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Inside Mongolia, New York, NY (2025)

09/25/2025

Marriott International to launch its first AC Hotel in Mongolia. 🏨

Marriott International, in partnership with HTL Gateway LLC, is set to open the AC Hotel by Marriott Ulaanbaatar in 2027, marking the brand’s debut in Mongolia. Located in Khan Uul District along Buyant-Ukhaa Road, the 190-room hotel will feature modern dining, wellness facilities, an indoor pool, and versatile event spaces, thoughtfully designed to serve both business and leisure travelers.

What is AC Hotel?

AC Hotels are Marriott’s lifestyle brand, combining modern, minimalist design with functional spaces, international standards of service, and amenities tailored for today’s modern travelers, including flexible work and social areas. The launch reflects Marriott’s strategic expansion into high-growth Asia-Pacific markets, leveraging its global expertise to identify emerging destinations with strong tourism and business potential. With Mongolia welcoming over 800,000 international visitors in 2024, the AC Hotel is expected to elevate hospitality standards, attract international business, and strengthen Ulaanbaatar’s position as a regional travel hub.

🔍 Business Insight

Ranked among the world’s largest and most recognized hotel companies, Marriott operates over 9,600 hotels across 30+ brands in 143 countries and territories. Its entry into Mongolia signals confidence in the country’s rapidly growing tourism sector, while demonstrating Marriott’s strategy of targeted expansion into emerging markets poised for long-term economic and travel growth.

09/23/2025

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok met today with Mongolia’s Senior Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development N.Uchral to discuss stronger cooperation, as the 2 countries celebrate 35 years of diplomatic relations this year. 🤝

Minerals Forum Spurs Cooperation

The talks came a day after the Korea–Mongolia Core Minerals and Mining Investment Forum in Seoul. At the forum, Mongolia’s state-owned Erdenes Mongol signed MOUs with Korean companies, including Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corp. and Samsung C&T. According to South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, these agreements will pave the way for joint development and secure supply of critical minerals.

The PM also highlighted the upcoming Korea–Mongolia Rare Metal Cooperation Center, set to open in November, emphasizing its role in strengthening bilateral supply chain cooperation.

Push for Economic Partnership Agreement

Additionally, the PM urged quicker advancement of the Korea–Mongolia Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and sought Mongolia’s backing for South Korea’s policies regarding the Korean Peninsula.

09/23/2025

🔥 Smoking Will Be Expensive

Parliament is moving to sharply raise excise taxes on to***co products over the next 5 years, aiming to curb smoking and tackle mounting public health and economic costs. A draft bill, submitted by 76 lawmakers, also seeks to bring electronic ci******es, rapidly gaining popularity among young people, under the same restrictions as traditional to***co.

🚬 To***co Control in Mongolia: Long Road, Weak Enforcement

Mongolia introduced its first to***co control law in 1993 and has revised it 8 times. Yet, enforcement remains weak. Regulators cite poor coordination and a surge in illicit trade as reasons why smoking rates, particularly among adolescents, have not fallen. Electronic ci******es have emerged largely unregulated, fueling a new generation of ni****ne users.

📈 A Serious Push This Time?

Under the proposed legislation, excise taxes on all to***co products would rise in stages between 2025 and 2030. Lawmakers say the extra revenue will fund public health programs, from school nutrition and youth leisure activities to strengthened to***co prevention and cessation services.

🔗 Visit: https://insidemongolia.mn/post/XOCImtW2uRy

09/22/2025

Kincora Copper Regains Full Control of Bronze Fox Project ⚒️

Kincora Copper has regained full ownership of its Bronze Fox copper-gold project in Mongolia after partner Orbminco, formerly Woomera Mining, withdrew from a 2024 earn-in agreement.

Background: In August 2024, Kincora signed an earn-in deal granting Orbminco the option to spend $4 million on exploration in exchange for up to an 80% stake in Bronze Fox. The deal aligned with Orbminco’s pivot to a “prospector generator” model focused on Australian assets.

