoka.