By B.BYAMBADORJ

The Made in Mongolia exhibition at the Misheel Expo Center opened on Thursday, February 9 and will run until February 13.
Over 180 individuals and private companies with around 800 product brands are taking part in the exhibition. 41 companies are from the food industry, 21 are from the wool industry and 28 are from the skin and hide industry.
Additionally, there were medical and jewelry products on sale. The aim of the exhibition is to promote the purchasing of domestic products during the Lunar Month Holiday instead of imported products.
Some retailers had the prices of their products reduced by up to 30 percent.
Food products included sausage, biscuit, cookies, cakes, and dairy products. Many were unique to their respective areas, such as dried fish, various kinds of honeys and teas.

Ts. Nyam-Osor, Director of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME), answered a few questions at the exhibition.
What is the special about this year’s Made in Mongolia exhibition?
This is the sixth year the Made in Mongolia exhibition is being organized. Over the past 3 years, small and medium sized enterprises have grown greatly and their collaborations have widened.
As a result, there are many new small enterprises starting their businesses. This year is special because there were so many producers that implemented new and cutting edge technologies in their production. This significantly affected the overall domestic production and its supply for Mongolians.
The ultimate goal of the exhibition is to show people the current progress of Mongolia’s domestic producers, and develop the domestic market by providing more information about domestic production companies.
Another important goal is to supply people with the necessary products at low prices during the Lunar Month Holiday period; without any middleman or separate distributor between suppliers and consumers.
How would you define the quality of Mongolian domestic products?
The quality, design, and style of Mongolian domestic products are improving every year.
We have successfully begun producing vegetable oil in Mongolia. We now have five canned and bottled vegetable producers that supply over 70 percent of demand for the product in Mongolia. Shoe producers have doubled in numbers. In 2008, 28 million eggs were produced and in 2011 it was increased to 78 million eggs, supplying over 80 percent of Mongolia’s demand.
Has the amount of exported products increased?
Currently, hide and leather, wool and cashmere, and construction materials are exported. In the future, winter shoes and boots will be exported. Domestic producers have begun making area-specific brand products.
Our priority is to completely support the demand of Mongolia before we pay our full attention to exporting products. We are spending USD 20 – 30 million on imports for dry milk and vegetable oil. It is important to have these types of products circulating in the domestic market first.