VZCZCXRO6134
RR RUEHLMC
DE RUEHUM #0209/01 1270838
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 060838Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY ULAANBAATAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2138
INFO RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 3340
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6140
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 2232
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 3015
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 1741
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 1797
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ULAANBAATAR 000209 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS PEACE CORPS, OPIC AND EXIMBANK 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, DRL, OES, AND EB/TPP 
USAID FOR DEIDRA WINSTON 
BANGKOK AND MANILA FOR USAID 
TREASURY FOR T.T. YANG 
BEIJING FOR AGATT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV EAGR SENV PREL KDEM EMIN SOCI MG
SUBJECT: Mongolia's Southwest Part 3 of 3:  Bayanhongor Pins Hopes 
on Herding and Food Processing 
 
REF: A) Ulaaanbaatar 0180, B) Ulaanbaatar 0198 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Charge visited Bayanhongor province April 23/24 
on the third and final stop of a three city swing through 
southwestern Mongolia.  The province is home to 90,000 people, of 
whom 28,000 live in the provincial capital, of the same name.  The 
province depends on herding and agriculture and hopes to expand its 
vegetable production for both local consumption and to ship to 
Ulaanbaatar to earn cash.  Vice Governor Sedkhuugiib sought 
additional information on food-processing development and 
rain-making technology.  After overviewing the U.S.-Mongolia 
bilateral relationship and describing USG assistance programs, the 
Charge raised the issue of religious freedom and tolerance, 
referring to concerns voiced by local Presbyterian pastors regarding 
religious prejudice and discrimination by Buddhists and local 
governments.  (Note: Buddhist leaders in Ulaanbaatar raised their 
own complaints against the Presbyterians and others.)  The Charge 
encouraged equal and fair treatment as well as the possibility of 
mediation to resolve differences.  The ruling Mongolian People's 
Revolutionary Party (MRPR) holds a slight edge in local governments 
in Bayanhongor, and the opposition Democratic Party (DP) complained 
of abuse of positions by MRPR incumbents, as well as voter 
registration mischief and possible stacking of the General Election 
Commission in the MPRP's favor.  The MPRP expects women to account 
for 25% of its candidates for the October provincial and local 
elections, compared to 40% for the DP.  Dinner with local Peace 
Corps Volunteers revealed a well-integrated, energetic, and 
synergistic effort directed at advancing local development, earning 
considerable respect for the U.S.  The USAID-funded Gobi Initiative 
created 35 new businesses and 396 new jobs from 2004 to 2008, for 
which the entrepreneurs and the local government are deeply 
grateful.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Bayanhongor Itinerary 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (U)  Following a day-long drive from Altai, the Charge, 
accompanied by E/P Political Specialist doubling as interpreter and 
driver, visited Bayanhongor, the capital of Bayanhongor province, 
April 23-24.  He met with Bayanhongor  government and political 
party officials, toured two USAID-funded Gobi Initiative development 
projects, and met with the local press.  Refs A and B report on his 
visits to Zavkhan and Gobi Altai provinces, respectively. 
 
Presbyterians Complain Of Buddhist Intolerance And Government 
Favoritism (And Vice Versa) 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) During a 45-minute meeting with three local Presbyterian 
Pastors (protect) the evening of April 23, the Pastors noted that 
their faith had been active in Bayanhongor for 16 years and they 
estimated they have about 10,000 followers (of the province's 90,000 
population) and about 25 churches of various sizes.  They complained 
of prejudice and discrimination against their faith by the 
provincial and local governments, as well as by local and national 
Buddhist officials.  (Note: By chance, an Emboff was meeting the 
following day in Ulaanbaatar with Khamba Lama Choijamts, Head of the 
Gandan Monastery and the center for Mongolian followers of the 
Buddhist faith.  That meeting revealed similar sentiments about 
attitudes toward Buddhism (lacking government support) and claims 
regarding Presbyterians and other Christian groups' actions against 
Buddhism.  In short, officials of both religions appear to have 
complaints against each other.  End Note.) 
 
"Ya Gotta Talk To Each Other" 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The pastors said they plan to approach President Enkhbayar 
to seek his intercession with the government and Buddhist leaders, 
knowing the President is a devout Buddhist with close association 
with the faith's leaders.  If the President is unwilling to help, 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000209  002 OF 003 
 
 
the Pastors will then approach Mongolia's National Human Rights 
Commission.  The Charge asked whether the Pastors had directly 
approached local Buddhist leaders or the provincial government.  The 
Pastors replied they had not approached either, as the local 
officials are viewed as "in the Buddhist camp" and Buddhist leaders 
are perceived as "part of the problem."  The Pastors believed that 
the growth of their flocks' numbers, and a sense of cultural loss, 
may be the motivating forces.  They sought the Charge's intercession 
on their behalf.  The Charge replied he would meet the next day with 
the Vice Governor and would express support for religious freedom 
and tolerance. 
 
