Mongolia's new law expected to attract Chinese billions

Mongolia's new law is expected to encourage billions of dollars of Chinese investments, said speakers at the Mongolia 2013 Investment Summit in Hong Kong yesterday.

Chinese companies were interested in investing in railway and highway projects in Mongolia, said Javkhlanbaatar Sereeter, acting director general of the Invest Mongolia Agency of Mongolia's Ministry of Economic Development. "Chinese companies are very competitive in terms of price. I expect Chinese investment volume will increase in the next two years."

Chinese companies were negotiating to invest in a US$2 billion highway connecting Russia, Mongolia and China, Sereeter said.

Mongolia had planned US$50 billion of mega projects in the next 10 years, said road and transport minister Amarjargal Gansukh. "We are looking for investors in mining, energy and transport infrastructure."

Construction had begun on 1,800 kilometres of railway costing US$5.2 billion, which was one-third of the planned national rail network, Gansukh said.

China was the biggest foreign investor in Mongolia, accounting for 30 per cent of Mongolia's foreign direct investment, said Sereeter.

China accounts for the largest number of foreign-controlled companies in Mongolia, with about 5,000, he said, adding that the country was also the biggest trading partner and export market for Mongolia, whose exports are mostly commodities such as coal.