Mongolia votes; spending mining windfall at issue - CBS News: "ULAN BATOR, Mongolia — Mongolians traveled by foot, car and horse to vote for a new legislature Thursday in an election that centered on better spreading the benefits of Mongolia's mining boom across the vast and still largely poor country.
A poll this month by the private, unaffiliated Sant Maral Foundation and commentators showed the opposition Democratic Party with a slight edge over the ruling Mongolian People's Party, though neither had the support to win an outright majority in the 76-seat parliament.
The main parties have offered variations on promises to use mining revenues to boost pensions, build needed infrastructure, subsidize local industries and otherwise enrich Mongolians.
The boom has already brought billions of dollars in investment to extract coal, copper, gold and other minerals and made Mongolia the world's fastest growing economy last year. If properly spent, the money could reverse the fortunes of the remote Alaska-sized country, which is landlocked between China and Russia and where a third of its 2.8 million people live in poverty"
'via Blog this'
