During its plenary session on June 17, Parliament discussed the draft parliamentary resolution on approving the development plan of Mongolia for 2022.

Chief Cabinet Secretariat Ts.Nyamdorj introduced the draft resolution.

“The Law on Development Policy, Planning and Management was approved in May 2020. In accordance with the law, the development plan of Mongolia for 2022 was developed. It has six chapters, 23 objectives and 263 activities to address the challenges posed by the pandemic, including human development, economic policy, e-policy, green development policy, and capital city and regional development. The plan costs a total of 10 trillion MNT. Of these, about 870 billion MNT will be budgeted from the state budget, 11.7 billion MNT from provincial budgets, 2.2 trillion MNT from foreign loans and grants, 1.2 trillion MNT from public-private partnerships, and 5.7 trillion MNT from other sources. As a result of this plan, real economic growth is projected to increase 4.6 percent, inflation to reach 5.8 percent, and the budget deficit will be 3.6 percent of GDP,” he said.

Lawmaker S.Byambatsogt stressed that the amendment to the Constitution states that development policy of Mongolia must be sustainable, and that the Law on Development Policy, Planning and Management was passed to comply with this provision.

“We are going to approve the annual plan for the first time. However, there are several problems. The government’s action plan provides for the construction of 273 schools and 200 kindergartens over the next four years. However, the annual plan does not specify how many will be built in 2022. One million tourists will be received in four years. But it also does not reflect how many tourists will come next year. Moreover, annual funding should be clear,” he said.

Noting that the one-year plan is the first document developed in accordance with the law, Ts.Nyamdorj said, “This will be further improved. The issue of tourists is raised now. When all countries are under quarantine this year, it is difficult to talk about tourism now.”

“In 2020, 113 kindergartens, 176 schools and 121 dormitories were planned. However, starting this year, we need to reform the investment in the education sector as part of the budget reform. The school workload is different between 330 soums and Ulaanbaatar. Particularly, there are about 90 soum schools with less than 300 children. In the future, the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Education, Science and Sports need to work together to determine the type of school needed, based on the location and needs of the population. There is no need to build a school in every khoroo of Ulaanbaatar,” Minister of Education, Science and Sports L.Enkh-Amgalan said.

Parliamentarian S.Odontuya underscored that poverty has been at 26 to 30 percent for the last 30 years, and asked about the percentage of poverty reduction by the end of 2022.

Minister of Labor and Social Welfare A.Ariunzaya responded, “In addition to the government action plan and the Vision 2050 document, the issue related to poverty is reflected in the development plan for 2022. Mongolia will work to reduce poverty to zero by 2030. Next year, the ministry will work under the motto of moving from welfare to labor. The 2022 plan also includes a number of goals in the field of vocational education and training.”

“In accordance with the government’s action plan, the necessary documents for the feasibility study of the Asgat deposit will be prepared and the investor will be selected. As of today, we have met with a US company. Representatives of these investors arrived in Ulaanbaatar. Infrastructure design and budgeting for the development of the Asgat deposit was included in the budget of the Ministry of Construction and Urban Development in 2021 at a cost of 500 million MNT,” Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry G.Yondon noted.