DISCUSSION ON NORWEGIAN EXPERIENCE HELD

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ A discussion themed “Mining Management of Norway” was held Thursday in the Civil Hall with participation of Mr Kjell Magne Bondevik, a former Prime Minister of Norway; and Einar Steensnas, a former Minister of Petroleum and Energy. An advisor to the President L.Dashdorj made an opening statement at the discussion that was presented by R.Amarjargal MP. L.Dashdorj noted that the State Head of Mongolia has attached a great importance to the mining management and right exploitation of mineral resources of Norway. A head of the Presidential Office P.Tsagaan mentioned that Mongolia has temporarily stopped granting of exploration license, and reported the country is about to update the law on mineral resources and run a discussion on the matter soon. “Although some experts said that the experiences of Scandinavian countries including Norway will not fit the Mongolian characteristics, it deeply attracted Mongolian attention,” P.Tsagaan said, and thanked the Norwegian delegation for attending the discussion. “Mineral resource is a big benefit of a nation, but it might bring a big risk. A state monitoring is very important to this issue. Not only present, but also future interest must be considered during exploitation of mineral resources,” Mr Bondevik emphasized. Mr Steensnas mentioned about Norway's resources of oil and mineral resources during giving his report. He underlined Norway has managed to become a wealthy nation thanks to maintaining a correct budgetary and fiscal policy and founding a state-owned oil company. According to him, Norway charges high tax from the oil sector, and exploits the money dedicated to implementing the social and industrial policies. In addition, a half of projects on mineral exploitation are owned by the Norwegian state because the country prevents an accumulation of big amount of money in companies, he said. B.Khuder