The Ninth International Conference on Northeast Asian Security “Ulaanbaatar Dialogue”, which is organized annually by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Institute of Strategic Studies under the National Security Council, has begun today in Ulaanbaatar.

The two-day conference is being attended by 200 delegates including Government officials, experts and others representing not only the Northeast Asian countries, but also from more than 30 countries across various regions including Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Latvia, Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Mongolia has been consistently pursuing the policy of launching a dialogue mechanism in Northeast Asia since the 1980s. These efforts yielded the “Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security” initiative in 2013 and the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue International Conference on Northeast Asian Security has been held regularly since 2014 in an effort to contribute to the establishment of a dialogue mechanism within the region. Within the framework of Mongolia’s peaceful, open, independent and multi-pillar foreign policy, the conference has been shaped into a platform that addresses regional security issues and promotes confidence-building.

H.E. Ms. Batmunkh Battsetseg, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, underlined the importance of dialogue, cooperation and understanding in addressing the complex security challenges facing our region, and welcomed all the participants to share their thoughtful insights and wished for fruitful deliberations.

The conference consists of five sessions: “Security Challenges and Opportunities in the Region”, “Multilateral Cooperation in Northeast Asia”, “Climate Change and Security Challenges in Northeast Asia”, “Secure and Affordable Energy Transition in Northeast Asia” and “Developing Sustainable and Resilient Value Chains for Critical Energy Transition Minerals”.