BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany and Mongolia are entering into a strategic partnership, as both countries want to work more closely on a number of policy areas including in the mining industry, according to a draft document seen by Reuters.
The contract with the resource-rich country is due to be signed on Wednesday during a visit by Germany's president Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Ulan Bator.
Among other things, Mongolia wants to support Germany's ambition for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Germany in turn wants to support the East Asian country with its judicial and legal reform.
In addition, Mongolia's enormous potential for wind and solar energy is to be expanded to help the country combat climate change.
Germany also wants to help with better education and the promotion of small and medium-sized companies.
A raw materials agreement was already reached with Mongolia in 2011 under then chancellor Angela Merkel.
During the Mongolian Prime Minister's visit to Germany in 2022, German chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated the desire for closer cooperation with the resource-rich country that lies between China and Russia.
The official reason for signing the agreement is the anniversary of 50 years of diplomatic relations between Germany and Mongolia.
President Steinmeier is visiting the country on his sixth trip to Asia and is accompanied by foreign minister Tobias Lindner.