Poland’s Andrzej Duda was hosted by Mongolia’s Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh in the capital Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
At a joint news conference, the Polish president stressed the importance of his three-day visit to the East Asian country, describing Mongolia as "an important partner with big potential."
Economic cooperation
Duda noted that he was being accompanied by Polish lawmakers, government officials and business leaders, including the CEO of the mining giant KGHM, to discuss “the presence of Polish firms in Mongolia’s mining and metal industries.”
He announced that Poland and Mongolia had signed a number of bilateral agreements on cooperation in areas of special interest to both countries, such as “joint geological projects" and "joint mining projects in the future.”
Bilateral deals on geology, science, veterinary services
In the presence of Duda and Khürelsükh, Polish and Mongolian officials signed agreements on cooperation in geology, veterinary services and archiving, as well as an inter-governmental deal on international road transport and a cooperation agreement between the University of Warsaw and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, according to the Polish president’s Office.
Support for Ukraine
The Polish and Mongolian presidents also talked about “the difficult international situation, complicated first by the COVID-19 pandemic and then by Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine," officials said.
“We discussed the political relations between our countries,” Duda told reporters.
He thanked Mongolia for its humanitarian assistance to Ukraine as Kyiv battles the Russian invasion.
The Polish president said: “I also congratulated President Khürelsükh because having visited Mongolia in 2008, with the late Polish President Lech Kaczyński, I was able to compare Ulaanbaatar then and now. Both the capital and the whole country have developed tremendously in the intervening years.”
Before Tuesday’s talks, the Polish president and First Lady Agata Kornhauser Duda were greeted by the Mongolian head of state and his wife Bolortsetseg Khürelsükh at Ulaanbaatar’s central Sükhbaatar Square, according to news outlets.
The two presidents then held private talks before presiding over a meeting of a wider group of Polish and Mongolian officials, reporters were told.
Duda and Khürelsükh also attended a Polish-Mongolian Business Forum.
“This visit is full of events designed to forge closer political ties, with a strong emphasis on the economic aspect,” the Polish president told reporters.
Later on Tuesday, Duda held talks with Mongolia’s Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene.
The Polish president also opened a new Polish embassy in Ulaanbaatar.
He was later scheduled to meet with Mongolia’s parliamentary Speaker Gombojav Zandanshatar, the PAP news agency reported.
Tuesday is day 426 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, prezydent.pl, dziennik.pl