The Government of Mongolia imposes foreign worker quotas on businesses operating in Mongolia, both foreign-invested and Mongolian-owned companies.  The quota ranges from 5% to 80%, depending on the sector, the amount of investment and the total number of employees a company has.  For all foreign-invested companies the default business activity is “foreign trade,” which carries with it a quota of 5%, meaning a company must employee 20 Mongolian employees for every expat it employees.  Quotas go up from there depending on the sector – for example any company with a mining or exploration license has a quota of 10% while a company that extracts oil or natural gas can employee up to 80% of its workforce as expats.

A Mongolian is considered an “employee” when an employment agreement has been executed between a Mongolian-registered company and the person and the company withholds personal income tax and social health insurance (SHI) contributions.  When a company is applying for a work permit and HG-type visa (the visa type needed to work in Mongolia), in addition to quite a few other documents, a letter issued by the SHI Office is needed.  This letter will show the number of people the company transfers SHI payments on behalf of, which is how the number of a company’s employees is determined.  On the basis of this letter the Labor Office will then decide whether or not to approve the issuance of a work permit.

As long as the company falls within the quota there will not be a problem getting the work permit issued.  Once permission for the work permit has been granted application must then be made at the Immigration office for an entry HG visa.  The consul at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will then fax the letter to the applicant’s embassy of choice.  After arrival the expat is free to begin working immediately while the long term work permit and visa are being applied for.

As I post this new foreign worker quotas are being considered by Parliament.  There are rumors that the quotas are likely to become more restrictive rather than remain the same or increased.  As opposed to industry-wide quotas, for example a mining company having a flat 10% quota, the list may be broken down into specific jobs within a sector.  Without seeing the actual numbers it is difficult to give too much commentary but hopefully the quotas will not be so restrictive as to affect much-needed foreign investment.  It would seem decreasing the number of foreign workers would be counter-intuitive, especially at this crucial time in Mongolia’s development.  At the moment Mongolia simply does not have a large enough workforce with the experience necessary to run such large projects such as Tavan Tolgoi or Oyu Tolgoi.

I can only hope that Mongolia will take advantage of having foreign workers in country in a more constructive and productive way.  I can understand the government not wanting the country to be overrun with foreign workers, but on the other hand it is an excellent opportunity to exploit the situation.  It could be an easy way to increase the amount of taxes paid and contributions to the Social Insurance fund as expats generally have higher salaries that the average Mongolian.  Additional money could also be raised through fees for employing an expat instead of a Mongolian.  One fee currently charged is a “workplace fee” the Labor Office charges in the amount of MNT216,000 per month per work permit.  The government could also charge a fee if a company wants to bring in a larger number of expats than allowed by law.

I also think Mongolia is missing a golden opportunity to have its workforce trained in the areas that are most crucial to its economy at the moment, free of charge.  Regulations could be imposed that would require a company to train a Mongolian in every position in which an expat currently works.  The expat would simultaneously train Mongolians while effectively working themselves out of a job – thus reducing the future reliance the Mongolian workforce has on foreign knowledge and increasing the number of jobs for Mongolians.

Being from the US, I do not really see an issue with allowing expats in to work.  Granted the situation has changed recently, but America was built on the backs of immigrants who came in, worked hard and helped the US develop in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.   Few countries can completely meet the demands of its labor needs using only its citizens, including the US, the UK or Australia to this day.  Hopefully the government will realize there is nothing wrong with needing outside help and will use this opportunity to the country’s benefit.

Visas – those little bits of paper in our passports that allow us to enter and leave the country.  If you happened to be lucky enough to be born in the US, Europe, Australia or other countries considered the “West” then you can probably travel fairly freely without the worry of getting a visa.  Of course when it comes to employment we all need visas in order to live and work in a foreign country.

