Australia to boost Mongolian business ties

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Wednesday said the nation is boosting its trade and business links with booming Mongolia.


Mongolia's Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold arrived in Australia on Sunday. It is his first official visit to Australia in almost 40 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.


On Wednesday morning, Batbold was greeted by a 19-guns salute outside the Parliament House in Canberra.


He met with Gillard for talks that canvassed mining, agriculture, education and regional security.


After the talks, Gillard announced the government would establish an Aus-trade office in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar later this year to help Australian companies already on the ground and prospective Australian exporters and investors.


"We are both great mining nations," Gillard told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.


"We share great mineral wealth.


"Indeed, Mongolia has a rapidly growing economy and some of the world's richest known deposits of gold, copper, uranium, coal and rare earths."


The leaders also discussed education, natural disasters and the war in Afghanistan.


Gillard also announced 1.52 million U.S. dollars in aid to help Mongolia with water sanitation and children with disabilities.


During his visit to Australia, Batbold has signed four bilateral agreements on education, agriculture, science and governance.


Earlier, Batbold with his accompanying delegates has attended the Mongolia-Australia Business Forum in Sydney.


Austrade's Mongolian Mining Projects Report 2011 was launched during the Forum, and Australia's Trade Minister, Craig Emerson said the report is a useful resource for Australian mining companies wanting to understand more about Mongolia's mineral resources, its system of mining regulation and the broader market for resources in North Asia, including rare earths.


On Tuesday, Batbold has signed an agreement with the Australian National University (ANU) in a bid to enhance education in his home country.


The agreement will allow the ANU to have access to resources at the Mongolian National University and increase its research capacity in the fields of archaeology, anthropology, and traditional Mongolian culture.


On Wednesday, the President of the Australian Academy of Science, Suzanne Cory and the President of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Batbold Enkhtuvshin, met at Parliament House in Canberra to sign the Memorandum of Understanding between the two Academies.


"The MoU formalizes scientific linkages between our countries and in doing so will help Australian and Mongolian scientists connect with one another," Professor Cory said in a statement released on Wednesday.


"It allows us to strengthen ties with Mongolian scientists by exchanging ideas and reviewing collaborative opportunities in scientific fields of common interests, such as geology, water resources and agriculture."


Gillard said she will try to visit Mongolia in the future.
(Source:http://news.xinhuanet.com)