Ulaanbaatar
Foreign Service starting to take economy measures
PoliticsUlaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ On December 20, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ts.Munkh-Orgil said the foreign ministry is taking a necessary economy actions to cope with the current economic challenges when asked by a MONTSAME reporter about the decisions on closing down some diplomatic missions.
The total annual budget for the sector was cut down from MNT 74 billion in 2016 to MNT 59 billion in 2017, he said. Although the decrease is affected by the absence of the previous year’s ASEM Summit organizing cost, it is still a large trim. The most important of all factors is the increase of USD rate against MNT, he added.
As of today, Mongolia has 46 diplomatic missions in other countries. The previous cabinet meeting has taken a decision to close down embassies in Indonesia and Brazil, and the consulates in Hailar and Osaka.
On what grounds the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has chosen these specific locations to close down the diplomatic missions, Mr Munkh-Orgil said “it is not in the authority of the government to recall diplomatic missions. This is in the full authority of the State Great Khural (Parliament). The cabinet is just proposing some options. We are making explanations about the reasons to closing diplomatic mission to the respective countries’ authorities, and the latters are accepting our explanations quite positively. This decision is not expected to downgrade bilateral ties”, he said.
According to the Minister, some USD 700-800 thousand is estimated to be saved in the fiscal year of 2017 with the closing of diplomatic missions, expected in May, and USD 1.6-1.8 million each year.
As for establishing a new consulate in Shanghai, the FM said that Mongolia has no diplomatic mission in Southern China, where a decent number of Mongolian nationals reside for work and study.
