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Ministers in charge of the road, transportation of Mongolia, China and Russia met in Ulaan-Ude of Russia.

Minister M.Zorigt had provided some insights of the meeting.

-What was the agenda of the meeting?

-The meeting of the Working group which included representatives of Ministries of Road and Transportation of three countries was held on May 24-26 in Ulaan-Ude, Russia. The previous meeting was held in March 31 in Moscow. Three parties agreed to speed up the three-partite negotiations.

The signing ceremony of the negotiations was scheduled in December of 2016 which we moved forward to sign the final document on June 23-24 during the high level meeting in Tashkent, Russia. The document shall confirm the logistics corridor AN4 which goes from Tsagaan baishint port of Bayan-Ulgii to Yarant port of Khovd and to reach out Uighar, China and also utilization of corridor AN-3, which is the route from Tianjin to Erlian, then goes through Zamiin-Uud-Sainshand-Ulaanbaatar-Darkhan-Selenge and ends in Ulaan-Ude. The corridor is quite long, so parties agreed to organize pilot testing transportation. A working group for preparation is established at the Ministry of Road and Transportation of Mongolia. The working group consists of various experts, including heads of departments, specialists, border protection, customs, traffic police, special inspection as well as local government, transportation and logistics companies. We have agreed in Ulaan-Ude all the features of the pilot transportation such as terms, staff etc.

-When the pilot transportation will take place?

-After discussing ideas and proposals of three parties, we have agreed to run the pilot transportation on August 15-20 from Tianjin to Ulaanbaatar. The convoy shall include not less than three vehicles carrying containers, freezers. The convoy shall be backed up by the first aid, emergency maintenance team, bus for media and representatives.    Local authorities shall be responsible to provide police guard, accommodation.

-As we are talking about the border crossing logistics to be performed in given period of time, we understand that the border and customs shall ensure fast tracking. Have you agreed on this?

-Mongolia and Russia had joined the International transportation convention, which secures the fast track through border and customs. China is now discussing to join the convention and hopefully the will sign the document by August. Costs for the pilot transportation is seems to high, China raised, therefore, we have applied to various organizations such UN ESCAP, ADB for financing.

For media coverage, we shall organize opening ceremony in Tianjin, Ulaanbaatar, Ulaan-Ude as well as all convoy vehicles shall place promotion boards in own language. Visas for the drivers of the convoy is agreed to be finalized soon. By June 30, the final route and program shall be delivered to all parties.

-This issue has been carried for many years and seems to be finalized soon. How to you see the importance of the transit transportation?

-During the pilot transportation important locations such as road conditions, service areas, maintenance areas, gas stations shall be clearly marked. Mongolians travel a lot to Russia. But the transportation from Tianjin to Erlian is organized by Chinese. So, once we will make the transportation by ourselves, opportunities shall be open for us in terms of finance and timing. On the other hand, transportation along the AN-3 and AN-4 corridors shall positively impact to local communities along the road. This project is also supported by the relevant organizations of the UN, so we see that it shall open gates for more opportunities. As well it will improve the road conditions and signage.

-Do you think there is enough load to transport from Tianjin? I believe that truck won’t be leaving Ulaan-Ude with empty backets?

-When we exchanged ideas with the logistics companies, they said there is no problem at all. At least vehicles imported from Korea and Japan goes through Tianjin. Instead of wasting time while loading into the wagons, it would be easier and financially economic to transport the vehicles on the trucks. We see that the rates will go down as well.

On the other hand, due to economic slowdown and low prices of commodities, many trucks are looking for jobs in Umnugovi province, which shall be provided with work to do. We have received proposals of over 10 companies to provide logistics services. There are also plenty of goods to import from Russia. In June, after we sign the transit transport documents, other companies can participate in this project.

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Монгол эхийг унших бол энд дарж орно уу