Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and Norway

by Ya.Indra

Ulaanbaatar, /MONTSAME/ For an official visit of the Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon to Mongolia.

Mongolia and Norway established diplomatic relations on January 11, 1968. In 1999, Mongolia-Norway group was set up at the State Great Khural.
Under Democratic Parliament project, carried out with assistance of the Government of Norway, representatives of Mongolian Parliament have visited Norway since 2001. In 2006, the bilateral trade turnover stood at USD 440,6 thousand, of which Mongolia's export accounted for USD 162,3 thousand and import USD 278,3 thousand. IN 2007, this figure was USD 134,9 thousand.
Between 1990 and 2007, four Norwegian companies were registered with total investments of USD 82 thousand. Of the sum, USD 45 thousand was invested in the food production industry, USD 10 thousand in the tourism sector, and USD 17 thousand in the public catering.

Mongolia is not included in a list of countries the Government of Norway provides official development aids to, even though it renders aids of USD one million to Mongolia every year. A half of the sum is provided through projects Norwegian NGOs carry out in Mongolia, and the rest part--through UNDP projects.

In 1994-1997, the Government of Norway provided aid of USD 3.8 million for the modernization of the Ulaanbaatar-Darkhan-Erdenet communications network in the light of technical assistance of NORAD.

In 1997-2002, Norway furnished USD 1.74 million non-refundable aid for financing the Provision of Energy Efficient Social Services project implemented by UNDP in Mongolia.

Since 1994, Norwegian Lutheran Mission has run its activity in Mongolia. This organization implements various projects covering agricultural, health, and education sectors as well as helps vulnerable strata of the society.
Between 2006 and 2008, specialists of the Minerals and Oil Authority of Mongolia attended 8-week training conducted by the international training program RETRAD.

In 1974, Norway-Mongolia Council for Cultural Relations was set up at the Norwegian Federation for International Cultural Relations.
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Mongolian-Norwegian diplomatic relations, Days of Mongolian Movies will run in Oslo city in November 2008.