While it would seem to make sense that Mongolia would make it relatively easy for people to apply for and be approved for visas, this is not necessarily always the case.  Mongolia, especially during the summer season, actively seeks to increase the number of tourists that visit the country each year.  In a country that has a viable tourist season of only three to four months, one would think applying for a tourist visa would be made as easy as possible.  This, frustratingly for many, is not always the case.  A friend of mine applied for a tourist visa in September at the Mongolian embassy in Vienna to come for a fishing trip.  The embassy required him to present a letter from a Mongolian tourism company confirming he had a hotel reservation.  Luckily I work above a tourism company and this was not much of an issue.  Meanwhile, in London, another person was applying for a tourist visa for the same trip and was not required to provide additional documentation outside of the visa application.  Needless to say, as a company providing visa services this type of discrepancy in policy from one embassy to another makes it extremely difficult to advise clients on visa matters.

I know of several other cases involving work permits and visa issues.  In one case an expat was working as a teacher for a school here in UB.  When the owner of the school began to make teaching there unpleasant he decided to leave, as most people would.  Well, it turns out the owner is the wife of a powerful figure in Mongolia and she was able to single-handedly persuade the Mongolian Immigration Department as well as the Labor Office to deny him a work visa and work permit.  This denial was not based on any actual infraction or breaking of Immigration rules, but was simply imposed on the back of a letter to these agencies.  At a time when Mongolia could use well-trained teachers, of any nationality, she was able to make life very difficult for this teacher because of a grudge.

Another case I am aware of is of an expat worker who was also here teaching.  He had a multi-year visa that was nowhere near expiring and ended up taking another job on that visa but neither he nor the company registered this with Immigration.  When he tried to leave he found out the hard way that somewhere along the way the rules had been broken.  He spoke with the head of Immigration, who ended up fining the company for not properly registering him and telling the expat that there would be no problem for him in the future.

Well, you guessed it.  He subsequently tried to return to work for a company here in Mongolia but was told he had violated not one but two Immigration laws.  He went back and spoke with the same person at Immigration, who feigned not remembering the situation although it had taken place just a few months before, who said there was nothing he could do, even though he is the head of the Immigration Department.

So at a time when Mongolia should probably be actively seeking to increase tourism numbers and the amount of foreign investment, and thus expat workers, it seems to be doing just the opposite by making a visa more difficult to obtain.  While I fully understand and support a country’s right to give visas to anyone it pleases, I also see a need for Mongolia to have exposure to international best practice in any number of sectors of the economy.  A great way to get this exposure is to allow foreign employees to work in Mongolia and pass knowledge and skills on to Mongolian workers.  Mongolia already practices a foreign worker quota system, so there is little fear that foreign employees are going to overrun the country.

This blog has morphed into a different beast than originally intended, but the moral of the story is to always follow the rules.  The Mongolian authorities will definitely seize an opportunity to deny a visa, registration or some other application.  At the end of the day, as tempting and easy as it may be, it is better to follow the letter of the law.  It may take a bit longer, but following the law is going to be your best defense against future problems.

Well, the Actual Plague, For One

As the title implies, you will probably want to actually avoid the plague in Mongolia. While Mongolia has definitely not reached this level…

…the fact of the matter is that the plague is present in the country.  Much of Mongolia is still open pasture and grazing land, largely uninhabitable by the small population and marmots, or groundhogs as we know them in America, are relatively common in the countryside.   While most of us in the US wouldn’t be caught dead eating a groundhog (we have too much good stuff like prairie oysters), in Mongolia, although it is illegal, hunting does still occur.  Although Mongolian hunting methods supposedly prevent an infected Marmot from being shot and eaten, I’m still not taking my chances.

After killing your prized, illegal rodent, next comes the preparation.  Usually marmots are hunted and killed from afar but traps are also used to capture live marmots.  If caught it a trap the savage beast is usually bonked on the head with a stone, sort of a David and Goliath in reverse.  After that all the guts are pulled out, of course, to make way for the hot stones, sort of a kalua pig in reverse.  So while the bad boy is cooking from within someone is usually blow torching all of its valuable hair.  Or, if you enjoy your meat boiled to death, you can plop that sucker into a boiling cauldron for a mouth-watering treat.

