Mongolian Pres. Speaks of a Country in Flux

Looking noticeably fatigued, Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar explained himself to a packed Davis Auditorium last night, noting that it was still 5 a.m. in Mongolia.

“I don’t know how many of you can give a speech at five in the morning,” he said, drawing sympathetic laughs.

Enkhbayar’s speech, which made up part of the World Leaders Forum series, went on to stress Mongolia’s need to prove itself as a globally important country. The president described this effort with respect to two 15-year periods.

The first period began with Mongolia’s transition from a communist nation to a free-market democracy in 1992, following the demise of the Soviet Union.

“The most cherished dream of Mongolians was keeping the independence of our country,” Enkhbayar said.

He called the shift “a difficult, but at the same time interesting process,” and spoke proudly of increased freedom of the press and religion.

The president also boasted of Mongolia’s growing GDP as a result of its “economic liberalization,” something he wants to expand upon during the next 15 years. He divided this next period into two phases: 2007 to 2015 would be a time for “rapid economic growth,” and 2016 to 2021 would move the state into a “knowledge-based economy.”

Among the goals of the first phase are to advance Mongolia’s mining sector, build a railway, provide solar and wind energy, enhance education, narrow the income gap, and cut poverty in half. By the end of the second phase, Mongolia hopes to have stamped out poverty, moved from mining to production, promoted ideals of unity and justice, and built a second railway.

For its railway construction, Mongolia will have the help of the United States as part of the Millennium Challenge program, which gives assistance to reforming nations.

Enkhbayar signed the agreement with President George Bush on Monday, guaranteeing $285 million over the next five years.

In his speech, Enkhbayar referred to the United States, which it supported during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as a “third neighbor.”

Its other neighbors, China and Russia, lend added pressure to Mongolia’s growth.

“We will try to build a strong Mongolia of confident people,” he said. “And we have to succeed because we are surrounded by two big neighbors.”

Enkhbayar acknowledged that, as it develops, his country has been repeatedly reproved for its governmental corruption. “There is a joke in Mongolia,” he said.
“Good husbands have a lot of hidden pockets.”

To combat this, he said the state has merged hidden bank accounts and developed an anti-corruption agency.

Audience member Geoff Aung, CC ’08, was less concerned with corruption than he was with Mongolia’s dependence on international organizations.

“I’m not a huge fan of the president,” said Aung, who spent the spring semester researching road development in the East Asian nation.

“There’s a sense that Mongolians can’t do it on their own. I’d like to see them take on a stronger role.”

Lien Hoang can be reached at lien.hoang@columbiaspectator.com.