“I Can Now Pay Salaries Easily, It’s a Huge Difference”

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Bayarmagnai Puntsag
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Dalanzadgad locals say many peoples’ lives have improved thanks to Oyu Tolgoi

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (ot.mn) – Oyu Tolgoi has focused a great deal of energy on supporting local businesses via the 'Mongolia First Initiative', and much of this support comes from the Oyu Tolgoi office in Dalanzadgad.

Otogrtsetseg, the owner of a local sewing shop, has plans to expand her business into a purpose-built workshop with room for more sewing machines. “It’s such a good thing that Oyu Tolgoi is doing,” she says. “I can pay salaries easily now and it’s making a huge difference to a lot of people. Many families’ lives have improved.”

Tserenchimed Batbayar is a specialist for Local Procurement and Supplier Development at Oyu Tolgoi. In this role, she is often on the frontlines of the procurement team, collaborating with potential local suppliers to work out how they can supply the goods and services to Oyu Tolgoi at a high standard.

In addition, a special focus is placed on supplying products in a sustainable, environmentally responsible manner.

“In the beginning, it is always really tough because small businesses and individuals are not always aware of exactly what a company like Oyu Tolgoi is asking for,” said Tserenchimed. “So they may not understand why we ask them to use certain materials or do things in a certain way. We are always there to help.”

The Procurement team has helped establish is a collection of cottage sewing businesses. Needleworkers were trained in pattern making and stitching by teachers from the Mongolian University of Science and Technology and 80 people now supply the mine with uniforms. The total order value so far from Oyu Tolgoi is nearly 150 million tugrugs (US$120,000).

Over 1,000 Mongolian companies are participating in the 10.4 billion MNT ($8m) spent every day to build the future at Oyu Tolgoi.

About Oyu Tolgoi (www.ot.mn)

Oyu Tolgoi LLC is Mongolia’s largest copper and gold mining company and is a strategic partnership between the Government of Mongolia (34 per cent stake), Ivanhoe Mines (66 per cent) and Rio Tinto. Rio Tinto is the major shareholder in Ivanhoe Mines and the manager of the Oyu Tolgoi project. In addition to dividends from its 34 per cent stake in Oyu Tolgoi, the Government of Mongolia will receive taxes and royalties.

Oyu Tolgoi, located in the Gobi desert in southern Mongolia, will be one of the largest and highest-grade copper and gold mines in the world. It is the largest project ever developed in Mongolia, requiring a capital investment for phase 1 of more than US$6 billion. 

Oyu Tolgoi is committed to contributing to a sustainable future for Mongolia. At least 9 out of 10 employees will be Mongolian once the mine is in production and Oyu Tolgoi is investing US$58 million dollars (78 billion tugriks) in training and education and an additional US$27 million dollars (36 billion tugriks) in the Workforce Employment Project designed to help address the general skills shortage in Mongolia.

Oyu Tolgoi’s key priorities are the health and safety of employees, best-practice environmental management, contributing to sustainable communities and always doing business with integrity, for the benefit of all the project’s shareholders and the people of Mongolia.

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