Prime Minister Visits Western Provinces

By E.OYUNDARI

Prime Minister Ch.Saikhanbileg conducted a working visit to the western provinces, meeting with officials and residents of Uvs, Khovd and Bayan-Ulgii provinces from April 21 to 23.

New flight to western provinces opens doors for domestic air transportation

In Khovd province, Prime Minister Ch.Saikhanbileg attended a ceremony for the arrival of the first flight of MIAT's Boeing 737 from Ulaanbaatar to the western provinces.

During the ceremony, the Prime Minister highlighted that Khovd Province should become an essential link in Mongolia's air transportation and construction development. He stressed that he was witness to a significant event in the history of Mongolia's civil aviation and transportation sectors.

The Prime Minister noted that he expects Khovd Province's airport to become a larger airport as a result of the launch of the large aircraft flight between Khovd and Ulaanbaatar, and added that Khovd, home to a variety of of ethnic minorities, and other western provinces should become tourist attraction centers.

Minister of Roads and Transportation M.Zorigt, who accompanied the Prime Minister on his visit, emphasized that the goals of air transportation sector officials have materialized with the launch of the large aircraft flight, and added that the next phase of work is to launch flights with large airplanes to the eastern provinces. "As a part of this project, the airport of Choibalsan, Dornod Province, will be rebuilt and maintained."

Road travel from Ulaanbaatar to Khovd Province takes two days, and can cost nearly 100,000 MNT. The flight from Ulaanbaatar to Khovd takes only two hours at acost of 200,000 MNT.

Uvs Province improves housing and healthcare

During his working visit to Uvs Province, the Prime Minister learned that the population of the province has reached 80,900 people over the last five years. In recent years, Uvs Province has experienced pleasant winters, resulting in the survival of healthy livestock. "As of the end of 2014, a total of 25.6 million heads of livestockwere registered. One of leading sectors besides livestock herding in Uvs is farming. Uvs Province has been meeting the flour needs of the three western provinces. Also, investment in Uvs Province has doubled in the last four years," an Uvs Province official told the visiting state delegation.

Uvs has built a medical treatment and diagnosis center with 2.3 billion MNT in financing from the Prime Minister's budget package. The number of...