The working visit of President of Mongolia Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj to Japan has started today with President’s address to the Mongolian and Japanese businessmen at the Mongolia-Japan Business Forum, co-hosted with Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, KEIDANREN.
Over 130 businessmen from Mongolia and over 180 businessmen from Japan were present at the Forum. In his address President Elbegdorj noted: “Mongolia maintained close relations with Japan at momentous historical junctures.
For instance, in early years of building the Great Mongol Empire Yuan, Khubilai Khaan sent a letter to the Emperor of Japan; in 1911, an envoy was sent to Japan by the Holy Bogd Gegeen Jebzundamba asking for official recognition of Mongolia’s independence. In early 1990s, the hard years of transition from a socialist to a democratic society, the first President of Mongolia Mr. P. Ochirbat and Prime Minister Mr. D. Byambasuren sent a letter to the Government of Japan asking for an all-around support and assistance. All of these acts testify the sustained and lasting interest of the peoples of Mongolia and Japan for friendship and cooperation.
I express our profound gratitude to Japan and its people for the unwavering support to Mongolia’s democracy since the very start. I earnestly thank Japan for not only recognizing Mongolia’s independence, but also for its strenuous support in our efforts to have Mongolia’s democracy recognized by other countries and international organizations in Asia and the Pacific and enrolled in the latters’ membership. Mongolian people’s wisdom teaches to always remember and appreciate the good others do to you. Mongolians will never forget your helping hand, your presence at the moments of hardship. There is one very special feature in the help and assistance of the people of Japan. That is, Japan’s aid and support have always been timely, relevant and apt.
We do always remember with warmth and gratitude that these were the people of Japan who stretched their arms of help when Mongolia was about to freeze when our powerstaions ailed and stopped; when the public transportation in Ulaanbaatar came to sit idle, when our fire and first aid machines went out of order, when our children had not enough schools and kindergartens to attend.
This year sees the end of grant aid from Japan to Mongolia. From now on our two countries are entering a new era of mutually beneficial cooperation. The money the Japanese taxpayers had been giving the Mongolian people were instrumental and vital in overcoming the difficulties and challenges of development. Mongolia, which was like a just-born foal in 1990, has grown up and matured today. In the past few years our GDP has grown several-fold. The engine of our economic growth – the private sector – has firmly stood up on its legs. The time has come now to advance our bilateral economic relations to a new level, and it is precisely within these premises that we are meeting in Tokyo today.
Although Mongolia and Japan have been continuously fostering bilateral relations, the scope of the cooperation has been very narrow and limited to merely a handful of companies. The bilateral trade turnover comprises only some 100 million USD. Japanese FDI to Mongolia barely reaches half a billion USD”. President Elbegdorj emphasized the need to reinvigorate the bilateral relations between the two countries, and dramatically, during the visit of the President of Mongolia to Japan in 2010. In his speech at the Parliament of Japan in 2010, President Elbegdorj noted:”The time has come, let’s wake up”. “I wish to repeat those words today. We now have all preconditions set for translating into reality those words. We have agreed to establish an Economic Partnership Agreement. I am delighted to inform you that Prime Minister Abe and I will sign tonight a Joint Statement affirming our agreement to establish the Economic Partnership Agreement” – said President to the audience at the Mongolia-Japan Business Forum.
The two countries have been able to reach an agreement to establish the EPA after 4 years of talks. The EPA provides the legal basis and environment to boost bilateral economic cooperation. It draws a dramatically renewed landscape for successful and mutually beneficial economic cooperation between Mongolia and Japan.
“Let us study together, produce together, and market together. We have reached an agreement with our Japanese counterparts that our governments support the efforts of our private sectors to implement this call. Mongolia is a uniquely situated country. We border with two countries with the largest population and with the largest territory. Developing cooperation with Mongolia is consonant with the aspiration to reach out to these two huge markets together” – highlighted President Elbegdorj.