Will sign an "open sky" agreement with the United States to develop key minerals such as rare earths, and Mongolia's Prime Minister visits the United States | Mongolia

According to Reuters, on August 2nd local time, Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun Erden met with US Vice President Harris. Both sides stated that they will expand their strategic partnership, with a focus on strengthening economic cooperation. This is the first visit to the United States since Aoyun Erdeng took office. Both sides have agreed to sign an "Open Skies" civil aviation agreement and will deepen cooperation in rare earths and key minerals.

What agreements are signed?

According to the joint statement released after the meeting, the United States and Mongolia stated that they are jointly expanding their strategic partnership and focusing on deepening economic cooperation. Both sides seek cooperation in the fields of minerals, clean energy, food security, and digital economy.

Among them, the "Open Skies" civil aviation agreement that the two countries will sign has attracted considerable attention from the outside world. It is reported that the agreement will be based on the Memorandum of Understanding on the Air Transport Agreement reached by both sides in January this year, promoting aviation services and civil exchanges between the two countries.

At present, the Mongolian national airline, Mongolian Civil Aviation, only has direct flights to Europe and Asia, but no direct flights to the United States. After the signing of the "Open Skies" agreement, more convenient options will be provided for cargo flights between the two countries. Afterwards, direct flights between the two countries are planned to be opened in the second quarter of 2024. Aoyun Erdeng said that this will provide "huge opportunities" for promoting trade, tourism, commerce, and investment.

In addition to paving the way for the opening of direct flights, both sides also discussed deepening cooperation in rare earth and key minerals including copper.

Oyun Erden will also meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior officials of Biden's government, and visit NASA. He will also meet with Google executives and sign a milestone agreement.

He also revealed that he is in talks with Tesla CEO Musk regarding potential investments and collaborations in the electric vehicle and space sectors. He is expected to meet with Musk and other US technology industry leaders in another separate visit to California.

"I hope my visit this week can become history, the beginning of a new chapter in our friendship and strategic partnership," said Oyun Erden.

Harris emphasized that the US government is committed to strengthening relations with Mongolia and other Indo Pacific countries. She herself and US President Biden have both visited the Indo Pacific region three times. She claimed that the focus of the US government is to address the climate crisis, uphold democracy and human rights, and address the threats to a rule-based international order.

Why show goodwill?

The public opinion believes that Mongolia's abundant mineral resources and unique geographical location are attracting more attention.

Recently, Aoyun Erdeng has frequently appeared on the international diplomatic stage. In May this year, he received French President Macron in Mongolia. In June, he made an official visit to China and attended the 14th Summer Davos Forum. This visit to the United States is the latest in his series of high-profile diplomacy.

Analysis shows that the Biden administration is showing goodwill to mineral rich Mongolia, hoping to diversify its clean energy supply chain and reduce dependence on raw materials from China.

Mongolia is rich in mineral resources, with over 80 types of mineral deposits, including rare earth, copper, gold, iron, and zinc. Among them, Mongolia's rare earth reserves account for about 16% of the world's total reserves, ranking second in the world closely behind China. These mineral resources are crucial for the production of high-tech products, renewable energy products, electric vehicles, and more.

"Like many other countries, the United States is eager to ensure reliable supply of rare earths and other key mineral resources for energy technology, defense, and other fields," said Tom Latulet, senior physicist at the US think tank RAND Corporation.

On the other hand, Mongolia is also attempting to bring closer relations with the West, hoping to achieve economic diversification.

The Wall Street Journal reported that although the Mongolian government claims to have tens of millions of tons of mineral reserves, the lack of infrastructure and shortcomings such as corruption have deterred foreign investors.

Aoyun Erdeng has previously admitted that multinational corporations may not trust Mongolia's current data. He hopes to be more open and transparent to investors, establish partnerships with more multinational companies, and jointly explore more Mongolian mineral resources. In June of this year, the US State Department and the Mongolian government signed an agreement to help the latter's mineral resources industry attract foreign investment.

Another analysis suggests that the visit of the Mongolian Prime Minister to the United States may also have geopolitical considerations.

Mongolia has a unique geographical location, located between China and Russia. In recent years, the country has made it clear that the primary task of its foreign policy is to develop friendly relations with Russia and China, and has included the "third neighbor" policy in its vision to develop relations with the United States, Japan, the European Union, India, South Korea, Türkiye and other western countries and alliances.

During his visit to the United States, Aoyun Erdeng expressed his hope to maintain good relations with neighboring China and the United States. He also stated that if the competition among superpowers gets out of control, countries like Mongolia located between China and Russia will suffer losses, and "we cannot tolerate a new Cold War situation.".