The office of the President of Mongolia, Public Relations & Communications Division

www.president.mn

2012-01-09

Remarks by H.E.Mr.Tsakhia Elbegdorj, President of Mongolia, at a reception with Diplomatic Corps in Ulaanbaatar on the occasion of the New 2012 Year

Dean of the Diplomatic Corps,
Ambassadors, Charge d’affairs,
Representatives of international organizations,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good day to you all!
I am delighted to greet you today, at the dawn of the New Year.

With full of success and achievements we have bid a farewell to the year 2011, which marked multiple anniversaries of commemorative events in the Mongolian history. Mongols enjoyed a pleasant weather last year. Mother Nature was generous to give our crops workers a good harvest and the herders have entered the New Year without the dzud or other serious disasters. Furthermore, Mongolia’s economy is expected to witness a two-digit growth in 2011. The country’s foreign relations have been expanding in every field of foreign policy priorities while foreign economic ties are significantly broadening. For the first time in the history, Mongolia’s foreign trade turnover has surpassed 10 billion US dollars last year.
On the other hand, the global economic slowdown in particular the eurozone crisis has been a source of concern and anxiety for all countries in the world as they bear the risk of negatively affecting their economies. However, resolute and close cooperation of EU members and the stable growth of Asian economies, in particular Chinese economy, leave us with a hope that the current economic difficulties could be surmounted with the help of constructive cooperation and concerted efforts of the countries in the world.
The events took place in 2011 will have a profound effect on the history of international relations and global democracy. The Arab Spring has displayed what can be achieved when people from different parts of the world unite to fight for a greater freedom taking advantage of the advances in information technology. However the Arab Spring is not over. For millions of people who acquired freedom they deserve, a time to fulfill a vital yet precarious task to ensure the creation of an open, transparent, and accountable socio-political framework has come.
People in many countries witnessed natural disasters and felt ever increasing effects and harms of the climate change. For instance, the tsunami and earthquake which took place in Japan last March ushered unprecedented hardship and devastated hearts and minds of millions of people across the globe. Tremendous efforts and perseverance displayed by the Japanese people when confronting and overcoming unforeseen disasters captured our respect and admiration.
In 2011 Mongolia’s foreign relations have been rich with various activities. The revised Foreign Policy Concept of Mongolia was approved by the Parliament. It was revised to renew principles and objectives of foreign policy by taking into account the current challenges faced by Mongolia.
Visits at the level of President, Parliament Speaker, and Prime Minister, participation in international events have demonstrated our active foreign policy and the commitment towards strengthening the friendly relations and cooperation with the relevant countries.
Furthermore, it has been a great privilege to welcome the President of India Pratibha Devisingh, the President of South Korean Lee Myung-bak, the President of Finland Tarja Halonen, the Vice President of the United States Joe Biden, the Chancellor of Federal Republic of Germany Angela Merkel on the Mongolian soil. It should be noted that these visits played important role in strengthening our bilateral relations and cooperation.
We have also celebrated the 50th anniversary of Mongolia’s admission to the UN last year. We are working to broaden cooperation within the framework of UN, its system, other international organizations, and multilateral mechanisms. And one of the important objectives was to work to establish diplomatic relations with all UN member states. To this end, I am delighted to inform you that Mongolia has signed joint communiqué on establishing diplomatic relations with 12 states recently.
Protecting the rights and interests of thousands of our citizens abroad is one of the priorities of Mongolia’s foreign policy. In our renewed Foreign Policy Concept we included a whole chapter on the issue. Furthermore, we have increased the number of our permanent diplomatic missions abroad to 39.
2012 will be a year of important events for Mongolia. Holding open, fair and transparent parliamentary elections this year is of utmost importance to the country’s future development. I’d like to emphasize that as the main entity determining the country’s foreign policy, the unified position of the major political parties will ensure the continuation of Mongolia’s foreign policy, regardless of the election results.

Notwithstanding the parliamentary elections and busy political life in 2012, our external relations will continue to be active. Our foreign policy goals and objectives are clear and we have plenty of work to do. The significance of high levels visits and events planned for this year is not less than last year’s ones. In 2011 Mongolia took up the Presidency of the Community of Democracies which aims at promoting and strengthening democratic norms and values worldwide. During the Mongolia’s chairmanship, we will put our main focus on promoting education for Democracy, good governance, anticorruption and on working with civil society. There is no doubt that with your kind support and cooperation we will succeed in promoting our foreign policy priorities and expanding our foreign relations even further this year.
I am grateful to you all for the friendship and cooperation throughout all these years. And I am confident that your noble deeds will continue to flourish in the years to come and for that I propose this toast.
A Happy New Year!