Rösler: First steps taken to implement raw materials partnership with Mongolia!
The Federal Minister of Economics and Technology, Dr. Philipp Rösler, and Mongolia's President, Tsakhia Elbegdorj, today met for bilateral talks in Berlin. They both underlined the trusting political and economic relations between Germany and Mongolia. The talks focused on the implementation of the intergovernmental agreement on raw materials, industry and technology, which was signed in October 2011 in Ulan Bator.
Federal Minister Rösler said: "It is now up to business and government to fill the German-Mongolian raw materials agreement with life. Raw materials are an indispensable basis for industrial production and added value and thus a driving force for growth and employment. This applies to both Germany and Mongolia. Therefore it is a positive signal that companies from the two countries today signed agreements on important projects. Governments will make their contributions to successful economic cooperation. The meetings of the German-Mongolian Intergovernmental Working Group on Raw Materials and of the German-Mongolian Economic Committee, which took place today, demonstrate this very impressively."
The talks of the Intergovernmental Working Group focused on initial and further training, cooperation interests and opportunities in the field of raw materials as well as scientific and technological cooperation. Besides, Mongolia wishes to reduce its dependence on energy supplies from abroad. Technologies in the fields of renewable energies and coal liquefaction can help to reach this goal.
The German Mineral Resources Agency (DERA) of the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) also contributed its expert knowledge at today's meeting. The BGR has worked together with the Mongolian authorities responsible for the mining sector and geology since 1962. Within the framework of the project "Environmental protection in the mining sector" the BGR helps Mongolia to establish a mining supervision authority, organises further training events and helps to modernise the equipment in this field. The next session of the bilateral Intergovernmental Working Group is scheduled to take place in Mongolia in autumn 2012.
With a trade volume of 155.9 million euros, the bilateral relations last year reached a new high.