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Today’s newsletter in 3 sentences…

• 💳 E-Visa surge 

• 🤔 How do Mongolians spend a day?

• ⛏️ Oyu Tolgoi: Driving Mongolia's Mining Growth and Economic Power

Let’s Dive In. 🌊

MARKET

• US: A U.S. judge dismisses some claims in a lawsuit accusing Rio Tinto and its former CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques of defrauding investors by concealing problems developing the $5.3 billion Oyu Tolgoi project. 

• MNG: Parliament approves historic 2025 budget with ₮35.7 trillion in expenditures.

• E-VISA: The number of e-visas issued in Mongolia increases 3.2-fold in the first 10 months of this year, reaching 84,744.

🤔 How do Mongolians spend a day?

On an average day, Mongolians spend their time across 3 main areas: personal needs, work, and leisure. According to the latest Time Use Survey by the National Statistics Office, Mongolians spend 51% of their day on essential personal needs, 33.8% on work, and 15.1% on education and leisure. 

📸 Daily Snapshot

The reality? Mongolians actually spend 40% of their day sleeping, 20% working, and 20% on leisure. A plot twist on the “balanced” formula! Let’s break it down. 

• 😴 Sleep Rules: Mongolians sleep 9.5 hours daily, 2 hours more than South Koreans, taking up a hefty chunk of the day.

• 🤜🤛 Work Mix: About 4.6 hours are spent on paid work, while 3.5 hours go to unpaid tasks like cooking and cleaning.

• 🥱 Minimal Education: Surprisingly, education gets only 32 minutes or 2.2% of daily attention, a low share in an increasingly competitive world.

• 🤔 Free Time Focus: Of the 3.1 hours of free time available, 51% goes to social media. The rest is split between sports, art, and social activities.

• 💅 Personal Needs: Essential activities like eating and self-care take up to 2.7 hours or 11.3%.

🙎‍♂️🙎‍♀️ Gender Gaps and Family Demands

Men and women in Mongolia show distinct patterns in time allocation. Men clock around 7 hours and 59 minutes daily on paid and unpaid work, but women add an extra 54 minutes to that. Notably, women also handle double the amount of unpaid work as men, balancing household and caregiving duties alongside other responsibilities.

• Mothers with 3 children, in particular, dedicate 6.3 hours a day to unpaid work, which is over 114% more than women without children and 153% more than fathers of 3.

While sleep and scrolling are prioritized, there’s little time left for learning and growth. Could this be a signal to rethink how time is spent?

⛏️ Oyu Tolgoi: Driving Mongolia's Mining Growth and Economic Power

With the ambition of becoming the world’s 4th largest copper mine by 2030, let’s take a closer look at Oyu Tolgoi’s performance in Q3.

📈 Steady Production Growth

Oyu Tolgoi operates with a steady increase in copper production since the underground mining operation begins 20 months ago. In the third quarter of the previous year, copper concentrate production reaches 50 thousand tons, reflecting a 19% increase from the previous year and a 76.1% rise compared to 5 years ago.

‼️ Challenges & Adjustments
Copper production increases over a year,  but it decreases by 4.8% from the previous quarter. This is due to maintenance activities and adverse weather conditions that affect open-pit mining, resulting in a 20.8% reduction in processed ore.

• 🗻 Underground Mining Milestones: In underground mining, Oyu Tolgoi opens Panel 0 and activates 120 ore pits, with 6 of them starting production. The company processes 1.5 million tons of ore with an average copper grade of 2.05%. The open-pit mine processes 7.4 million tons of ore with a copper grade of 0.39%.

• 💰 Fiscal Contributions: Oyu Tolgoi contributes significantly to Mongolia’s economy. In the third quarter, the company pays ₮363 billion in taxes, fees, and other payments, bringing the total since 2010 to ₮11.7 trillion, showing an 18.2% increase from the previous year.

🌱 Commitment to Sustainable Development
The company commits to sustainable development with ₮17.7 billion allocated for such projects in the last quarter, totaling ₮178.5 billion since 2015. Around 14.1% of this goes toward local business development.

Beyond financial contributions, Oyu Tolgoi supports Umnugovi's economy by spending ₮4.7 billion on goods and services from the region since 2010, which equals the province's GDP in 2023.

 🇵🇭🇲🇳 Discover Elmond’s Journey in "My Expat Story"

In this inspiring video, follow Elmond as he makes Mongolia his second home. From navigating language barriers to forming lifelong friendships, Elmond shares his joys and challenges of adapting to a new culture. His story highlights the beauty of embracing new experiences and building meaningful connections across cultures.

🌏 Click here to watch the video and join our SendMN Expat community!

Invite Friends and Earn: Share the SendMN app with friends and get $5 when they make their first remittance home. Start growing the community today! 💸👥

⭐ Selected for you

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

• Rio Tinto and China’s State Power Investment Corporation Partner to Trial Battery Swap Truck Technology. (BatteriesNews)

• M Bank to introduce a new foreign payment solution in partnership with Visa International. (InsideMongolia)

POLITICS

• Armenia Nationals to be able to Travel to Mongolia Without Visa. (News)

• Yonsei University Wonju Health System Offers Consulting for Medical Institutions in Mongolia. (KoreaBioMed)

• United States and Mongolia Convene Fourth Annual Dialogue of the Child Protection Compact Partnership. (USEmbassy)

• ICC to investigate case against prosecutor Khan who issued Putin’s arrest warrant. (Censor.net)

• Mongolia and the Czech Republic to Expand Cooperation in Education. (Montsame)

CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

• Sarina Designs Bark-Clad Forestrest Seats to Reference Traditional Mongolian Crafts. (DEZEEN) 

• Mongolian State Grand National Orchestra Performs at the Grand Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic. (Montsame)

• Home Game Against Mongolia Sold Out. (FIBA)

• "The MongolZ" is Defining Asian CS. (News.mn)

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Publisher: Ts.Ankhbayar
Writer: M.Khulan
Graphics by: Ch.Battseren

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.