Secretary's Speech

Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez
Third Annual U.S.-Mongolia Business Forum
Washington, D.C.

It is our pleasure to host the third annual U.S.-Mongolia Business Forum.

On behalf of the Department of Commerce let me welcome all of you, particularly those who have traveled here from Mongolia. Ambassador Minton, I appreciate your participation in today’s forum.

I would also like to thank Mongolia's Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Foreign Investment and Trade Agency, the Embassy of Mongolia, and the North America-Mongolia Business Council for their support in organizing today's event.

When I met with President Enkhbayar last year, we both agreed that this forum is an important venue for helping the United States and Mongolia expand our economic dialogue.

Mongolia is at the heart of Asia, a region increasingly a focus of the world’s attention. As barriers to trade have gone down, opportunity has grown across the continent and around the world.

Combined with dramatic developments in technology and infrastructure, the creation of an environment that encourages trade and investment across borders has brought tremendous changes to even the most remote parts of the world.

The United States greatly values our relationship with Mongolia, and we would like to see even more robust trade between our two nations.

While the distance between Ulaan Baatar and Washington is significant, it is easier than ever for information, products and people to bridge that space, so distance is no longer an obstacle to commerce. Indeed, there is no reason why Ulaan Baatar should be any less accessible for investors and businesses than Beijing or Tokyo.

While cashmere wool has been the primary export Mongolia is known for by most Americans, today the United States is Mongolia’s second largest export market in an increasingly diverse array of industries.

Many American companies see opportunities on the Mongolian steppes, and we have been encouraging more firms to enter your market.

The United States is eager to work with Mongolia to enhance our ties even further. I hope we will see more cooperation between our two nations in many promising sectors including mining, construction, energy, healthcare, aviation and agriculture. It has been our experience that businesses are attracted to low-risk environments where legal and regulatory frameworks are stable and transparent.

We support Mongolia’s development of a truly open and transparent legal system and investment environment. By doing so, Mongolia will create the right climate for prosperity to take root and for the economy to flourish.

This is particularly critical for the development of Mongolia's mining sector, which is the most important area for the country's economic development.

It is also important that while we enhance our trade ties we also increase exchanges of people, including tourists and students. I believe we have much to learn from one another. The more connections we make, the stronger our relationship will become.

I hope you will use this forum to renew old friendships and to create new ones, to explore potential business prospects, and to deepen your existing partnerships.

Thank you.