AF PRESIDENT DAVID D. ARNOLD MEETS WITH MONGOLIAN LEADERS

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ This week, the Asia Foundation’s president Mr David D. Arnold visited Mongolia on the occasion of the 5th Freedom Online Conference in Ulaanbaatar. The AF’s website published the news on May 6. As part of the conference, Mr. Arnold moderated the “Internet Freedom Trends in Asia” session. During this visit Mr. Arnold also met with Mongolian officials, Foundation donors and partners, and young Mongolian leaders from private sector, government, and civil societies. He was also interviewed by Bloomberg TV Mongolia. In his opening remarks on the “Internet Freedom Trends in Asia” session, Mr. Arnold highlighted the importance of Asia in terms of its rapidly rising internet usage representing 45% of global internet users, but also highlighted the growing digital divide between and within Asian countries. “Asia’s biggest developing democracies account for one-quarter of the world’s people, but only about one-tenth of the global online population,” said Mr. Arnold. “It is important to recognize the enormous challenges that still exist in terms of making information on the internet available and accessible to people across Asia especially in remote and less developed parts of the region. Bringing people on the same platform is an important first step. Other panelists included: Ross LaJeunesse, Global Head of Free Expression and International Relations at Google; Artem Goryainov, IT Director of the Civil Initiative on Internet Policy in Kyrgyzstan; Jennifer Zhang, Project Manager of the Hong Kong Transparency Report; and H.E. Kees Van Baar, Human Rights Ambassador of the Netherlands. During his time in Mongolia, Mr. Arnold met with Mr L.Purevsuren, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mr P.Tsagaan, head of the Presidential Office. He also attended meetings with Ulaanbaatar City Municipality representatives including Vice Mayor Bataa and Mr Badral Bold, General Manager and Head of the Mayor’s Office of the Ulaanbaatar City Municipality. Mr Arnold also met with young Mongolian leaders from private sector, government, civil society, and media to discuss their perspectives on Mongolia’s current and future state of democracy and economy, as well as the possibilities for young people to shape Mongolia’s development. The young leaders highlighted challenges relating to the level of trust in society, citizen awareness of decisions affecting them, and political and educational systems. While recognizing the various challenges in Mongolia today especially for young people, Mr. Arnold noted that “it is important to recognize the remarkable progress and achievements that Mongolia has made in a short timeframe of 25 years and that Mongolia in many ways serves as an example for other countries in Asia.”