Crazy Little Thing Called Buuz

While buuz are not going to kill you like the plague, you might wish you were dead after eating eight or ten of them.  Buuz are traditional steamed dumplings eaten year-round in Mongolia but are especially popular around Tsagaan Sar, the lunar new year.  The small, round piece of dough is usually filled with minced mutton and an equal amount, if not more, of mutton fat.  The dough is then pinched and steamed for about 20 minutes.  If you’ve never experienced the smell of steamed mutton there is little comparison I can make.  For some unknown reason very little seasoning outside of salt and maybe some pepper is used.  And vegetables?  Fugidaboudit!  Although in Mongolia you can find more and more places that serve vegetable buuz or buuz that are more palatable to the Western tongue, hardcore traditional buuz are pure mutton and fat all the way.

The Wikipedia entry on buuz makes me laugh because they list other, and I’m sure much better, Asian variations on the Mongolian buuz.

But the coup de grace is when you finally get to bite into one of these scrumptious little bundles of joy.  I would recommend having a burn unit stand by as most likely you’ll be getting a face full of scalding grease when you sink your teeth into one.  The Mongolians have perfected a sucking technique, but unless you want a mouth-full of mutton grease, I would not recommend this maneuver.  Of course this means it’s probably going to end up running down your arm or all over the front of your shirt, but that’s a small price to pay.

Watch Out for that Hoooolllleeee…

Winter’s coming.  In order to prepare for those -40C winters what do you do?…pop off all the manhole covers and watch the hilarious hijinks begin.  I personally have never seen someone actually fall down an open manhole, but of course you see people tempt fate all of the time walking over them like there’s no chance they might trip and fall.  In some sort of sadistic way you may want to see someone actually fall down one, but not really.

I do know of a former Peace Corps volunteer who actually fell down one, although I didn’t actually witness it.  This comes straight from the horse’s mouth, so I gotta believe it’s an accurate portrayal.  He was walking along the streets of UB yapping away, as he is wont to do, and all of a sudden “the world just got bigger.”  Luckily he had the presence of mind to put his arms out and catch himself before he was eating corn on the cob with no teeth.  It would have been priceless to have a video of it, but alas, this was in the days before ubiquitous mobile phones in the hands of every Tom, Dick and Harry.

Vodka:  The Ambrosia of Mongolia

Oh, we have the Soviet Union to thank for this one.  The ever-present bottle of vodka even manages to find itself in Buddhist ceremonies here in Mongolia…I’ve never been exactly sure how that one happened.

Most, if not all, of the Mongolian-made vodka is made from grain.  Even the high-end stuff is not particularly high-end, if you are a connoisseur of vodka.  Pick a party, any party, and there will be at least one bottle on the table, usually several.  And once a bottle has been opened, that is it, nobody is leaving until it has been finished.  It generally works like this:  everyone has their glasses filled up and you all neck it at the same time and on and on until he bottle has been finished.  If you’re lucking enough you may be in a group with only one cup, which gets passed around and refilled after it has been drained.  If you’re last in line I would definitely make sure it has been drained…you don’t want any of the backwash dregs.  If you really cannot handle the vodka simply touch the glass to your lips and that should be enough.

For reasons that have never been fully explained to me Mongolians will not drink out of the bottle.  One might think it would be for reasons of civility or sanitation, but I beg to differ, especially considering what I have seen and/or actually used as a cup.  I have seen vodka drunk out of a lipstick lid and have heard of the ashtray of a Russian jeep being used, although I’d like to think someone just made that one up…I mean, an ashtray.

UAZ:  The Cadillac of the Steppe

Two types of these are common in Mongolia, a jeep and a van.  While were probably the most common vehicles in Mongolia one, in the city at least the Land Cruiser  and Hummer (ugh) have become more common.

