L.PUREVSUREN ADDRESSES MEETING ON MONGOLIAN DEMOCRACY

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ With an official visit to the USA, Mongolia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr L.Purevsuren has delivered a speech at a roundtable meeting themed "25th anniversary of the Mongolian democracy: success, lessons learned and future goals". The meeting, co-organized last weekend by the International Republican Institute (IRI) and National Endowment for Democracy (NED), was chaired by Mr Thomas E.Garrett, Vice President of the IRI. Opening speeches were also made by Ambassador Mark Green, the IRI President; Mr Carl Gershman, the NED President; and Mr Peter Roskam, a Congressman. Mr Purevsuren said:"New things are always challenging, especially a developing of the democracy is not an easy process. Having understood this hardship, the President Ts.Elbegdorj has initiated Mongolian International cooperation fund. Its purpose is to share Mongolia’s experience in democratic transition with new and emerging democratic countries. A reputation of Mongolia is enhancing on the international arena". "Mongolia successfully chaired the Community of Democracy, hosted in the UB city the Ministerial conference and the Fifth Ministerial conference of the Freedom online coalition," he said underlining that all this is crucial in a democratic process. The IRI president Mr Green said Mongolia possesses a great example in the region in term of a peaceful transmission to the democracy. "Even though Mongolia has immediate two neighbors, the country has been collaborating with democratic states including the USA, Japan, S.Korea and Canada within its 'Third neighbor' policy," he said. "Under the leadership of President Elbegdorj, Mongolia has become an active voice for democracy in recent years. Mongolia has gained wealthy experience in the transition process and she is sharing its experience and lessons learned with others," he stressed. The roundtable meeting brought together some 80 representatives of the US Congress, the State Department, the US Congressional research center, Mongolian association and other institutions.