On May 5, the Secretary General of the State Great Hural Dr.Enkhbat Damdin met with Suzanne E.Siskel, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Asia Foundation and representatives of the Asia Foundation in Mongolia, including Ms.Sara Taylor, Country Representative in Mongolia.

At the beginning of the meeting, Dr.Enkhbat expressed his pleasure to meet the guests led by Ms.Siskel and noted that for more than 30 years since Mongolia's transition to democracy, the Asia Foundation has effectively implemented various projects aimed at improving governance, mitigating the effects of climate change, ensuring gender equality, and intensifying anti-corruption activities. He also took the opportunity and thanked the Asia Foundation for providing support for “Trans-Altai Sustainability Dialogue”, which was organized by the Secretariat of the State Great Hural for the second year.

In 2017, the Secretariat of the State Great Hural in collaboration with the Asia Foundation organized the first-ever national deliberative poll on the constitutional amendments in Mongolia. In 2021, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed for a period of 3 years between the Secretariat and the Asia Foundation.

Within the framework of the MoU, the two parties have cooperated effectively to ensure citizen participation in legislative processes, provide parliamentary education and services to the public, strengthen the capacity of the Parliamentary Research and Training Institute of the Secretariat, and ensure the transparency and openness of the State Great Hural.

At the meeting, Dr.Enkhbat said that the MoU signed between the two institutions would be renewed following the meeting and assured that the State Great Hural would continue to cooperate with the Asia Foundation more effectively and creatively drawing on previous experience.  

Ms.Siskel expressed her gratitude to the Secretary General for taking the time to meet with the guests and conveyed the warm greetings of the management team, board of directors as well as the President of the Asia Foundation to Dr.Enkhbat. She also expressed satisfaction with the effective and close cooperation between the Asia Foundation and the Secretariat of the State Great Hural.

Furthermore, Ms.Siskel mentioned that the meeting of the International Democratic Union was held in Mongolia. She also said that Mongolia was setting a precedent for strengthening democracy in these changing times and expressed her hope that the entire Mongolian people will benefit from the cooperation between the two parties. At the meeting, she introduced Ms. Sara Taylor, who was recently appointed as the Country Representative of the Asia Foundation in Mongolia, and expressed her hope for effective cooperation in the future.

Ms.Siskel pointed out the areas of cooperation between the two parties outlined in the MoU and said that the content of the MoU has been tailored to suit the needs and requirements necessitated by the changing times and circumstances, calling the MoU “an optimal solution”.

The General Secretary Dr.Enkhbat reminisced about the close partnership with Mr.Mark Koenig, the former Country Representative of the Asia Foundation in Mongolia, and expressed his confidence that the Secretariat will continue and strengthen the well-established partnership with the newly appointed Country Representative Ms.Sara Taylor. Moreover, Dr.Enkhbat commended the fruitful cooperation between the two parties on the implementation of projects in the areas of ensuring citizens participation in legislative activities, delivering parliamentary education to the public, strengthening the capacity of the Parliamentary Research and Training Institute of the Secretariat and ensuring the transparency and openness of the State Great Hural, and said that he was pleased to expand the cooperation by renewing the MoU.

Dr.Enkhbat mentioned that in connection with the increase of the number of parliamentary seats, the State Great Hural is yet to pass on the legislation on the State Great Hural, parliamentary procedures and parliamentary oversight, and a parliamentary museum will be built following suit of countries where parliamentarism is well ingrained. He expressed his hope that the Asia Foundation would render assistance in the establishment of the parliamentary museum.

In response, Ms.Siskel said that she would be happy to support activities with the aims of strengthening the openness and transparency of the State Great Hural and introducing parliamentarianism and activities of the State Great Hural to children and young people.

Dr.Enkhbat expressed his confidence that the Asia Foundation’s technical support, suggestions and advice would make a valuable contribution to the renewal and reform of Mongolia’s parliament at a time when the country is experiencing a new era of parliamentary democracy.

After the meeting, Dr. Enkhbat and Ms.Sara Taylor signed the renewed MoU. Ms.Siskel, Mr.Batbaatar Tseveenjav, Deputy Chair of the Secretariat of the State Great Hural, Mr.Davaadash Sambuu, Head of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Secretariat, and other relevant officials were present at the signing ceremony. The two parties have mutually expressed their determination to work closely to fully implement the activities set out in the renewed MoU in order to make the bilateral cooperation more fruitful, reports the Media and Public Relations Department of the State Great Hural.