Don’t get me wrong, these are great vehicles and can go virtually anywhere in Mongolia.  They are mostly mechanical and have very little in the way of electronics, so they are great for the cold weather.  If the engine won’t turn over on the battery they come equipped with a crank to manually start the engine.  And if they get stuck in a river or bogged down in the mud the crank can be used to move them along centimeters at a time until they can be started again.  Case in point…

But like many things utilitarian, the UAZ 469 jeep (see the above-mentioned ashtray) and Forgon van are not the most rider-friendly vehicles on the road.  They pretty much will get you anywhere you want to go, but your insides will definitely be shaken and not stirred.  If you have the slightest hint of a weak stomach, steer very clear from these cars.  If you are hung over from the above-mentioned vodka, either come prepared with an airsickness bag or wait until the next day.

This list is obviously just for fun.  Most people who visit the country cannot help encounter at least a few of the entries on this list, and most actively seek them out…well, probably not the open manholes.  So the next time you visit Mongolia good luck avoiding, or enjoying, as the case may be, these things.  And for those of you who have had the pleasure of actually traveling or living here I would love to hear your particular stories on fun in Mongolia.

August 18, 2009

Chinggis Khan died this day in history, in the year 1227.   The cause of his death remains a mystery, with some claiming he succumbed to injuries sustained after falling from his horse due to fatigue and injury from battle, while others claim he was killed in battle by the Tanguts and still others say he was killed by a Tangut princess taken during a battle.  Chinggis’ place of burial remains a mystery as it is said anybody who crossed the path of the burial procession was killed.  It is alleged to be near his birthplace in Khentii Aimag, in the east of Mongolia.  His successor to lead the Mongolian empire was Ugudei.

The Early Life of Temujin

Chinggis Khan (or Genghis as he if often known in the West) was born Temujin in 1162 near the Onon River in Khentii Aimag.  According to the Secret History of the Mongols he was born with a blood clot grasped in his fist, a sign that he was destined to become a great leader.  Temujin’s early life was difficult due, in part, to the fact that his father was poisoned by the Tatars.  Temujin then tried to claim the title of khan of his father’s tribe, but refusing to grant the title to one so young they abandoned Temjin and his mother and siblings.  He was reportedly captured by Bjartskular tribe but was able to escape by hiding in a river crevice.

At the age of 16 he married Burte, a marriage that was arranged by Temujin’s father before his death.  Burte had four sons, Jochi, Chagatai, Ugudei, and Tolui.  Because of Burte’s capture by the Merkits Jochi’s true father was brought into question, causing him to be removed from the line of Chinggis’s succession.

The Great Khan Makes His Empire

In the early 1200s he began his rise to power by allying with a friend of his father’s, Toghrul.  The two would later become enemies after Toghrul’s son became jealous of Temujin’s growing power.  By 1206, a date which is commonly seen as the start of the Mongol Empire (its 800^th anniversary was celebrated here in 2006, with Chinggis Khan being declared “Man of the Millennium” by The Washington Post in 1989 and The Times Magazine in 1995) he was able to unite the tribes of Mongolia, making a unified Mongol Empire.

During the remainder of his life Chinggis continued his military campaigns westward, eventually amassing an empire that would stretch from the East coast of China, across Russia and to the Aral Sea, between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, an empire that would only continue to grow under his successors.

Chinggis gradually began growing his empire by defeating the Jin Dynasty, taking its capital of Yanjing (Beijing) in 1215.  He then set his sights on the Kara-Khitan Khanate, located in what is presently Western China and Kazakhstan.  Taking a different course of action due to his army being so battle-weary, the Mongols fomented internal dissent in the Kkhanate, and was able to count this land as belonging to the Mongol Empire by 1218, again extending the empire further westward.  By 1220 the Mongols had defeated the Khwarezmian Empire and expanded the empire from southern Kazakhstan to the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea.

The Mongolian army then split into two forces, one heading north into Russia and then back down deep into Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia while Chinggis lead troops through Persia and northern India on his way back towards Mongolia.  In a final push before his death Chinggis and his army was able to defeat the Western Xia Dynasty and the remnants of the Jin Dynasty of northern China by the year of his death.

