During a recent discussion on Mongolia in the House of Commons, Chris Bryant, Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the U.K. Government, offered all British help to ensure that “the 3 million people who live in Mongolia have not just the structures of democracy, but the freedom of expression and association that go with them”. He said the British Government was “conscious that we need to do more to reinforce our relationship with Mongolia” and would continue to work so that “the reciprocal interests between Mongolia and the United Kingdom are upheld”.

Earlier, John Grogan, a Labor member of the British Parliament and also chairman of the all-party group on Mongolia, and a co-chair of the British-Mongolian chamber of commerce, had reminded his fellow MPs of the declaration made at the time Prime Minister Tony Blair met the Mongolian President in April 2007. This said, “Our long association has given the UK a special position in Mongolia, with the Mongolians looking to Britain for advice in their transition to democracy and a market economy.” The involvement of Rio Tinto, an Anglo-Australian company, in the Oyu Tolgoi project “means that there is very much a British interest” in Mongolia, he said, adding that “all political parties in Mongolia are determined to ensure that ordinary Mongolian people get a benefit” from the “8,000 deposits of 440 different minerals across Mongolia” of which only 200 are currently being exploited.

Grogan expressed the hope that MIAT will introduce direct flights to Ulaanbaatar “before too long”, and recalled how Mongolia “voted at the last minute for London to host the Olympics, rejecting the blandishments of Paris, and we are eternally grateful for that”. Many institutions in Mongolia, he said, look to Britain for advice and examples. “The old public service television channel has remodeled itself on the BBC, and is independent of Government. The Education Minister, who recently visited Britain, is very keen to introduce some of the Cambridge education board”s standards to Mongolia.”