S&T Reform in Mongolia: A Challenge in Transition

Abstract

Mongolia has undergone rapid and extensive political and economic reform over the past decade. An impressive science and technology system inherited from over sixty years of being embedded in the former Soviet economy has been placed under con siderable financial pressure during the reform process. As market reforms deepen, a major challenge for government planners is to maintain the inherent strengths of their science system and turn its potential technology development capabilities towards national priorities for socio-economic development. While the Mongolian government has recently introduced an array of new legislation to underpin S&T policy for the twenty-first century, the task of setting out a plan of action still remains. In order to assist the Mongolian government to meet these challenges, UNESCO has funded a project to prepare a National Master Plan for Science and Technology Policy. This article describes work in progress and identifies some of the current organisational challenges.