👓 PROVINCIAL COMPETITIVENESS | CORRUPTION INDEX | INVESCORE IN 2022.

POWERED BY

It’s finally a bit warmer here in UB! Don’t rush to take your winter clothes off, though. As Mongolians say, “spring comes only after Tsagaan Sar”. 

🤔 DID YOU KNOW?

👓 MONGOLIAN AIMAGS ARE LESS COMPETITIVE

The Economic Policy and Competitiveness Research Center (EPCRC) has released the 2022 Provincial Competitiveness Report.

• Provincial competitiveness is evaluated between 0 and 100 points by about 180 indicators that fall into 4 main groups: economic performance, governance efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure. The study has been carried out by the EPCRC since 2012.

Key results

The average competitiveness score of all provinces decreased by 6 points from the previous year to 65.  This was mainly due to the drop in business efficiency and economic performance indicators which fell by 9 and 6 points on average, respectively. 

• Highest score: Orkhon province, which boasts the largest number of companies among Mongolian aimags (3,919), had been leading the competitiveness report for many years. However, in 2021 and 2022, it gave way to Dornogovi, the southernmost province that now acts as the main transportation route for Mongolian exports to China. 

The ups and downs

Bulgan, Zavkhan, and Govi-Altai became the only provinces whose competitiveness scores increased. This was influenced by the improvement of their governance efficiency and infrastructure indicators.

Khovd, Uvs, and Bayan-Ulgii experienced the largest score drops, with Khovd losing 20 points, Uvs 19, and Bayan-Ulgii 16. The reason - worsened financial, livelihood and business indicators.

• Dundgovi placed last mainly due to the ineffective development policy that failed to improve governance and infrastructure, as well as create more jobs and economic growth.

‼️ The problem

Among the main factors of provincial competitiveness, the average score of business efficiency is the lowest - 52.7. This shows that Mongolian provinces need more incentives to support businesses and encourage entrepreneurship. 

 📈 DATA STORY

Despite the government’s promises to reduce - if not eliminate - corruption, Mongolia became one of the 10 countries whose corruption indicators have continuously declined over the last 10 years. The average Corruption Perception Index score currently stands at 43, which is 10 points more than Mongolia’s score. 

💰 INVESCORE NBFI ACES 2022

InvesCore, the largest NBFI in Mongolia, made a net profit of ₮32.9 billion in 2022.

All green… 

The company reported growth across all main financial indicators.

• Loans: Their loan portfolio grew by 63% and reached ₮282.6 billion.

• Income: Interest and commission income rose by 88% to ₮94.1 billion thanks to the increase in loan portfolio.

• Profit: As a result, InvesCore’s net profit increased by 1.7 times or 71% to ₮32.9 billion.

Weathering the storm

2022 was a rough financial year for the whole world, let alone Mongolia. Unsurprisingly, the TOP-20 Index of the Mongolian Stock Exchange fell by 15.4% last year - but of those 20 companies, InvesCore became one of the few that managed to come out of 2022 unscathed. In fact, their share price increased by 23.8%, closing at ₮5,005 - up 203% since their IPO.

2022 highlights

• FPO: The company successfully issued additional shares last year, raising ₮16.7 billion in total. They also launched the first two tranches of InvesCore bond worth ₮50 billion.

• MFR: InvesCore received ISO9001 and ISO27001 certifications, obtaining an “A” rating from MicroFinanza Rating SRL.

• FIFA: As part of their social responsibility, the company worked as the main sponsor of FIFA World Cup’s live broadcast and implemented a comprehensive program to support SMEs jointly with Rio Tinto Mongolia LLC.

InvesCore definitely managed to keep growing despite the tough market conditions last year. Let’s see how they do in 2023.

🏃 QUICK STORIES

📌 Founder of Terra Express takes full ownership of Tenger Capital. One of Mongolia’s first securities companies, Tenger Capital was established in 2007 as a subsidiary of Tenger Financial Group, the parent company of XacBank.

📌 Khan Bank’s net profit increased by 53.9% YoY to ₮448.7 billion. This was mainly due to the 18% growth in interest income that amounted to ₮1.4 trillion. The bank's current accounts rose by 52.8% YoY, reaching ₮4.6 trillion, while deposits fell by 12.7% to ₮6.1 trillion.

📌 Trade and Development Bank posts net profit of ₮228 billion, a YoY increase of 117.5%. Their non-interest income grew by 78.9% to ₮323 billion, with interest income rising by 7.8% to reach ₮643.8 billion. The bank’s current accounts jumped by 34% to ₮2.4 trillion, while deposits dropped by 5.3% to ₮3.6 trillion.

📌 Telecom Mongolia to offer an additional 34% stake to the public. Currently, 5.3% of the company's total shares are publicly traded on the Mongolian Stock Exchange. The remaining 94.7% are owned by the government.

FEATURED STORY:

🟦 TOP NEWS

1. Stunning photos show nomadic life of Mongolian goat herders (New Scientist)

2. Under Secretary Zeya’s Travel to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and Tokyo, Japan (U.S. Department of State)

3. How Mongolia Is Navigating a Changing Security Environment (The Diplomat)

4. Mongolian short film "Yellow Bus" selected for the international competition of Tampere Film Festival (Tampere Film Festival)

FEATURED NEWS:

💭  WATCH & LEARN