Bronze Fox Profile: The 175 km² landholding hosts 426,000 tonnes of copper and 437,000 ounces of gold across three underexplored porphyry complexes. The Shuteen North target, considered highly prospective, remains untested by drilling.

Next Steps

CEO Sam Spring said the company can now pursue “potentially significant near-term value catalysts,” including a second mining license application, updated oxide resource studies, and self-funded exploration programs to unlock Bronze Fox’s upside while attracting new interest in the portfolio. He added, “With the Southern Gobi emerging as a major copper hub and recent sector developments, including the Bastion-Xanadu deal, $ERDN’s gold production, and Oyu Tolgoi’s expansion, we see strong momentum and significant upside for Kincora’s Bronze Fox project.”

09/22/2025

⚖️ FRC Steps In on Gobi’s Privatization Plan

The Financial Regulatory Commission (FRC) has intervened in Gobi JSC’s (GOV) attempt to delist and convert into a limited liability company, escalating tensions with shareholders. The regulator said it has yet to receive the formal paperwork required for such a change and is now reviewing whether the process complies with market rules and protects minority investors.

📄 Regulator Presses for Transparency

To that end, the FRC instructed the Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) to examine shareholder meetings, board decisions, valuation reports, and buyback pricing. By doing so, the regulator aims to ensure that the conversion process is both transparent and aligned with legal requirements before any structural change can move forward.

⏸️ Buyback on Hold: As part of its intervention, the FRC ordered Gobi to suspend its previously announced share buyback. Nevertheless, Gobi’s stock remains actively traded on the exchange, maintaining liquidity in the short term even as governance concerns linger.

🔗 Visit: https://insidemongolia.mn/post/F0BVNyoj4ri

09/19/2025

Mongolian athletes debut on Netflix’s Physical Asia! 🇲🇳

In 2023, Netflix launched the reality competition Physical: 100, which quickly captured the attention of sports enthusiasts worldwide. The first season became the most popular non-English show on Netflix during its third and fourth weeks after release and topped the Global Top 10 list in over 80 countries.

The second season, premiered on March 19, 2024, and continued the franchise’s momentum, becoming Netflix’s most-watched reality show during its release week with 6.1 million views from March 18 to 24. In the U.S., the show attracted 3.6 times the average audience demand for TV shows in April 2025, demonstrating strong global engagement.

Building on this success, the third season, Physical: Asia, is set to premiere in October 2025. It will feature elite athletes from 8 Asian countries such as, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Mongolia, Turkey, Indonesia, Australia, and the Philippines.

Mongolia’s team includes national wrestler B. Orkhonbayar, basketball player E. Dulguun, circus performer E. Lkhavga-Ochir, MMA fighter B. Enkh-Orgil, volleyball player G. Khandsuren, and judoka A. Adyasuren, all competing for regional supremacy in the ultimate physical challenge.

With its expanding international scope and proven popularity, Physical: Asia is poised to continue the franchise’s global success while introducing a new generation of athletes to a worldwide audience.

09/16/2025

⛑️ Hello, Winter Crisis: Ulaanbaatar on the Edge of a Freeze!

Every winter, Mongolia faces a harsh energy crisis that overshadows even its extreme cold. This year, the situation could worsen, not due to the weather, but because Power Plant III, the country’s second-largest energy source, has been damaged.

🔗 Infrastructure Upgrades: A Step Toward Energy Efficiency

For the first time in 30 years, Ulaanbaatar is upgrading 87.8 km of pipelines and insulating 200 prefabricated buildings, saving an estimated 10 MW of energy. Heating tariffs, set to double to ₮84,000 for a 50 m² apartment, are frozen until year-end. The city will phase out raw coal, shifting to improved briquettes at ₮3,750 and semi-coked coal at ₮5,000.

