Summit Notebook

Mongolia may seem like an extremely exotic investment destination in a world where money is heading for safety and avoiding risk, especially when violent riots are seizing the capital, Ulan Bator. But not for Junichiro Sano, president and CEO of Dalton Investments KK. “I found really special investment opportunities,” Sano said at the Reuters Japan Investment Summit. Sano said he’s been travelling to Mongolia regularly to learn more. The Mongolian Stock Exchange is made up of 360 companies and a total market capitalisation of $750 million, Sano said. As for corporate governance in Mongolia, a topic of much debate at the summit, Sano simply said: “It is nothing.” Seventeen stock brokers are in the country, but there is no official qualification. Riots have hit Ulan Bator this week, leading to five deaths, over accusations of fraud in a parliamentary election held last weekend.