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Good morning! Mongolia’s small but growing game industry is adding a new entry to the global stage. Carnival Hunt, an asymmetric horror title from Beer Night Studio, the team behind Fragile and founded by rapper Rokit Bay, is set to launch in Early Access on July 23. The game’s trailer has already drawn attention, with early buzz building ahead of its debut.

What’s inside today’s edition…

• 📊 2-digit inflation

• 🏔️ Norman Reedus Came for the Ride.

• 🇺🇸🇲🇳 U.S. & Mongolia extend Child Protection Compact through 2028

We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s get moving. 🐐

MARKET

NSO: Inflation rose to 11.2% in May, up 2.9 percentage points from a year earlier.

CN: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's 3-day visit to Mongolia concludes today.

EU: The European Parliament has formally submitted a request to the European Commission and the Council of the European Union to begin negotiations on a visa facilitation agreement with Mongolia.

🏍️ Can Adventure Tourism Become Mongolia’s Next Growth Engine?

Last week, The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus arrived in Mongolia for a dedicated motorcycle adventure.

🏍️ Chasing the Wind Across the Steppe

Norman Reedus and his friends completed a 6-day motor adventure organized by Nomadic Off-Road, combining UAZ vehicles and motorcycles across the vast steppe. Reedus is well known for his passion for motorbikes. He even hosts the popular adventure travel show “Ride with Norman Reedus”. For riders, it's easy to see the appeal, endless steppe, rugged trails, and some of the most remote landscapes on Earth.

🌟 Mongolia Needs a Real Tourism Hook

Most people come for our pristine nature and nomadic culture, and that remains our greatest strength. In the past 2 years, Mongolia’s tourism sector has recorded some of its best years. The total number of visitors in the first quarter alone exceeded 143,000. Since the beginning of this year, an average of 48,000 tourists have arrived per month, roughly 1,600 per day.

• ⚠️ The Hidden Challenge: However, the reality is more nuanced. Of every 10 visitors, 4 come from Russia and 3 from China. Only the remaining 3 are from other countries.

The figures suggest Mongolia remains heavily reliant on regional travel flows rather than long-haul international visitors. As a result, the country has yet to fully tap into the higher-spending adventure and experiential tourism segments. Against this backdrop, niche categories such as off-road expeditions, motorcycle touring, and endurance rallies are emerging as potential growth areas. 

Mongolia's geography, spanning steppe, desert, and mountain ecosystems, provides ideal conditions for large-scale motorsport and expedition-style tourism. The country's landscape also gives it the potential to position itself as a global adventure destination and, eventually, host a Dakar Rally-style international race.

• 🔥 Little Bird Told Me… Btw, a new rally is set to be hosted in Mongolia this September. More details will be revealed soon.

Finally… Despite record headline arrival figures in recent years, the underlying composition of Mongolia’s tourism sector suggests continued dependence on a narrow set of source markets. The key constraint remains not overall volume, but diversification and the development of higher value, non-regional demand segments.

⭐ Selected for you

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

• Azzuro Resources Extends Red Hill Copper-Gold Strike 124 Metres in Mongolia. (D/A)

• Austria Gazettes Entry Into Force Date of SSA, Administrative Agreement With Mongolia. (BloombergTax)

• Orano Starts Construction at Mongolia Uranium Project. (WNN)

POLITICS

• Temporary Facilities Completed in Mongolia Ahead of UN COP17 Conference. (TheStar)

• India-Mongolia Ties Deepen Through Buddhist Heritage and Development Partnership. (DDIndia)

• Japan, Mongolia Agree to Advance Strategic Partnership. (JapanToday)

• Can Northeast Asia’s New Geopolitical Reality Create Opportunities for Mongolia? (TheDiplomat)

• Korea and Mongolia Launch Strategic Minerals Dialogue. (TheKoreaTimes)

• HUN Party Raises Con­cerns Over State Hous­ing Bank Pro­posal. (PressReader)

• Russia Overtakes Japan, China, Germany, SK, and More as Mongolia’s Tourism Surges to 292,063 Visitors Early 2026. (TTW)

 CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

• Smuggled Dinosaur Fossils Return to Mongolia After Two Decades. (TheStraitTimes)

• Nalanda University Signs Two MoUs with Mongolia to Strengthen Academic Partnerships. (APACNews)

 🇺🇸🇲🇳 U.S., Mongolia Extend Child Protection Compact Through 2028

The United States and Mongolia are set to extend the Child Protection Compact (CPC) partnership through 2028, alongside an additional $2.2 million in funding aimed at strengthening efforts to combat child trafficking.

🤝 Strengthening 6 Years of Cooperation

Since its launch in 2020, the CPC has supported cooperation between the 2 countries to improve victim protection services, enhance investigations and prosecutions, and strengthen Mongolia’s broader child protection system. The United States has provided $6.5 million to date, working with partners including World Vision and The Asia Foundation.

💰 Expanding Funding and Priority Areas

The planned extension brings total U.S. support to $8.7 million and focuses on sustaining and institutionalizing progress made under the program. Priority areas include strengthening coordination mechanisms, expanding child-friendly services, improving data systems, and supporting continued training for law enforcement and child protection professionals.

• 🏗️ Building Institutional Capacity: Over the past 6 years, the initiative has contributed to the development of multi-agency coordination systems, improved victim identification and case management, and expanded training in trauma-informed care, forensic interviewing, and cybercrime investigations.

• 🌍 Shared Commitment to Long-Term Protection: Officials from both countries said the extended partnership reflects a shared commitment to preventing child trafficking, strengthening justice systems, and ensuring long-term protection for vulnerable children in Mongolia.

Overall… The goal now is to make the gains of the past 6 years sustainable long after the funding ends.

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Publisher: Ts.Ankhbayar
Writer: M.Khulan
Graphics by: Ts.Tselmeg

Disclaimer: The information Inside Mongolia provides is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be or constitute financial advice, trading advice, or any other advice. The decision whether to consider the information we provide is solely our readers' independent decision.