European Union

31^st May 2012, ULAANBAATAR – Today Mr Khurenbaatar, Director-General of the Development Financing and Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Finance, signed a Financing Agreement with the European Union which will see it benefit from a 7 million euro project of Technical Assistance, funded by the EU, in support of its Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector.

The project aims to support the economic and human development of Mongolia, enabling key stakeholders to provide TVET in a way that is responsive to the needs of a rapidly changing labour market. The project will start its implementation in 2013 and will last for five years.

Technical Assistance will be provided to strengthen and consolidate the work of the National Agency for Vocational Education and Training (AVET) in order to establish and initiate:

• An efficient, sustainable and demand-driven TVET sector with attention to rural areas
• Appropriate quality assurance procedures for assessment and certification

This project adds to the already fruitful cooperation between the EU and Mongolia, currently representing a total volume of commitments of more than 25 million euro, mostly in the fields of rural development, access to basic social services and support to small and medium-sized enterprises.

A Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the EU and Mongolia, covering all areas of cooperation, including trade, was initialed in 2010 and is expected to be formally signed in 2012.