Vice Governor Promotes Herding and Vegetables 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Meeting the morning of April 24, Vice Governor Sedkhuugiib 
Unenbuyan told the Charge that Bayanhongor province has 116,000 
square kilometers, 19 counties, and 90,000 people, of whom 28,000 
live in Bayanhongor City.  VG Sedkhuugiib said the province's 
economy is based on herding and agriculture; both are 
weather-dependent.  The government has encouraged residents and 
farmers to plant vegetables both for their own consumption and as 
cash crops to ship to Ulaanbaatar.  He sought additional information 
on food-processing development and rain-making technology, noting 
that cloud-seeding had recently been employed in another province to 
help fight a forest fire.  He said the province suffers from poor 
infrastructure but that both energy and communications systems had 
improved recently.  Demand for health care and education have 
outstripped supply, he said. 
 
Charge Stresses Religious Freedom and 
Tolerance As Well As the Need for Mediation 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Noting Mongolia's progress as a democracy and its support 
for individual freedoms, the Charge addressed the issue of religious 
freedom and tolerance, and asked whether the provincial government 
had considered offering its good offices as a mediator between the 
Buddhists and Presbyterians.  VG Sedkhuugiib said the provincial 
government felt "sandwiched" between the two groups and unable to 
gain the trust of either side.  He reiterated his government's 
support for religious freedom and promised to look into the claims 
made by both sides; in any case, the provincial government would not 
brook violence by any group. 
 
Charge Reviews Bilateral Relations, Assistance, 
Commercial Services, GSP, and MCA Compact 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) The Charge explained the types of assistance provided by the 
USG to Bayanhongor province, including the presence of several Peace 
Corps Volunteers, the Judicial Reform Project, the Gobi Forage 
Project -- which piqued the VG's interest -- and the Gobi Initiative 
Project.  He reviewed highlights of the US-Mongolia bilateral 
relationship, described the services available through the Embassy's 
Commercial Section, passed out the Section's contact information 
sheet, and summarized opportunities available for Mongolian 
producers under the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). 
He also overviewed the key elements of the US$285 million 
US-Mongolia Millennium Challenge Account Compact, which will soon 
begin implementation. 
 
MPRP Holds Small Lead Over DP 
----------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Donning his ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party 
(MPRP) hat, VG Sedkhuugiib said the province's assembly has 30 
members, evenly split between the MPRP and the Democratic Party 
(DP); three are females.  He said the assembly's nine-member 
steering committee consists of five MPRP members (the committee's 
chairman, previously a Motherland Party member, had just switched 
over to the MPRP) and four DP members.  He said the MPRP had four 
candidates who intend to seek election to Parliament on June 29. 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000209  003 OF 003 
 
 
(Note: Bayanhongor's three seats in Parliament will be up for grabs, 
so one of the MPRP's would-be candidates will have to drop out. End 
Note.)    The Vice Governor noted all the candidates were currently 
"working" in the province, but that this was to provide and gain 
background, as campaigning is not allowed until mid-May.  He 
confessed that there is a tendency to give gifts and buy votes, 
campaign education efforts notwithstanding.  VG Sedkhuugiib said 
gender was not a major issue for the upcoming elections nor the 
October provincial and local elections.  The MPRP expected it would 
meet its goal of fielding female candidates for 25% of local seats. 
 
 
DP Reps Complain Of MPRP Incumbent 
And Voter Registration Abuses 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶9. (SBU) During an April 24 meeting with nearly a dozen DP reps, DP 
Council Chief Regden (protect) said the DP holds six of 19 county 
governorships and has 120 of the 400 seats in the county assemblies. 
 He estimated that about 40% of the DP's candidates for provincial 
and local positions were women.  He complained that MPRP candidates 
use their government positions to advance their own candidacies, and 
said the MPRP had stacked the decks for the June elections.  (Note: 
Of the nine members of Mongolia's General Election Commission, only 
two are affiliated with the DP.  End Note.)  On a positive note, a 
number of electoral process improvements would make cheating more 
difficult, Regden said.  He said there were also sizable 
discrepancies, on the order of 6,000, between the number of 
registered DP members and those listed on the GEC's voter 
registration list.  He accused the MPRP of excluding the residence 
and voter registration of DP members.  He said MPRP leaders 
routinely portrayed goods received from NGOs as their own, personal 
gifts to constituents. 
 
Gobi Initiative Creates Firms, Jobs 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶10. (U) Mercy Corps representatives provided an overview briefing of 
USAID-funded Gobi Initiative activities in Bayanhongor from 2004 to 
2008, noting that 35 new businesses and 396 jobs had been created. 
The Charge visited a small wood furniture factory and also a beauty 
salon; both were newly created firms and each employed four staff. 
Both firms' managers had ambitious growth and development plans for 
coming years and were very grateful for the USG-supported program. 
 
GOLDBECK