The Government of Mongolia with support of GIZ, hosted a side event entitled “The Belt and Road Initiative: Corridor towards Sustainable Development” on the sidelines of the 72^nd session of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand, on 18^th May 2016. The main objective of the event lied in facilitating discussion among panelists from Asian landlocked developing countries who shared their national development trajectories and explored options in adjusting their development strategies to maximize potential benefits and mitigate risks resulting from the Belt and Road initiative.

The side event was opened by H.E. Mr. Gankhuyag Damba, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia and was followed by a presentation by Mr. Manlaibayar Yondon, Director-General of the Department of Economic Cooperation, MFA of Mongolia on impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative on the Mongolian economy. Apart from experts and researchers, delegates from China, Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries attended the event.