FOR 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH CZECH REPUBLIC

Ulaanbaatar, /MONTSAME/ Mongolia established the diplomatic relations with former Czechoslovakia /since 1993 the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic/ in April 25, 1950.
The bilateral economic and fiancial cooperation started to develop since the 1950s mainly covering areas like leather processing, shoe manufacturing and geology, thus making former Czechoslovakia our second trading partner until 1969.
The Mongolian Embassy opened in Praha, and the Czech Embassy here in 1956. The Czech Republic occupies an important place in our foreign policy. Since 1993, there has been an exchange of visits at various levels between the two countries. The President of Mongolia paid a state visit to the Czech Republic in 1999, and Czech President made a state visit to Mongolia in 2006.
The Czech Republic is considered as a first country that extended its official development aid to Mongolia among the Esatern European countries. This Republic extended grant with a total amount of 8 million USD to Mongolia from 1996 to 2005. The assistance focused on leather processing, shoe manufacturing, health, food and agriculture.
The cooperation in the education, sciences and culture has been quite extensive. Since 1955, over 300 Mongolian students gained education in the former Czechoslovakia. Currently, the Czech Government provides scholarships to some Mongolian students to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Czech universities and colleges every year.
S.Batbayar