Asian Encounters in Mongolia

The “EU-Transmongolia Partnership for Sustainable Tourism and Related Businesses Development” project is financed by the Asian Investment Programme of the European Union. The aims of this 36-month project are; i) to build the capacity of a Mongolian intermediary business organization, the Rural Investment Support Centre (RISC) in the development of high quality consultancy, counselling and Information Technology skills for existing and potential small and micro entrepreneurs (SMEs) in the field of sustainable tourism, and ii) to train 30 Mongolian and 15 Chinese (Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) tourism SMEs in destination marketing and tourism operations in order to better equip them for handling tourism from the EU and promoting EU-Trans Mongolian trade and tourism links.

The main activities of the project are; the delivery of training sessions for RISC trainers; mutual study visits between Mongolian and European intermediary organisations’ representatives; preparation and publication of a catalogue; and promotional conferences in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia (China), Italy and Slovenia. It will establish a business incubator in Ulaan Bataar, develop promotional material and run promotional workshops in the EU and Mongolia. Overall, the project activities will upgrade sustainable tourism and related businesses in Mongolia and in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China, thereby: - reinforcing private sector and new business development opportunities, promoting tourism and stimulating new, sustainable business development; - strengthening commercial links between the EU and the greater Mongolian cultural area (Mongolia and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) as well as fostering south–south trade links between Mongolia and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China.