Mongolia wants to increase its meat exports
Mongolia is looking for alternative markets for its red meat since a series of outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD) has put a halt on exports to China and Russia.
Last year, Mongolia has reached a volume of meat exported of 29,300 tonnes but this figure is considered low compared to the total livestock at 66 million heads and a population of only 3 million.
"We have the potential to export more than 200,000 tonnes a year and there are many countries that want to buy Mongolian meat, which means we can increase meat exports tenfold in the near future", declared Batzorig Batjargal, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry, according to Salaam Gateway.
One of the good news is that Chinese investors are willing to develop new projects in the country. A Chinese investment firm is to invest $40 million in a complex that includes a meat-processing facility in Bayan Soum of Tuv Province. The complex will be built in three stages. Construction at the site is expected to start in June this year and the project will be completed by December 2021. The facility will have a processing capacity of 1 million heads of livestock.
At this point, Mongolia is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to solve its animal quality and health standards. Divangar Sangaa, an expert at for this animal health project in Mongolia, thinks that the country needs to persuade the World Organization for Animal Health to grant FMD-free status to Mongolian livestock before looking for other new markets.
Officials from Ulaanbaatar have mentioned that they are targeting Japan and the Middle East region, particularly Iran, for meat exports, as the halal meat prices are getting higher.
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