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Happy Monday! Last Friday, global streamer Ishowspeed landed in Mongolia. His livestream? Over 6.5 million views. The bill? Rumor has it, the humble Mongolian taxpayer picked up the tab. Who cares about budget deficits when we’re putting Mongolia on the global stage!

Today’s highlights in 3 sentences…

• 🎢 Stock Market Gets a Makeover

• 🍲 UB Food Festival: A Recipe for Chaos

• 🎬 Lights, Camera, Action: Mongolia’s Cinema Market

Ready to Dive in?

MARKET

FRC: Mongolia eases stock market regulations for TOP-100 entities, removing the requirement for asset valuations in IPOs and exempting them from providing collateral, guarantees, or signing underwriting agreements for bond issuances of up to ₮5 billion with a one-year term, etc.

CHN: Mongolia’s new rail link to boost China's coking coal by 30%.

ADB: The Asian Development Bank issues its first local currency education bond, raising ₮45.7 billion or approximately $13.1 million to support an education project in Mongolia.

 🤡 Mongolia’s Love Language: Plov + Monastery Flour Soup

The 11th UB Food Festival features 2-3 tons of Uzbek plov and flour soup, cooked by monks in a massive 1-ton cast iron pot.  Irony? The festival’s goal is to attract tourists before the tourist season begins.

💥 Chaos + Disorganization

Unsurprisingly, the UB Food Festival attracts only locals, with tourists rarely seen as people line up at the square. Tourists are unlikely to be drawn to an unorganized festival that lacks variety and fails to highlight the richness of national cuisine.

• 💸 Profit? Not Quite: The festival charges an entry fee of ₮5,000 (or $1.4) to enter a pavilion that holds up to 10,000 people, offering them food samples. The estimated income is ₮175 million, while the cost to organize it is ₮600 million. That’s a loss of ₮425 million, not profit.

🤾 The Main Problem: The Government Took Over

Normally, restaurants and small businesses, which are the true culinary gems, take part in food festivals. These festivals are well-organized and promote local food businesses. For example, Chicago’s “Taste of Chicago” attracts over 1.5 million people annually, and the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is a collaboration between the city and local businesses.

The Idea Was Good, But the Execution Failed

The concept of the festival is fine, but the execution is flawed. The Capital city mayor essentially forced the city to take on the role of chefs. If organized by businesses, the festival could have diverse dishes that meet international standards and truly attract tourists.

Finally… Ulaanbaatar is already facing a budget deficit of ₮1.6 billion. But instead of addressing the deficit, the city hosts a food festival, leaving taxpayers to cover the deficit, the costs of the festival. What the capital city truly achieves is a populist agenda, culminating in a failed festival.

⭐ Selected for you

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

• JINS HOLDINGS Expands into Mongolia with New Franchise Agreement. (TipRanks)

• Kangwon Land Inks Tourism Cooperation Agreement with Mongolia’s Sky Resort. (IAG)

• Mongolia Energy Delays Circular Dispatch for Convertible Notes Subscription. (MEC)

• Mongolia to Transition Its International SWIFT Payment Messaging to the ISO 20022 Standard. (MongolBank)

POLITICS

• Under Shared Blue Skies: Mongolia and the North American West Conference. (Colorado.Edu)

• Mongolian Delegation Explores Noida’s Urban Model for New City Blueprint | NOIDA Authority. (NewsIn) 

• Personal Data Protection Discussed with UN Special Rapporteur. (UBPost)

• Customs General Administration: Detected 7 Attempts to Illegally Smuggle Narcotic Drugs and Substances Across the State Border. (CGA)

CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

• Chaos in China as Cold Vortex from Mongolia Brings Strongest April Winds in Decades. (TheGuardian)

🍿📽️ Mongolia's Cinematic World: More Screens, More Seats

Mongolia’s movie theaters are on the rise, both in numbers and audience reach.

🎬 The Big Picture

As of April 2023, 6 cinema chains operated across 15 locations, with 69 screens and 9,740 seats. By the end of this year, the sector is expected to expand to 17 locations, 75 screens, and 10,503 seats, marking significant growth.

🏗️ New Players, Bigger Footprint

Urgoo Cinema led the way with a new branch at Park Od Mall, which opened in late 2023. This brought its total to 7 locations, 27 screens, and 4,232 seats, accounting for around 43% of Mongolia’s total cinema seating. Prime Cineplex also made strides, expanding to Dragon Center in May 2023, bringing its total to 5 locations, 21 screens, and 2,008 seats. 

• 🤝 M&A: In another strategic move, Soyombo Cinema merged with Tengis Cinema in February, rebranding as Tengis-2, now boasting nine screens and 1,932 seats.

🍿 Local Films, Loyal Viewers

The increase in cinema locations reflects a growing appetite for films, particularly local productions. According to the Cinema Management Association's 2023 report, cinemas sold 2.7 million tickets, with 43.2% of them for Mongolian films.

• 🎬 Local Hits: Among local hits, “Zura III” topped the box office with 302,000 viewers, followed by “Silent Path 2” with 146,000 and “Circle of Death” with 100,000. 

• 🪆 Foreign Hits: The animated film "Inside Out 2," which was a major hit internationally, also led in Mongolia with 171,000 viewers, followed by "Kung Fu Panda 4" with 166,000 and "Despicable Me 4" with 102,000.

Taken together… Despite the growth in the cinema sector, Mongolia still has only 19 cinema screens per 1 million people, which is 4.8 times fewer than France, where cinema culture originated 130 years ago, boasting 92.6 screens per million. This stark contrast highlights the limited access to cinemas in Mongolia. However, with an 8.7% increase in screens, a 7.8% rise in seats, and a 13.3% growth in locations between 2023 and 2024, the cinema market is clearly evolving to meet rising demand. 

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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.