Material 2 Coal Cooperation and the Future Direction between Japan and Mongolia December 16, 2009 Hirotoshi Kunitomo Director of Coal Division Agency for Natural Resources and Energy Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
1. Japan - Mongolia Joint Consultation with the Government and Private Sector on Mineral Resources Development Background for Holding Council Session Based on the Japan-Mongolia Basic Action Plan for the Next 10 Years agreed by Prime Minister Abe and President Enkhbayar on February 26, 2007, the Council was set up raising the status of the Mineral Resources Development Working Group held the previous year. It shall be held at the same time as the General Meeting (Trade and Investment Joint Consultation). Objective The purpose is to contribute to the economic development of Mongolia by having the Japanese government, the government of Mongolia and private companies jointly engage in a debate about the overall development of Mongolia s mineral resources to promote the development of Mongolian mineral resources, and to contribute, furthermore, to Japan s achieving supply security for mineral resources either through direct supply to Japan or through supply to the Asian region. Participants Japan: METI, MOFA, NEDO, JOGMEC, JBIC, NEXI, JCOAL, general trading companies, industries affiliated to resources development, financial institutions Mongolia: MMRE, related ministerial agencies, private companies, including mineral and trading companies First session: June 2007 in Tokyo Second session: October 2008 in Ulaanbaatar Third session: December 2009 in Tokyo 1
2. Results of Japan-Mongolia s Cooperation on Coal 2-1 NEDO Mongolia East Gobi Joint Coal Exploration Project (Implementation period: FY2005 2009) On February 10, 2006, a Memorandum of Understanding on the Coal Exploration Project was signed by NEDO and the Mongolian Ministry of Industry and Trade (now: Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy). Up until the end of fiscal year 2007, a general survey to narrow down prospective regions in the Eastern Gobi region was implemented. In fiscal years 2008 and 2009, the detailed exploration, composed of close-spaced drilling work etc. was implemented in the Khoot area. Ulaanbaatar Khoot 2
2-2 Clean Coal Technology Transfer Project Training Project Engineers from the developing countries of the Asia Pacific Region were invited to Japan to receive training on clean coal technology through classroom and on-site study. The training program were adapted to the conditions prevailing in each partner country. <Mongolia> FY2008 : Accepting 3 engineers from the power-generating field (Organizations: Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, Ulaanbaatar No. 3 Power Plant, Baganoor Joint Stock Company) Technical Development Cooperation Starting from FY 2009, the ( Development Support Research Cooperation Project Aimed at the Effective Practical Use of Low-Grade Coal with a View to Environmental Measures in Mongolia Sojitz Research Institute, Ltd.) was adopted as the Proposal-based Project by NEDO. Picture: Training atmosphere 3
3. Relative Importance of Mongolia in Coal Supply Security of Japan It is recognized that Mongolia is an important country with the potential of becoming a stable and secure resources supplier nation for Japan, given her geographical proximity to Japan and her abundant reserves. For future attempts to attract foreign investments for resource development, it will be of paramount importance on the part of the Mongolian government to improve the infrastructure in railways, and a mining policies in terms of Mining Law etc. It will be important to clearly state the procedures for open foreign investments such as international bids, especially for the Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit. 4