Mongolia: Improving Public Investments to Meet the Challenge of Scaling up Infrastructure

Mongolia today is at the cusp of a major economic transformation as it begins to exploit its vast copper, gold, coal, and other mineral resources. The economy has been  rowing at almost 9 percent on average in real terms since 2003 when the mining boom began with the increase in global commodity prices; growth has accelerated to double-digits in 2011 and 2012 with the construction of the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine, one of the five largest in the world; and will likely remain in the double digits as Oyu Tolgoi and the similarly huge Tavan Tolgoi coal mine, with an estimated 100 years of coal reserves, go into operation over the next few years thereby greatly increasing the volume of Mongolia’s mineral production and exports. If the right institutions and policies are put in place, this resource boom can be used for the sustained improvement in the lives of current and future generations of Mongolians.