Since joining the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, in a consensus with 104 nations, Mongolia has demonstrated strong commitment towards ensuring sustainable development for the benefit of present and future generations.

In our efforts, the Government of Mongolia first established the National Council for Sustainable Development in 1996 headed by the Prime Minister as a main coordinating mechanism for sustainable development. A number of policy documents, including Mongolia’s Action Program for the 21st century and the MDG-based Comprehensive National Development Strategy was developed and adopted with broad participation from non-governmental organizations and civil society. The implementation of the National Development Strategy has resulted in the establishment of national and domestic sustainable development committees, a national system of core indicators of sustainable development, a system aimed at sustainable development education and has become a starting point for furthering this initiative into rural areas.

As a binding strategy and framework, Mongolia has been actively pursuing a socio-economic policy aimed at achieving its sustainable development goals. Forecast to be one of the world’s fastest-growing marketplaces over the next two decades, Mongolia’s economy is developing rapidly. Mongolia’s resource wealth and open, liberalized market are attracting increasing interest from international investors.

While it is no exaggeration to say mineral exports are transforming Mongolia, they are far from the only dynamic aspect of our economy. Public investment is rising quickly as the government looks to strengthen infrastructure and social services while spreading the benefits of wealth across the country. We have made progress in providing ecologically clean products for our population and in alleviating poverty. A steady economic growth at an average 9 percent annually allowed us to reduce poverty in 2011 by 9 points reaching 29.8 percent compared to 2009. The delivery of key mining projects and changing global prices of copper and coal will largely determine if this long term vision can be achieved. However, the economy has become too dependent on the mining sector, turning its structure more vulnerable. An increasing negative impact is observed on environment and human health, degradation of pasture of nomadic livestock, and a shortage of water resources as consequences of the use of ineffective outdated machinery and technology in the extractive industry. Therefore, the Government of Mongolia is committed to developing a green economy as one of the indispensable pillars of sustainable development.

We share the common commitment and are willing to participate on an international and regional level to share our achievements on the development and implementation of a sustainable development strategy and also in learning the best practices and making follow up actions which will be of great value in the advancement of our country’s developmental policy and actions as well as in improving its outcomes and impacts to our society.

Continued and deepened commitment towards sustainable development requires an efficient and comprehensive approach and a strong partnership. We strongly believe that this Seminar under the FEALAC shall further strengthen not only political will for sustainable development but also yield balanced and pragmatic results.