SPEAKER MEETS DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE IN USA

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Mongolia wants to widen the trade and economic cooperation with the United States of America, visiting Speaker of the State Great Khural Z.Enkhbold said Wednesday at a meeting with Mr William Joseph Burns, the Deputy Secretary of State. Mr Enkhbold thanked the Deputy Secretary of State for the warm welcome and said his first visit after becoming the Speaker has started from the USA. The Speaker went on that the Mongolia-USA ties and cooperation have been developing successfully since establishment of the diplomatic relations, and added that Mongolia considers the USA as one of its Third Neighbours. Then he expressed a gratitude to the USA for supporting the Mongolian democracy. Mentioning that high-level visits realized have significantly contributed to bringing of the bilateral relations and cooperation into a new level, the Speaker noted that the consultative meetings between the Foreign Ministries plays a big role in the ties. He hoped that the ties will expand in favour of peoples of the countries, and expressed a willingness to bring the relationship to the strategic level. Mongolia is ready to cooperate with the USA in ensuring the world and regional peace and security, he added. The Speaker emphasized that the treaty of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) has played a big role in strengthening the bilateral relations and cooperation, and said Mongolia wants to join the second Compact contract of the MCA. Mr Enkhbold is confident that the U.S. political and economic support in fortifying the democracy will continue for Mongolia, a chair of the Community of Democracies (CoD). The Speaker expressed a hope that Mr Burns will participate in the 7th CoD Ministerial Conference which is to run April 29 in Ulaanbaatar. He said Mongolia wants the US support in seeking a UN Human Rights Council membership in 2015. B.Khuder