President speaks at International Peace Institute

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The President of Mongolia Ts.Elbegdorj Wednesday visited the International Peace Institute (IPI) in New York. After a warm welcome by the IPI head Mr Terje Rod-Larsen, the State Head was invited to a meeting with the representatives of the US governmental and non-governmental organizations. In his welcome note, Mr Rod-Larsen said:”Mongolia is a role-model for democracy and is one of the countries which recorded the greatest success in post-socialism transition toward securing and safeguarding human rights and freedoms. Mongolia has recorded a remarkable economic growth in recent years and has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies. Also, Mongolia has rich historical and cultural heritages. I am honored to host the President of Mongolia, an exemplary democracy in Asia”. Invited to address the audience, the President Elbegdorj said:”…Twenty three years have elapsed since Mongolia undertook its first democratic, free election. In the cold winter of 1989, we were able to do away with the government, not chosen by the will of the people. We restored civil rights and freedom. In 1990 Mongolia became a Parliamentary state. And today, after twenty plus years Mongolia is a country with a stable government and ruled by its citizens. Multiparty system, pluralism of views are not the foundation of democracy; a country becomes genuinely open and democratic only then when the real power is transferred to the people and local governments, i.e. promoting direct democracy. Like other democracies in the world, we also do encounter difficulties and challenges. "Mongolia wishes not to teach, but to share with others with our experiences and lessons on our path of democratic consolidation. Democracy is, indeed, a learning process. We learn from our mistakes, and try hard not to repeat them. We initiated the Asia Democracy Network and having led the Community of Democracies for 2 years, we have handed the chairmanship of the organizations to Salvador in May this year. "Mongolia has also initiated the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security. Mongolia has been firmly committed to transparency, accountability and rule of law. These are the fundamental prerequisites for democracy to develop and strengthen. "Corruption smashes people's trust, scares away investors and steals away people's opportunities for better lives. Therefore, Mongolia determinedly and aggressively pursues intolerance to corruption, from high ranking officials to ordinary citizens. "Mongolia is indeed positioned well on the global political and economic mapping, in terms of our democratic achievements, economic opportunities, geographic location and other factors. We have stepped on a path of a remarkable growth. In 2012, our economy grew at 17%, with the pace slowed down this year to record 11% growth. Though slowed down, compared with other countries, we continue to record a double-digit growth rate. Maintaining the speed is indeed a huge challenge. We are working hard to withstand the difficulties on our way to address this challenge. "We are working to keep the balance between the two major developmental goals - first, to deliver the opportunities created by our economic growth equally and equitably to every Mongolia, and second, to show, prove to the international community that Mongolia is open for business partnerships, a country open to doing business. "We need to improve out infrastructures and attain world standards in our education and health sectors. We need to indeed work really hard and accomplish a lot to provide for the immediate and future needs of our people. The key to our success is our people. In these years, when the sheer share of the minerals sector in our economy is further growing, we need to educate our people, specialize in various trades and professions, which we are doing concertedly. For instance, our Government will provide a full tuition to a Mongolian citizen who gets admitted to any one of the world's top 20 universities,” he said. Mr Elbegdorj and the participating members of the US governmental and non-governmental circles engaged in lively and amicable talk, and questions and answers on Mongolian history, education, democracy, economy, mining, gender, law and justice and other issues of interest.