The two pages in this section concentrate on foreign trade (page 1) and foreign investment (page 2) in Mongolia. It covers the history and current status of both topics.

Foreign trade

Since the start of the transition to a market economy, Mongolia has been carrying out a policy to promote foreign trade and foreign investment. With the support of donor countries and international organisations Mongolia strives to find its place in the international arena, renewing its economic system. Compared to other countries in transition, Mongolia achieved tangible results in trade liberalisation. Mongolia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in January 1997 highlights its relative success in pursuing economic reforms and developing a new trade regime in line with international trading principles. Accession has allowed Mongolia to become a part of the global trade regime, to access full information on WTO member countries and to benefit from human resource development in the trade field.

Foreign trade of Mongolia had been totally dependent on former socialist countries, especially from the Soviet Union, until the 90s. Today, Mongolia develops foreign trade with over 80 countries of the world and more than 80 percent of the trade turnover goes to Russia, China, the United States, Japan and South Korea. According to statistics, for the first quarter of 2004, total external trade turnover equalled $316.3 mln, of which exports are $131.4 mln and imports are $184.9 mln. Total external trade balance turned a deficit of $53.5 mln. As compared with the same period of the previous year, total external trade turnover increased by 6.8 percent, of which exports increased by 1.7 percent and imports by 10.8 percent, respectively.

The main export goods are: minerals including copper, molybdenum and fluorspar concentrates, and raw materials and products of animal origin such as meat, cashmere, wool, animal casings, hides and skins, garments, carpets, blankets and others. The imports mainly consist of petroleum products, equipment and spare parts, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuff and consumer goods. Although the total trade turnover increases each year, foreign trade balance remains negative, mainly due to the world price decrease of its key export products such as copper, gold and cashmere. The appropriate legal environment has been created for the establishment of free trade and economic zones.