Se

i ly of life of the people. Today Mon-
w4 Stands as a testing ground for
1 J0ds of economic, social and cul-
development because it has con-
* the same or similar problems as
idler being encountered by many newly
Pendent nations in Asia, Africa and
America.
There are not many countries in the
ich that can boast of a growth rate
» _ comes close to or attains a rate of
4 year. That was achieved by the
j Bolians during the five-year plan
ip, 0 1976, and has been projected
+ © Period leading up to 1980. Indeed,
_ iuch of the underdeveloped world
4 Ospects for the next few months —
,) le the next five years — are dis-
i; Most are heavily in debt to the
i, 0 the major capitalist nations

ws Some the growth rates are ex-
Th fogrindtoahalt. = -

hi € year 1979 is a big one for Mon-
: a By the time the year is over the
ii. Phase will have opened for the
,_re-enrichment combine, a major
Ustrial complex near the town of Er-
- The operation is part of the rea-
F Output of the mining industry will
it have leaped ahead by 600% over
yy Erdenet has become a symbol of na-
tal pride and achievement. Govern-
| Officials and civic leaders from
3 Shout. the country visit the area
Endenet-Oboe (Treasure Mountain)
) ae Site of a giant copper-molyb-
! ri Mine, a project being built
4 Y with the Soviet Union. It will be
4,4. the 10 largest operations of its
In the world and one of the few

Uction is expected to double total
Fie export trade.

Telati as the Mongolian working class
Mi: ,“Vely new, so the average age of
id s rs is quite young. The men
denen who have gone to work at
Tact are even younger.

Olveg Ical training at Erdenet in-

Ctio What are referred to as “in pro-
ani.» Short-term schools.’’ One, a
achine Vocational center, is training
Pune € attendants. In addition, alarge

bie. of Mongolian engineers and
ha) cS are being trained in voca-
Cho jchools, colleges and specialist

Whio, Mongolia and the Soviet

ETE also Oung building trades workers
iet ene out of joint Mongolian-

e Tiendship teams to work on the
Project,

1)

v ongere, of the dramatic changes in the
x ork economic landscape are the
cil the cooperation provided by the

rm. ot Mutual Economic Assistance
®Sten (Comecon, as itis known in the
Via, media). The Socialist Republic

/ The Slan member.
ative Construction of Erdenet is illus-
Warg 1°! the tremendous strides for-
Ng made by the Mongolians in

of their national life. The na-

fa aspen

i
Re onatam recently became CMEA’s ~

6 BRE GE eR

é

Ulan Bator’s major theater In the center of

tion’s industries today produce in six
minutes what was turned out in the
whole year 1922. The entire annual out-
put in one enterprise is equal to the en-
tire industrial output in 1937. In the 1940s
Mongolia began construction on a
socialist basis and by 1960 what had
once been an agrarian economy has be-
come an agrarian-industrial one.

One of the most dramatic aspects of
Mongolian post-revolutionary history
has been its rapid industrial develop-
ment. Feudal Mongolia had no industry

_ and thus no working class. While some

small operations were set up after 1921,
industry did not become a separate
branch of the national economy until the
late 1930s. However, industrial produc-
tion really took off in the period after
1960. The next decade saw one third of
the state’s economic investment allo-
cated for it and since that time the
growth rate has averaged 9.8% annu-
ally.

Today; industry accounts for 50% of
the production of consumer good, 40% of
the exports, nearly 38% of the gross na-
tional product and 30% of the national
income. This involves electricity-

generating, mining, metal-working,

building materials, woodworking ,tex-
tiles, leather and footwear, printing,

was turned out in the wh

“Mongolia’s industries today produce in six minutes what
le ye. |

39

in 1922.

meat packing, flour milling and other
food processing.

Industry, however, is not the only or
most important aspect of Mongolia’s
economy. Agriculture accounts for
one-fifth of the national income and over
50% of exports. Livestock account for
77% of agricultural output, crop farm-
ing for 23%.

Livestock — sheep, cow, yak and
camel (two hump bactrians) — is the
focal point of Mongolian life. Histori-

cally anomadic people, the Mongolians.

built their diet almost exclusively
around meat and milk products and
their commerce on skins, furs, wool and
camel hair. Thus, crop farming on any
major scale is a recent development.

Through the cultivation of virgin
lands in recent years, over 700,000 acres
have been put into farming with the re-
sult that Mongolia, once an importer of
grain, is now. self-sufficient and does
some exporting of its agricultural pro-
duce.

Prior to 1921, livestock production
was done exclusively by small house-
hold arats, or herding units. By the end
of the 1950s, nearly all the country’s
hearding families had voluntarily
joined cooperatives. Today, in addition
to the nearly 300 co-operative agricul-

Some of the children of Ulan Bator

tural associations, there are 35 state
farms engaged mostly in fruit and veg-
etable raising and specialized stock
breeding. ia

While the Mongolians are justifiably
proud of their accomplishments made
in such a brief period of time, they are
not boastful. Government and party of-
ficials acknowledge what has been done

-but are also quick to point out the

shortcomings and the areas of national
life that need attention. In the economic

area, this means such things as housing.

’ While much has been done to provide
spacious and well-equipped apartments
in the urban areas, the legacy of the
feudal nomadic past are to be seen sur-
rounding Ulan Bator and throughout the
country where much of the population
still live in gers (yurts), close to the
elements and without plumbing or other
modern conveniences. A major step-up
in housing construction is a main target
of the present five-year economic plan.

The accomplishments of the Mongo-
lian people since winning national inde-
pendence and launching socialist con-
struction are tremendous in and of
themselves. However, they become
even more impressive and significant
when compared with the situation in
much of the remainder of Asia.

Mongolia has no unemployment, no
beggars in the streets — as in most
Asian capitals — no starvation, no or-
ganized crime and no conflict between
the ethnic groups that make up the
population. Alongside the economic
progress has been the rapidly unfolding
national culture which is at one and the
same time based on national pride and
traditions, and marked by a cosmopoli-
tan internationalist character quite re-
eal any for a totally landlocked na-

ion. ;
All this has been accomplished and
the stage has been set for even greater

‘advances to come without recourse to

any “great leaps,”’ massive uprooting
and relocation of people or placing the
country in debt to foréign capitalist
banks. It is due in the main to the popu-
lar enthusiasm of the Mongolian people,
their confidence, industriousness and
cooperation with others. It is true self-
reliance combined with international

- socialist cooperation.

marr

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—AUGUST 10, 1979—Page 5

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