🤔 The cleaner fuel burns longer and cuts emissions by 40%–50%, but Ulaanbaatar will import 306,000 tons of semi-coked coal and 40,000–45,000 tons of briquettes from China, costing ₮226 billion and potentially straining foreign reserves.

🔗 Visit: https://insidemongolia.mn/post/sxIAAICZGrL

09/15/2025

Chabot Mobility expands into Mongolia. 🚗🇲🇳

Chabot Mobility, a South Korean digital mobility company, is partnering with G Mobile and Magnai Trade to enter Mongolia’s fast-growing automobile market.

Partnership Details:

▫️ Gmobile: Provides communication infrastructure to enable car sharing, rentals, payments, and telematics services.

▫️ Magnai Trade: Upgrades gas stations into “mobility stations” offering smart fueling, EV charging, payments, and vehicle services.

Why Now?

As of 2024, Mongolia has over 900,000 registered vehicles and is accelerating EV adoption, with Ulaanbaatar planning more than 25 charging bases by 2030.

Goal: Launch integrated mobility services, including car sharing, smart fueling, EV charging, and payments, while using Mongolia as a testbed for global expansion into markets like Japan and North America.

09/15/2025

🏗️ Aspire Mining Reclaims Ovoot & Nuurstei Projects

Aspire Mining (AKM.AX) is regaining full control of its Mongolian coking coal projects, clearing legacy agreements and seeing a major shareholder exit in a $13.5 million deal that strengthens the company’s position in Asia’s coal market.

📈 Exclusive Marketing Rights Secured

As a result, Aspire will now hold exclusive marketing rights for coal from its Ovoot and Nuurstei coking coal projects after agreements with Talaxis and related parties were restructured. Talaxis, which previously held more than 13% of Aspire’s shares, is selling its entire stake to NordSteppe Private Investment Fund, with the deal expected to close by March 2026. Under the new arrangement, Aspire will also reclaim a 20% stake in key infrastructure for just $1, while former partners waive future revenue claims. In return, Aspire will pay NordSteppe a 0.75% royalty on Ovoot coal sales.

The restructuring lifted investor confidence, with Aspire shares up 13%, positioning the company to capture more profits amid strong Asian demand for Mongolian coking coal.

🔗 Visit: https://insidemongolia.mn/post/iwtGS5LjD4H

09/12/2025

Mining Week: Day 1

Che Changbo, Secretary General of the China Mining Association, joined the opening sessions of Mining Week. In his remarks, he underscored China’s position in the global mining sector and highlighted prospects for deepening cooperation with Mongolia’s resource industry.

09/11/2025

Mining Week & MinePro 2025 begins today. ⛏️

Mongolia’s biggest mining event is now underway. Inside Mongolia is participating as the Financial Media Sponsor for the third consecutive year. Stay tuned as we bring you key updates, industry insights, and exhibition highlights.

09/09/2025

🔁 MSE’s Latest Risers and Shifts

The Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) has released its latest securities classification update, reshuffling listed companies across tiers to reflect their current market standing.

🗣️ Who’s Rising and Who’s Falling?

The update sees Mongol Basalt (MWB), Monlogistics Holding (MLG), and Premium Nexus (CUMN) move up from Tier II to Tier I, underlining their strengthened market positions. Conversely, Talkh Chikher (TCK), Gazar Shim Uildver (GAZR), Makh Impex (MMX), and Bodi Insurance (BODI) have been downgraded from Tier I to Tier II.

➕ Additionally, Buligaar (MBG) advances from Tier III to Tier II, while Dornod Trade (DES), Erdenes Solutions (AMT), Mongol Shiltgeen (MSH), Aduun chuluun (ADL), Neheesgui Edlel (NXE), Berkh Uul (BEU), and Frontier Land Group (MDR) move from Tier II to Tier III, reflecting varied performance across sectors.

🔗 Visit: https://insidemongolia.mn/post/AQ0w5YbK64W

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