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DE RUEHUM #0642/01 3170828
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 130828Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY ULAANBAATAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1647
INFO RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 3029
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5848
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 1963
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2725
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RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 1617
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 0173
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPODC/USDOC WASHDC 1413
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHMFIUU/COMMARFORPAC  0001
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 ULAANBAATAR 000642 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS PEACE CORPS, OPIC AND EXIMBANK 
STATE PASS EPA 
STATE FOR EAP/CM 
USAID FOR D. WINSTON 
BANGKOK AND MANILA FOR USAID 
TREASURY FOR T.T. YANG 
USDA FOR FAS FOR N. SAKLAH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV EMIN ETRD PREL SOCI MG RU CM
SUBJECT: Snapshot of Mongolia's North Central Selenge Province 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Mongolia's central northern Selenge aimag 
(province) hopes to develop mining, agricultural production and 
tourism.  Selenge has generally good relations with its Russian 
neighbor, but the Russians remain bureaucratic and uncooperative in 
facilitating border crossing.  During the DCM's November 1-2 visit, 
local politicians told him the province's two parties cooperate and 
accommodate, eschewing combative confrontation.  While unemployment, 
education, medical care, and housing are all common concerns, 
women's groups leaders cited the need for continuing education 
opportunities, access to micro-finance, and business plan/grant 
writing skills.  Peace Corps Volunteers working in education and 
health care are much appreciated, and as is the case virtually 
everywhere, more PCVs were requested. USAID-funded GER Initiative 
and Judicial Reform Project are making important contributions to 
small-scale business development and rule of law and governance 
through court automation, respectively. Many expressed interest in 
developing sister city or other relationships with U.S. professional 
organizations. The DCM also called on the 150th Battalion in Darkhan 
 to express thanks for their participation in PKO. END SUMMARY. 
 
Touching Bases in Selenge; PKO Stop 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) DCM (then Charge) visited Sukhbaatar, the capital of Selenge 
aimag (province) November 1-2 He met with Selenge Aimag officials, 
met separately with ruling and opposition party leaders, visited the 
Russian/Mongolia border crossing point for vehicles and also 
observed the immigration and customs processing of an out-bound 
train, met with three women's groups' leaders, including one focused 
on violence against women, visited PCVs at their school and hospital 
work sites, held a press event with local media, and lunched with 
English language teachers and their star student.  He also paid a 
brief call on the 150th Peacekeeping Operations Battalion in Darkhan 
enroute back to Ulaanbaatar on November 2.  In his meetings, the DCM 
highlighted the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic 
relations, noted the strength of the bilateral relationship as 
strong friends and allies, summarized the results of President 
Enkhbayar's trip to the U.S. including the signing of the Millennium 
Challenge Account Compact, and sought views on local issues and 
opportunities for bilateral cooperation. 
 
Selenge Governor Pitches Mining, Agriculture, Tourism; Seeks US 
Investment, Contacts 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Selenge Governor Bayarmagnai said the aimag has 43,000 square 
kilometers and is comprised of 17 soums (counties) and 49 baggs 
(districts).  Selenge is renowned as Mongolia's food basket, 
producing 57% of all agricultural crops including 40% of the 
nation's vegetables.  The region's herds are not the largest but 
tend to be of much higher quality.  In this regard, he said he would 
welcome the opportunity to cooperate with U.S. agricultural 
university or research institute.  Mining in Selenge accounts for 
just over 50% of the country's gold 
and almost 100% of the iron ore production.  Bayarmagnai hoped 
American firms would also consider investing in the mining sector, 
and the DCM noted a number of U.S. firms such as Peabody Energy had 
already expressed interest in working in Mongolia.  In general, the 
aimag's infrastructure is good and it boasts a free trade zone 
(FTZ), though the zone has not been very active, the Governor said. 
He sought USG technical assistance in improving the FTZ and 
attracting U.S. firms. 
 
¶4. (U) Governor Bayarmagnai also welcomed the prospect of increasing 
the numbers of Peace Corps Volunteers working in the aimag, sought 
increased 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000642  002 OF 006 
 
 
opportunities for English language education exchanges, and hoped 
sister city or sister state programs could be pursued with similar 
geographic 
regions such as North or South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, or 
Colorado.  The DCM said the Embassy would look into whether 
Sukhbaatar might be added as a venue for visiting Embassy speakers 
as well as DVC/teleconferencing presentations and English language 
training programs.  The Governor also lauded the USAID-funded GER 
Initiative and Judicial Reform Project which are making important 
contributions to small-scale business development and rule of law 
and governance through court automation, respectively. 
 
