The sector with the fastest growth in Mongolia is information technology. The government started a program in 2006 intending to give each home a computer. This initiative included removing the import duty on computers so that families would be able to afford to purchase high-quality equipment at a fair price.
There were 695 special requirements conducted as of May 2016 and 1,962,149 internet users nationwide. With 17,000 km of high-speed fiber and transmission facilities covering 279 soums (districts) and 21 aimags (provinces), the installation of the fiber-optic cable network began in 2002. 90 percent of sums now have access to broadband internet as a result of these initiatives. The ICT industry employed 11,322 people in 2016.
The government acknowledges the significant role played by the private sector. These roles include the use of ICT to boost the competitiveness of national industry and services, support for start-up businesses in ICT, and activation of the domestic ICT market.
Sub-sector opportunities
Both the government and private businesses want to build the domestic capacity to protect the integrity of Mongolian systems against intrusions. A report from CRC and the Communications and Information Technology Authority (CITA), says that cyber threats are a threat to both Mongolia’s public and private networks. Although CITA representatives claim that the Mongolian government prefers home solutions, it is aware that the development of domestic capability requires the use of outside knowledge and goods.
To support its mission of providing services at the local, provincial, and federal levels through high-speed broadband networks, the government is looking for systems and other technology.
Thriving telecoms and IT sector
The overall revenue from ICT is increasing quickly every year, which will spur fresh interest from foreign investors to establish competitive networks with better speeds for international markets. Mongolia’s telecommunications industry has expanded quickly since it was liberalized in the early 1990s.
The industry has the potential to draw a sizeable amount of FDI, which would support new activity and provide quicker and better services. It is commonly anticipated that subscriber growth will slow or stagnate in the upcoming years due to the high mobile penetration rate.
In this regard, the government has played a critical role by announcing several long-term development plans aimed at ensuring continuous advancements in the scope and quality of national telecoms networks. The booming IT sector has the full support of the government. The Hub Innovation Center, the first facility in the country to provide direct support for startups, was introduced in 2018.
Doing business in Mongolia
Its systems of business law, taxation, banking, external connections to the global business community, and most significantly, a market economy, are all still being developed in Mongolia. To analyze genuine business risks and make decisions based on reality rather than on perceptions, businesspeople have a special challenge when they enter Mongolia. One of the region’s potentially richest countries per capita is Mongolia, whose population benefits from a richness of natural resources and agricultural output. But for this potential to become a reality, some essential variables must work together. Among these considerations, attracting and safeguarding investors is one of the most important.
Mongolia is welcoming the 21st century
Not only is Mongolia a land of horses and meadows, but it also offers a ton of commercial prospects. Before the advent of the internet, Mongolia was cut off from the outside world and developed a reputation for being so far apart from the contemporary world. The development of the internet and social media was like the keys that opened the locked door, giving the rest of the world a chance to see this unusual nation.
Mongolia has since transformed from a socialist nation with historically-based economic activity to a thriving multi-party democracy with one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
