The Real Reasons Mongolia Struggles to Attract Foreign Investment

At the Mongolia Economic Forum in July 2025, Prime Minister Gombojav Zandanshatar offered familiar promises: slashed bureaucracy, strengthened investor protections, a wave of state-sponsored mega-projects. He spoke of a leaner government and ending surprise regulations.

For a country facing dwindling coal revenues and rising fiscal pressures, the rhetoric sounds urgent—but it’s also tired.

Mongolia has made these promises before to attract foreign investment. A decade ago, it was a frontier market darling, lauded as a potential "Dubai of Central Asia." Capital poured in as GDP growth hit 17.3% in 2011. 

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