To strengthen the coordination of cooperation efforts of Mongolia under the framework of the Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI), Mongolian GTI focal points convened for the first time to jointly discuss their approaches and engagement within the initiative. The meeting was organised by the GIZ Programme Support for Economic Cooperation in Sub-Regional Initiatives in Asia (SCSI) together with the GTI Secretariat, and Ministry of Finance of Mongolia on 5 October 2018 in the Terelj National Park.
14 representatives from national and provincial level stakeholders such as Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry – being a responsible focal point for the GTI Agriculture Committee – or Dornod province, took part in the meeting. The meeting aimed to improve connectivity with neighboring countries under the GTI framework in cooperation fields like trade and investment, agriculture, transport, or tourism.
In general, participants were updated about the GTI mechanism, procedures, and institutional set-up as well as roles and responsibilities of GTI Stakeholders and Focal Points. Furthermore, the instrument of GTI Soft Project Proposals was discussed to improve Mongolia’s engagement in GTI processes.
During the Meeting, participants intensively elaborated on roles and responsibilities of GTI Stakeholders in Mongolia. In that regard, the importance of permanent cooperation among stakeholders was highlighted. To develop Mongolia’s involvement in regional cooperation and increase integration in the Northeast Asian (NEA) region participants discussed how to further activate GTI Focal Points in Mongolia.
As a next step, to keep the momentum, GIZ SCSI will invite participants to follow-up workshops for continued networking and planning of joint project with other GTI member countries.