Local Politics - Accommodation Not Confrontation 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶5. (U) Selenge's Citizen's Khural (parliament) and Mongolian 
People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP, the national ruling party and 
the much-changed successor to the former Communist Party) Chairman 
Mr. Javkhlan said the 35 member Khural is comprised of 21 MPRP 
members, 13 Democratic Party (DP) members and one independent.  The 
MPRP has 15 of 17 soum governors and the DP has two.  Javkhlan said 
the two parties cooperated and did not engage in acrimonious debate 
as happens at the national level. (COMMENT: This is a common refrain 
among aimag politicians that local politics focuses on accommodation 
as compared to Ulaanbaatar's propensity for confrontation.) 
Regarding the MPRP's prospects for next year's parliamentary 
elections, Javkhlan said he felt the party had "delivered" in the 
aimag and thus was poised to win again.  He said the MPRP would have 
no problem fielding women candidates for 30% of the jobs. 
 
¶6. (U)  At the moment, the Khural is pondering its next four-year 
plan which will focus on developing family-run businesses and small 
and medium enterprises.  He noted that a little progress had been 
made in recent years with some 3,000 families now engaged in small 
scale farming and vegetable production.  Javkhlan complained that 
the aimag's taxes and contributions to the central government 
greatly exceeded what it got back in the way of investment.  The 
khural was also looking at limiting hunting as some species were 
under pressure as well as logging for fear that the aimag's forests 
will be depleted in the near future. 
Democratic Party Defining Goals, 
Building for 2008 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Six local DP leaders told the DCM they had just completed a 
survey of families in the aimag's soums to determine how they might 
best formulate their 2008 election platform.  Families were 
interested in improving educational opportunities, especially 
vocational education, and medical care.  The DP also wants to move 
forward with mining development and supports the initiative for 
responsible and transparent mining.  DP leaders visited the Boroo 
Gold Mine (a Canadian investment) in the aimag's southern region and 
were impressed with what they saw in terms of using local labor, 
environmental protection, and community stewardship. They hope for 
more investment in iron ore and coal as well as agricultural 
development and FTZ industrial development. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Asked to assess the then on-going debate within the MPRP to 
dismiss Prime Minister Enkhbold (now a fact), DP leaders said this 
was the first time within the MPRP that there had been open and 
constructive criticism, something that had been common place in the 
DP for some time.  The MPRP faced many criticisms, including growing 
corruption and a lack of progress in addressing other real problems 
such as employment, inflation, education, medical care, etc.  The 
MPRP had used last year's budget surplus to buy votes, opting to 
provide subsidies to children, newly weds, etc. rather than invest 
in the country, one DP rep noted. (COMMENT: He conveniently forgot 
that it was actually initially a DP proposal commandeered by the 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000642  003 OF 006 
 
 
MPRP, with the DP then engaging in and partially succeeding in a 
bidding war.)  Asked whether selecting (soon-to-be PM) Bayar as the 
MPRP leader was significant, one DP leader said Bayar was an astute 
politician, noting the MPRP had won the elections when Bayar had 
hand-picked the MPRP's slate. 
 
¶9. (U)  DP reps asked for funding to support and train local 
candidates, especially to teach fund raising techniques.  The DCM 
replied the USG could not engage in funding political parties, nor 
could it favor one party over another but must treat all equally. 
He said he would look into what training the USG had been provided 
to all parties and would ascertain whether training materials might 
be shared. DP reps also asked about how Congress handles its 
constituency work and the DCM offered to provide some background 
materials in this regard. 
 
Local Media Reps Interested in Enkhbayar Trip, Corruption, MCC, 
Visit and Cooperation Prospects 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶10. (U) Local media reps were interested in President Enkhbayar's 
trip to the U.S. and the MCA Compact, as well as how the Compact's 
investments would be insulated from corruption.  The DCM underscored 
the media's role as watchdog and urged that they "shine a bright 
light" on anything that smacks of corruption as well as bringing 
allegations to the attention of Mongolia's Anti-corruption Agency. 
Media reps were interested in any USG in-country training programs 
or visits to the U.S. for journalists as well as prospects for 
cooperation with U.S. media organizations and sister city 
counterparts, should such a relationship develop. 
 
