Mongolia: Country of peace, model of religious cohabitation
By Linda Bordoni
杏MAP导航 Francis鈥� historic visit to Mongolia shines the spotlight on the East Asian country recently described as 鈥渁 symbol of peace in a troubled world鈥� by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
In an interview with Vatican News, Munkhbolor Gungaa, - or Bolor for her friends 鈥� was eager to echo Guterres鈥� words highlighting its geopolitical importance as it buffers China and Russia, offering a model of democracy, peace and interreligious harmony.
Regarding the 杏MAP导航鈥檚 visit, Bolor, who is the National Programme Officer at UNIDO in Ulaanbaatar, said she is grateful and deems the visit 鈥渁 great opportunity for Mongolia's visibility in the world.鈥�
Challenges in Mongolia
However, challenges are great in the young democracy, and development is crucial to curb emigration and support new generations of Mongolians in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
As Bolor explained, UNIDO - the United Nations Industrial Development Organization - aims to promote industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization, and environmental sustainability, and she is fully committed to this effort.
"As a Mongolian person, I'm committed to the country鈥檚 development," Bolor said, explaining that UNIDO's focus in Mongolia is on the development of agribusiness, energy and environment sectors.
By integrating UNIDO鈥檚 technical expertise with Mongolia's local experience, by introducing global best practices, and by upholding the government鈥檚 vision to achieve the SDGs in line with the country鈥檚 national vision and programmes, she said she is convinced that Mongolia can also become a good role model for other countries.
For the last five years, she said, she has been working in the Agribusiness sector, which foresees upgrading technology for the textile sector, which benefits all the actors of the wool and cashmere value chains and includes projects in food safety management systems, international quality standards compliance, laboratory capacity building, leather and textile manufacturing.
Bolor pointed out that these projects support suppliers, meaning herder cooperatives, to improve their supply chain quality, improving the quality of the raw materials that are brought to the processing factories.
Thus, domestic and international market access is greatly increased and improved. All these projects, she noted, are funded by bodies like the EU and the World Bank.
鈥淪o we are supporting, under the current technical assistance, the national accreditation body, national certification bodies, government and private certification entities, as well as private sector enterprises in the meat, textile and leather sectors,鈥� she said.
Motivating young Mongolians to stay
She agrees that development is one of the main priorities and challenges in Mongolia at a time in which, mainly the young generations of the traditionally nomadic population are flocking to Ulaanbaatar and a couple of other cities like Erdenet and Darkhan.
The UN official explained that almost 1.5 million people 鈥� out of a total of around 3.4 million - are living in Ulaanbaatar, 鈥渢he capital city, while the city was originally designed for about 500,000 citizens.鈥�
鈥淣ow we are overpopulated,鈥� she added, explaining that young Mongolians are in the city seeking jobs and opportunities, but then many migrate to other countries like Korea, USA, and recently, to Australia.
鈥淪o this is also a challenge that we have only about 3.4 million people, while we have more than 70 million heads of livestock with lots of opportunities to add value to the sector.鈥�
So, she added, there is a lack of young professionals to work in the industry, a lack of learning opportunities鈥� and from a socio-economic perspective, salaries are lower than in other countries.
鈥淭hat's why many young people are interested in moving to countries with better salaries and better living conditions and quality of life,鈥� she said.
That鈥檚 why, Bolor continued, the high potential of the agriculture sector which is the second economic driver after the mining industry, has pushed the government to promote rural recovery and try to attract young people to stay in their hometowns and develop businesses.
A country of peace and harmony
杏MAP导航 Francis's presence is putting the nation in the international spotlight. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great news,鈥� Bolor exclaimed, 鈥渢hat the 杏MAP导航 is coming to Mongolia!鈥�
鈥淔irst of all it's a great opportunity for Mongolia, Mongolia's visibility in the world and bringing global attention and interest, she said noting that the nation is 鈥渂ecoming more and more geopolitically important, buffering China and Russia.鈥�
World leaders, she continued, are 鈥渘ow more interested in Mongolia as the country of peace as quoted by Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General who visited Mongolia also recently鈥� paying tribute to its commitment to being a nuclear-free zone.
Land of the Blue Sky and religious harmony
The country itself has also a very vast territory, with beautiful nature under the blue sky, so it's attractive for international visitors to enjoy the country after the pandemic.
The visit of the 杏MAP导航, Bolor added, will strengthen this opportunity to be more visible, and it will show the world that it is a country open to all religions and all cultures.
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