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QGX has long been an active partner in Mongolia’s development efforts. The company was the first foreign company to acquire a gold exploration license in the post transition era and has worked closely with the Government to increase Mongolia’s mineral sector investment provirtual in Canada and elsewhere.
The company has also been active in the social sector in Mongolia. Most notably, QGX was the first private sector contributor to the Government of Mongolia’s Social Assistance Fund. The contribution provided targeted assistance for Mongolia’s most vulnerable, and served to encourage other private sector – both domestic and foreign – contributions to the Fund.
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The company continues to support social sector projects in Mongolia, with a focus on grassroots community building initiatives. Recent interventions include a donation to the Arts Council of Mongolia, significant contributions to sum (rural sub-administrative unit) development funds, and a sizeable contribution in support of one sum’s efforts to rehabilitate its community cultural centre. |
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Mongolia is a landlocked country bordered by Russia to the north and China to the east, south and west. With an area of more than 1.5 million square kilometers (world’s seventh largest country) and a population of approximately 2.4 million people, Mongolia has one of the lowest population densities in the world. The landscape has several geographic features, including forest mountain ranges to the north, desert and low mountain areas to the south, high mountain ranges to the west and vast plains to the east. The climate is continental with hot summers and cold winters.
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Mongolia’s population is relatively homogenous in terms of ethnicity, language and religion. It is also a young country with more than 60% of the population below the age of 30. Approximately one third of the Mongolian population lives in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar with a large portion of the remainder living as nomads throughout the country.
Mongolia has a very long history and is often associated with its most famous leader, Genghis Khan, who ruled during the 13th century. In 1921, Mongolia fell under the influence of the Soviet empire, which dominated the politics and economy of the country until 1990 when the country’s transition to democracy and a free market economic system began.
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Government
The Mongolian Constitution adopted in 1992 established an elected legislature and a directly elected President. The Prime Minister is nominated by and serves on behalf of the majority party in the parliament. The Constitution enshrines the concepts of democracy, freedom of speech, and judicial independence, among others.
The first multiparty elections were held in July of 1990 at which the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (the "MPRP") became the dominant political party. The MPRP was victorious again in the July 1992 elections but lost to the Democratic Coalition in the elections of 1996. The MPRP regained power in 2000.
Economy
Since 1991, Mongolia has been making a concerted effort to implement a comprehensive economic reform program aimed at moving the country toward a free market economy.
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One of the primary objectives of this program has been to encourage foreign investment to stimulate economic growth and several laws have been adopted in that regard. The primary industries are agriculture and mineral products.
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