Political Relations

Mongolia and the Netherlands established the diplomatic realtion on 06.03.1972.

High Level Visits

-Prime Minister P.Jasray: March, 1995
-President N.Bagabandi: December, 1999
-Prime Minister Ts. Elbegdorj: June, 2005
-Finance Minister G.Zalma, August, 1998 and March, 2002
-Crown Prince William-Alexandr and Princess Maxima, June, 2006
-Minister of Development Cooperation Fan Ardenne, Sept, 2006

Agreements concluded

• “Agreement on Protection of investments between the two governments,1995
• “Agreement on Air Services between the governments of Mongolia and the Netherlands”, 1995
• “Memorandum on cooperation in veterinary”, 1999
• “Memorandum on Meteorologic Project “, 1999
• “Байгаль орчны итгэмжлэлийн сан байгуулах төслийн санамж бичиг” 1999 он,
• “Memorandum on the establishment of environmental trust Fund”, 1999
• “Memorandum on closure of two garbage points and establishment of a new point in Ulaanbaatar city”,1999
• “Memorandum on the joint fight against ilegal inmigration between the Ministry of Justice and Interior of Mongolia and the Inmigration and naturalization Agency of the Netherlands, March, 2005
• “Memorandum of Understanding on the Programme of Cooperation with countries developing free markets”, March, 2005

Diplomatic representations and Honorary Consuls

The Embassy in Brussels is concurrent in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. His Excellency Ambassador A.Battur presented his Letters of Credentials to Her Majesty the Queen Beatrix the second of February, 2009. The Dutch Ambassador in Mongolia Dirk Van Berg presented his Credentials to the President of Mongolia the eleventh of Nov., 2005.
Dutch national Addie Schiphorst Preuper, General Director Tiara tours is working from 2010 as Honorary consul of Mongolia in the Netherlands and also dutch national Ms. Mathea van Staden is working as Mongolia’s Honorary Cultural Envoy from the same year.

Dutch assistance and projects

The Netherlands supported from the very beginning the democratic process in Mongolia and started to pay attention to develop bilateral cooperation with Mongolia. The Netherlands from 1991 offered to Mongolia 22 million US$ loans and assistance in the fields of environment, health, veterinary services, agriculture and implemented 20 projects.

In 1992 the Netherlands supplied to Mongolia medicines with a total amount of 2.5 million US$, during 1991-1993 and 1995 offered “Ivomek” veterinary medicine worth of 1 million gulding to fight animal parasites. The Dutch Government also granted in 1993 emergency food assistance worth of 425 thousand US$ through the World Food Programme to cover the consequences of the natural disaster, which affected Mongolia’s western provinces.

The Dutch side also payed attention to train Mongolian specialists including young diplomats, managers on short and long term basis. A total of 120 Mongolian specialists already received training curses in the Netherlands.

Starting from 1995 the each year from 2 to 4 Mongolian young diplomats and public servants received their traning at the Clingendale Institute.

One of the most important and succesful projects implemented by the Netherlands is the Takhi project, which consists in rehabitate so called the Prejavalski Horses in the Mongolian soil, their ancient Motherland, bringing them from the Netherlands. For that purpose the Dutch side carried out the Thaki project worth of 1.6 US$. Thanks to that project nowdays the number of the Takhi already reched 200 heads.

The Ministry of Environment of Mongolia is implementing around 10 projects based on the Netherlands grants worth of 5.3 million € from 2004.

In 2006 the Dutch Government offered to Mongolia grant aide worth of € 7.5 million in the framework of development cooperation, which are devoted to I,prove the environment and to reduce the poverty.

Dutch aid to Mongolia focuses also on the environment, including water.

Through the environment programme the Netherlands wants to:
• encourage the management of natural resources, in both the long and the short term, including helping Mongolia to determine the effects of climate change;
• create sustainable living conditions and protect the environment, to help reduce poverty.

The aim of the programme is to hold back the advancing desert and conserve biodiversity, two of the most pressing problems the country is currently facing. The Netherlands is also helping lower-tier authorities to protect land and manage pasture as efficiently as possible. To this end a Geo-Information Centre has been set up with Dutch support to collect information on the geography of Mongolia. Up till now very little information on the subject has been available. The intention is that the centre will assist the Mongolian Ministries of Environment and of Food and Agriculture in policymaking and in drafting environmental legislation.

The annual budget for development aid to Mongolia is regularly increased, and will be 8.2 million euros as of 2008. In addition to bilateral development aid, Mongolia is eligible for a number of programmes aimed at the private sector, for example PSI (Private Sector Investment Programme), ORIO (Development-related Infrastructure Facility), PUM (Netherlands Management Cooperation Programme) and FMO (Netherlands Development Finance Company). Mongolia is also open to cooperation programmes run by the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG), trade unions (FNV/CNV), cofinancing organisations and the Dutch organisation for international cooperation in higher education, NUFFIC.

Dutch aid in the water and environment sectors contributes to the achievement of environmental stability (MDG 7). Within this goal the emphasis is on conserving natural resources, providing access to clean drinking water and improving the social and economic living conditions of the rural population (some 40% of the total population of Mongolia), many of whom are nomads.

Bilateral trade and investment

Export: 82,9 thousand US$ / Nov, 2009/
Import: 6,8 million US$ /Nov. 2009/

Investment

Starting from 1990 eleven Dutch companies made investments worth of 6.020.000 thousand US$. From that sum, 400 thousand devoted to the Information technology, 225 thousand –to the food processing, 97 thousand-to the tourism and 48 thousand-to the food service sector.

Cultural relations

Mongolia, Netherlands Friendship association was founded in 1999. In the Netherlands, in Amsterdam, by the initiative of a Mongolian citizen B.Baatarsaihan and a Dutch businessman Roy Dongen, “Mongol saihan” foundation, a NGO, was created in 2000, which organizes cultural, artistic, socio-economic activities and it celebrated its fifth anniversary of foundation in 2005 in Ulaanbaatar city.
Brussels, 03/06/2010