GTR, the market leading independent information provider for the financial services industry, returned to Ulaanbaatar for the 2nd Mongolia Trade & Commodity Finance Conference, which took place at the Chinggis Khaan Hotel on 14th May 2013.

The event, unique in its specific focus on Mongolia’s corporate, financial services and international trade sectors, welcomed over 200 key local business leaders, international finance practitioners and commodity traders seeking to take part in the nation’s continuing economic growth.

The keynote address provided by Mongolia’s Vice-Minister for Economic Development outlined the government’s intention to take urgent steps to improve and stabilise the investment environment in Mongolia, not least regarding key investment law currently being drafted; resolving the protracted Oyu Tolgoi gold and copper mine dispute was the acid test for the Mongolian government, according to one audience member, arguing that resolution of contractual issues surrounding the project would see exponential growth in wider Mongolian mining production and foreign investment.

Key insights provided across the day’s agenda included the huge potential for further ECA covered transactions within the Mongolian market, the crucial role being played by international FIs in supplementing local liquidity, the importance of PPPs within infrastructural development and the extensive opportunities offered to project financiers, and the belief that the slow down within the Chinese economy did not constitute as significant a threat to the Mongolian market as anticipated in some quarters, particularly when factors such as Chinese compound growth and the recent spike in the country’s equity market are taken into account.

Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Randolph Koppa, President of Mongolia’s Trade & Development Bank and Chairman of the conference said: “The prospects for trade and a variety of structures and ECAs will only increase, and not just strictly trade related to the input and output of the (Oyu Tolgoi) mine. There will be a move towards further processing, which again will be capital-intensive.”

Jim Dwyer, Executive Director of the Business Council of Mongolia added: “We are seeing the first positive signs for the Mongolian economy recovering. It has been interesting to hear the views of key stakeholders not only on Oyu Tolgoi, but on the outlook for the new investment law being drafted by the Ministry of Economic Development. This law could provide stability for both domestic and foreign investors and rekindle FDI.”

Delegates enjoyed numerous opportunities to network with industry peers throughout the one day event, aided by an online networking function provided in the weeks before the meeting by GTR allowing attendees to target meetings with key industry players. Proceedings were concluded with a special reception where delegates continued the day’s discussions in a more informal setting.