MPR’s food supply improvement in the CMEA focus of attention. A project for the development of the virgin lands in the northern part of the Gobi zone

Abstract

This article deals with the history of the preparation and approval, within the framework of the CMEA bodies, of the project for the development of the virgin lands in the northern part of the Gobi zone in the Mongolian People’s Republic. That set of measures was put forward by the Mongolian side as part of the CMEA Long-Term Target Program for Cooperation in the Field of Agriculture and the Food Industry. As a result, the discussion of the measures took place in a multilateral format, within the framework of a temporary expert group that was accountable to the CMEA Committee for Cooperation in the Field of Planning Activities. Over the course of a series of meetings, the initial positions of the Mongolian side on the content of the project underwent significant changes, primarily reducing the estimated cost of implementing that package of measures. In turn, the general agreement on the project under consideration, concluded on March 12, 1980, took on a shape of a framework agreement, which only stipulated the general obligations of the parties for the construction of the four new state-owned fodder farms along with the corresponding irrigation systems. However, it does not detract from the fact that the project was one of the few Mongolian cooperation initiatives within the CMEA structure that resulted in the signing of a multilateral agreement.