Japan Courts Mongolia and Its Uranium

GOVERNMENT officials expressed support for a Japanese proposal to explore uranium resources in Mongolia’s eastern province, especially in the Gurvanbulag area of Dornod aimag. The Prime Minister of Mongolia S.Bayar met Tuesday with Fumiya Kokubu, Managing Executive Officer of Marubeni Corporation, to discuss an uranium resource development project.
Bayar stressed the importance of building a sufficient legal framework prior to the start of cooperation on uranium extraction projects. Kokubu said that Marubeni wants to share its model plant they built in Kazakhstan, to export Japanese uranium technology, and to help develop Mongolia’s human resources in the area.


Earlier in October, the second Mongolia-Japan intergovernmental joint committee meeting on business-trade and investment was held in Ulaanbaatar. Representatives from Japanese government agencies and private enterprises met with top Mongolian officials during the event. Japan’s Vice-Minister for International Affairs, Hiroyuki Ishige, met Bayar and the Minister of Minerals & Energy separately to discuss promoting investment in Mongolia and cooperation in the mineral resources sector between the two countries, particularly in regards to uranium. Ishige and Zorigt exchanged views on issues facing Japanese enterprises in Mongolia and the status of laws governing mineral policy in Mongolia. The two sides shared the view that they should expand cooperation in the area of uranium resource developments within the nation’s legal framework.