Chinggis’ Legacy

While still viewed negatively in Iran and Iraq, where is seen as a brutal warlord, in many parts of the world, and especially in Mongolia, he is viewed as a progressive leader.  During his reign as Chinggis Khan, a title he was granted in 1206, the empire was governed by a civil and military code Chinggis himself devised.  Apart from Chinggis and his family, the administration of the empire was based more on merit than race or ethnicity.  The empire was ethnically and culturally diverse, freedom of religion was allowed, as well as the ability of women to air their views publicly, and Chinggis helped establish the first written Mongolian language.

In Mongolia his face adorns everything from mountainsides to money to vodka bottles, a place that seems incongruous for a figure Mongols consider to be the father of their country.  The southern side of the Government House is now home to a Lincolnesque statue of Chinggis while an hour of UB a new 40 meter statue of Chinggis on horseback opened less than a year ago.  While the place of his burial remains a mystery, Chinggis Khan continues to live on in the hearts and minds of the Mongols.

Sources:  Embassy of Mongolia, Washington, DC, The Writer’s Almanac, and Wikipedia.

August 12, 2009

The annual Perseid meteor shower will be at its peak tonight, during the wee hours of August 13.  According to the Sky and Telescope publication the showers will be at their peak at 1800 GMT (2 am Mongolian time), with dozens of meteors falling through the atmosphere.

The meteor shower is a result of the Earth making its annual passage through space debris left behind by the comet Swift-Tuttle from our close encounter with it in 1992.  The most intense meteor showers occurred  during the early 1990s just after the passing of the comet, with hundreds of meteors  an hour visible.

The meteor shower gets its name from the constellation Perseus.  As the debris rains down it looks as if it’s originating from the constellation.

June 30, 2009

If busloads of tourists abound, then it’s probably summer in Mongolia. Along with wonderfully long days and superb weather, summertime in Mongolia also brings with it the Naadam celebration. Naadam, or the Three Games of Men, is a three-day national Mongolian holiday that takes place each 11th, 12th, and 13th of July. Originally intended for men, the games have gone coed now feature women in both horse races and archery, although the wrestling remains the sole domain of the men.

For those familiar with the festival it generally conjures thought of scantily-clad Mongolian men wrestling, children deftly navigating their steeds bareback across the steppe, and archers accurately aiming for targets well over 50 meters away.

About the Naadam Festival

The games of Naadam have probably taken place for centuries in various forms. In its current incarnation Naadam commemorates Mongolian independence declared in 1921. Naadam celebrations take place across Mongolia as well as in the Inner Mongolia province of China, with the biggest Naadam celebration happening in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar. The festival in Ulaanbaatar begins with military marches, parades, and the carrying of the nine Banners of Chinggis Khan from the Government House to the Central Stadium, after which the wrestling tournament begins.

Naadam is a time for families to gather in traditional Naadam tents, eat lots of huushuur (fried meat-filled dough), drink lots of airag (fermented mare’s milk), and generally enjoy the brilliant Mongolian summer. Instead of attending the games many families head into the wilds of Mongolia to camp and enjoy the long days summer provides and the fresh air and gorgeous blue skies of the countryside.

July is perhaps the best time of the year to visit Mongolia. The weather is fantastic, the countryside is green, and the Mongolians are in a festive mood. Be prepared to leave with full stomachs from the huushuur and airag and sore backsides from hours on horseback.

Businesses During Naadam

Naadam is classified by the Mongolian Government as a national holiday; therefore a majority of Mongolian businesses are closed during these three days. As mandated in the Mongolian Labor Law employees are to be given these days off so they can celebrate with families and enjoy the summer. Of course many businesses continue to operate, especially supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and others in the service industry.

Such businesses may continue to operate normally during national holidays, especially during Naadam when the tourist season is at its peak. Employees may be asked to work these days but they must also be compensated accordingly. While normal overtime is compensated at 1 ½ times the employee’s normal salary, for national holidays employees are paid twice the amount of their salary.