Border Forces Appreciate Cooperation with U.S. 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶11. (SBU) During an office call on local Border Forces Commander 
Batsukh, Batsukh said he appreciated U.S.-Mongolian 
military-to-military cooperation, continued contact with the 
Embassy's Defense Attache Office, and the USG's provision of radio 
systems for the Border Forces.  He noted that four of his soldiers 
had completed tours in Iraq and all spoke very highly of their 
contacts with American forces.  He said 60% of his troops are 
professionals and the remainder were one-year conscripts.  Batsukh 
said his unit is comprised of seven larger units, three subunits and 
17 smaller units responsible for covering the 421 kilometer border 
with Russia.  Cooperation with the Russians was generally good and 
the two sides take the lead in monitoring and enforcing different 
segments of the border.  Unlike Mongolia's western border areas, 
where Batsukh had recently served, violations in Selenge were few in 
number, averaging around 14-15 events involving about 20 persons 
total per year, and were largely benign, not involving weapons nor 
exchanges of fire. 
 
Russians Uncooperative at Border Crossing Point 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶12. (SBU)  At the Altanbulag border crossing point 25 kilometers 
east of Sukhbaatar, the DCM observed a well-organized operation and 
modern facilities designed to process 500 vehicles and 2,000 people 
per day but which was actually only handling about 70-100 cars and 
trucks and 200-300 people daily.  About 40 vehicles were backed up 
on the Mongolian side and there was no observable activity on the 
Russian side.  Border Forces LTC Altankhuu complained there was no 
reason for the Russians to "go slow" and not process the waiting 
vehicles and passengers, adding that this was a common practice. 
While the Mongolians conducted routine spot checks of luggage and 
cargos, the Russians tended to look at "absolutely everything," 
forcing Mongolians to empty and repack suitcases and often pay large 
"customs fines" for exceeding limits on imports into Russia. 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000642  004 OF 006 
 
 
Altankhuu attributed this to Russian bureaucratic mentality and 
Putin's aggressiveness.  National and local governor talks had not 
improved conditions, he said. Altankhuu made one soft pitch for more 
computers at this check point to help speed processing. (COMMENT: 
This border crossing area is reminiscent of Berlin of old, with 
thickets of barbed wire, watchtowers, and a raked "no man's land" 
between their fences - as if anyone would defect in either 
direction.) 
 
Train Crossing Also Slow on the Russian Side 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) During the evening of November 1 the DCM watched border 
forces process an outbound Chinese train that originated in Beijing 
about to cross into Russia enroute to Moscow.  Once the passenger 
cars had been separated from the locomotive (Russian, Chinese and 
Mongolian locomotives are used in their own territories; ridership 
follows suite - more Russians on Russian trains, etc.), Border 
Forces cordon off the cars and immigration processing begins.  LTC 
Altankhuu said the numbers of passengers vary from lows of 70 to 100 
in the winter months to 300 to 400 during the summer travel season, 
with six international trains being processed daily.  Processing 
typically takes 20 to 30 minutes in the winter and 30 to 50 minutes 
in the summer.  DCM watched as about 40 passports were processed 
that evening, including a few German, Russian, and two U.S. 
passports, the rest being Chinese.  Altankhuu said the train then 
proceeds to the neighboring Russian border point to undergo Russian 
processing, which can run anywhere from two to several hours. 
(COMMENT: Indeed former Ambassador Slutz spent several hours stuck 
on the Russian side.) 
 
Violence Against Women: Shelter an Important Step 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶14. (SBU) Ms. Gereltuya, the head of a local violence against women 
NGO, guided the DCM on a tour of a newly established women's 
shelter, the only one in the region and one of Mongolia's first 
shelters.  She said the shelter currently accommodated two women and 
their four children.  Over the past year, 123 cases of violence 
against women had been reported and referred to this NGO.  Except 
for two rape cases, the remainder involved family violence across 
the full spectrum of education and income levels; almost all 
involved alcohol.  She estimated only one in six cases are reported 
in part because of how such cases are handled.  Should a woman call 
the police, the police would come, investigate, and take the 
husband/boyfriend to the police station to spend the night, but then 
the wife/girlfriend would have to bail the perpetrator out the next 
day, often resulting in more anger and greater expense.  The local 
police were cooperating and, despite some additional training, had 
yet to modify their interview techniques from treating victims as 
criminals rather than victims.  She hopes to expand training 
programs for victims to give women alternatives. 
 
