Batbold has confirmed in a joint event with Hong Kong’s stock exchange on Monday the Mongolian Government’s intention to press ahead with its initiative to privatise many of the country’s assets and companies, including coal producers and power plants, in the hope of create ‘national champions’.

Among the list of organizations to be privatized in 2010 are Baganuur LC, Thermal Power Station-3, Erdenet Thermal Power Station, UB Power Distributing Network, Mongolian Stock Exchange, Erdene Zam, Mongolian Telecom, Autoimpex, Ulaabaatar Road Repair and Care, Khutul Cement and Lime.

Mongolian firms are in need of foreign investment and expertise as they ramp up development, conceded S. Batbold, as the country plans to raise over USusd1 billion via a global bond sale in the fourth quarter of this year to fund major development projects in areas such as mining and infrastructure.

Mongolia’s resources companies especially -- from coal to copper to iron ore miners -- are actively seeking foreign investors and aim to list shares in markets such as Hong Kong this year, and since the Government sealed a deal in October with Ivanhoe Mines and Rio Tinto to develop the USusd3 billion Oyu Tolgoi mine, Mongolia has been attracting attention from global investors.

Mongolia’s PM described on Monday Hong Kong as a natural choice for Mongolian enterprises to go public as the resources-rich country develops its vast untapped mineral wealth, .

Mongolia seeks to raise its GDP per capita to usd12,000 by 2021, Mongolian officials said during the event, driven largely by the development of its key resources sector. It now has a GDP per capita of roughly usd3,400.

Official Mongolian forecasts suggest coal production will double, gold output treble and copper quadruple in the next five years.