Work Trip to Erdenet

At the start of last week my counterpart Otgo told me that a work trip to Erdenet, Mongolia’s third largest city, could come up during the week. The very next day, she asked me if I was prepared and ready to go that day. After waiting a few hours for confirmation from the Agency’s Director, we were on the road. That’s just how they do everything here: last minute. Their historic nomadic culture has definitely influenced this flexibility and adaptability of the Mongolian people to be ready (and willing) for anything.

The trip to Erdenet took about five hours, but this time I was lucky enough to be quite warm and have a seat and a half to myself. We went via the city of Darkhan as the Director wanted to show me Mongolia’s second largest city in this trip too. Even though it was already dark, it was nice to stop off there and walk up a hill to a large Buddha statue, and to look at the amazing orange full moon that we could see along the entire trip.

Before our arrival in Erdenet, we stopped on the outskirts of the city for the Director to make a traditional buddhist ritual with fire, vodka and rice. Previous to living in UB, he lived in this city, so he feels a real connection to the place.

The next day the Director organized for us to visit the copper mine, the forth largest copper mine in the world. The city of Erdenet didn't exist before this mine was established in 1975. And now the city has a population close to 100,000. The mine was established as a Russian-Mongolian joint venture, and it currently remains that way with Mongolia currently earning 51 per cent of the profits, and Russia 49 per cent.

We then went to visit the regional SME officer who represents the SMEs of Erdenet city. She was a very nice lady who didn’t speak any English but was willing to learn. Initially she spoke of having issues with SMEs who come in to her office to ask about marketing, sales opportunities, and so on. I introduced her to the SME toolkit, an International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank) initiative that provides detailed information about business-related topics and is available in multiple languages, including Mongolia. The officer really appreciated this and hopes to incorporate it into her work and the training that she undertakes with SMEs. I then proposed the idea of conducting a training session in project planning for her and anyone else in her office that may benefit from such training. She contacted about ten other government officers who all RSVP’d for the presentation that would take place in less than an hour and a half: another great example of the flexibility of the Mongolian people.

Before the session we went for lunch to a Russian/Slavic restaurant nearby. As the Russians were heavily involved in the copper mine in Erdenet, they have been very influential on the development of the city. We ate borsch (beetroot soup), which I absolutely loved and am planning to go back for some when we return at the end of February on our way to the Ice Festival.

The training session went really well. Otgo interpreted for me and from the feedback we received, it was beneficial to them. They said that while they do the main steps already (define tasks, establish project team and responsibilities, determine timeline, etc.) they don’t document in written form. They went on to say that by doing so, they would have less worries about who was doing what and when things needed to be done by, because it would all be written down for all to see. I have since developed a project plan template for them to use, so I really hope that it becomes an important part of their daily work.

Otgo and I then waited and waited for the Director to finish up his appointments and meetings after he said we would leave for UB at 4pm. We waited in our hotel rooms, then went to a Russian supermarket for snacks, then waited in the hotel lobby where we were harassed by a drunk (unfortunately there is a big alcohol problem here in Mongolia), then waited in the car with the Director’s driver. By 7pm the Director was done so we had a quick dinner back at the hotel (beef and noodle soup) before the long drive home.