Trafficking In Persons Not a Problem - Yet 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶15. (SBU)  Ms. Gereltuya and the leaders of two other women's group 
told the DCM over dinner November 1 that trafficking in persons 
(TIP) did not appear to be a serious problem in the aimag.  There 
were no known cases in recent years, but they were aware that there 
might be TIP problem associated with the border crossing points of 
people being trafficked to/from China and Russia.  Ms. Gereltuya 
said Border Forces and local police officials had been very 
cooperative and receptive to training programs designed to help them 
spot TIP. 
 
Women's Worries:  Continuing Education, Micro-finance, Business 
Plan/Grant Writing 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000642  005 OF 006 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶16. (U) Regarding other women's issues, the three women's groups 
leaders complained about the lack of adult continuing education. 
Once women had completed university training in Ulaanbaatar or 
nearby Darkhan, there were few opportunities to upgrade or update 
their educations.  In turn, this meant the aimag would lag further 
and further behind in embracing new technologies and techniques. 
This also encouraged further "brain drain" as the better performers 
moved to UB for better opportunities, salaries, etc.  The women also 
emphasized the importance of expanding access to micro-finance to 
enable women to start up businesses, and they noted women rarely had 
access to collateral needed to gain such loans.  The leaders also 
noted the need for additional training, especially in the 
countryside, to develop business plans and write grant requests. 
 
Hospital's Concerns and Desires 
------------------------------- 
 
¶17. (U)  Dr. Jigjidsuren told the DCM that the Sukhbaatar hospital 
faced a number of challenges and problems.  The hospital did not 
have enough doctors and those it did have tended to be elderly 
physicians training many years ago in the Soviet Union.  It was 
difficult to attract and retain new doctors.  The hospital's limited 
facilities and range of treatments contributed to this dearth of new 
doctors, who tended to leave once they'd mastered these, and 
encourages patients to seek treatment in UB, Russia or China.  Often 
there are few or no backups when a staff member is sent elsewhere 
for training.  The hospital itself was old and suffered from many 
shortcomings such as a leaky roof, cold in the winter, etc.  Dr. 
Jigjidsuren was interested in information on the MCA Compact's 
medical project, distance learning, distance diagnostics, and 
possible hospital-to-hospital connections via the sister city 
program.  He is also interested in public private partnerships with 
U.S. firms.  (COMMENT: While Dr. Jigjidsuren has focused on his 
hospital's shortcomings, DCM noted that this hospital appeared 
well-organized, cleaner than most, and the staff moved with energy 
and purpose.  A tour of the hospital with PCV Julie White revealed a 
number of innovations, including a playroom/waiting room for tots 
and an exercise, physical therapy room, for example.) 
 
English Language Learning Challenges 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶16. (U)  During a visit to PCV Jessica Pic's high school English 
language class, the DCM learned that the school's teachers had only 
recently shifted from teaching Russian to English.  The school is 
now rejiggering its English language program and developing 
additional resources.  All are deeply grateful for the contributions 
made by PCV Pic and they seek additional PCVs as well as training 
for their teachers and equipment and materials. 
 
PKO Battalion Visited, Thanked 
------------------------------ 
 
¶17. (U) Enoute back to UB on November 2, the DCM paid a brief call 
on the 150th PKO Battalion in Darkhan.  After meeting with the 
unit's commander, Colonel Bayarmagnai (an Iraq veteran), the DCM 
addressed a small gathering of about 15 soldiers, members of an 
English language training program, while the rest of the unit's 350 
soldiers (the unit is at half-strength) were out on a 30 kilometer 
field march.  Among the 15 soldiers were two that had served in Iraq 
(one did two tours), four that had served in Afghanistan, and 
several that had just returned from a UN mission in Sierra Leone. 
The DCM thanked them for their service to peace, freedom for the 
Iraqi and Afghani people, and for being strong friends and allies. 
Colonel Bayarmagnai, MARFORPAC embedded Marine trainers, and the DCM 
visited the Marines' local civic action project, a jointly-built 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000642  006 OF 006 
 
 
basketball court funded by the Marines.  The court was in use even 
with snow on the ground and temperatures hovering at the freezing 
mark. 
MINTON