FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS AUSTRALIA

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Mongolia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs L.Bold paid an official visit to Australia on March 16-20 at invitation of his counterpart Ms Julie I.Bishop. He was accompanied by MPs and business delegates, who held some meetings and measures for expanding the bilateral relations in the political and economic spheres. On March 18, the FMs of the two countries ran official talks to exchange views on widening the bilateral cooperation and collaborating at the regional level. Ms Bishop stated that the Australian government decided to augment a number of scholarships for Mongolian students and increase the budget size of developmental cooperation for Mongolia, reaching USD 20 million. The Australian Foreign Minister also said her country positively accepted proposals of Mongolia about involving Mongolians in the visa program of temporary workers in Australia and increasing investments of Australia. A Mongolia-Australia intergovernmental memorandum on the cooperation in the consular sector was signed by R.Bold, the Ambassador of Mongolia to Australia, and by J.Brown, the first assistant secretary of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.