Mongolia’s new land ports seek to broaden ties with China and Russia, provide ‘pivotal’ link with Asia and Europe
- Seven new dry ports that Mongolia is building will help expedite the flow of goods, including critical coal headed for not only China, but perhaps France and Germany
- Mongolian official says country is leveraging its geographic position as the shortest route connecting Asia with Europe
Resource-rich but underdeveloped Mongolia is planning seven new dry ports to expand trade with neighbouring giants China and Russia, a Mongolian official told the Post.
Authorities in the landlocked nation are conducting feasibility studies on the inland cargo ports, according to its minister of road and transport development, Sandag Byambatsogt, who added that the World Bank and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific were working with Mongolia.
“I am confident that these initiatives will lead to the expansion of the Mongolian-Russian-Chinese economic corridor, resulting in increased export volumes and accelerated imports … and a reduction in the cost of transportation and goods,” Byambatsogt said.
At least one proposed port, in southeastern Mongolia’s Zamyn-Uud free economic zone, would operate near the Chinese border. And at least one other, in the northern Altanbulag free-trade zone, would be placed close to a crossing with Russia.
Mongolia needs new dry ports because its existing cargo and transport facilities lack the capacity to handle what has been a “surge” in exports, said Xu Tienchen, a senior China economist with The Economist Intelligence Unit in Beijing.
