Mongolia:
00:47
Mongolia: a name that conjures up vast grasslands, nomads, and their flocks. But for how much longer?
00:54
A Soviet Republic until 1992 - wedged in-between Russia and China - the young democracy is sitting on a treasure-trove.
01:04
Coal, gold, copper, uranium: its reserves are feeding an economic growth among the strongest in the world. But there are many difficulties.
01:13
This country of nomads is now trying to find its way - its own route to globalization.
01:22
In the steppe, a hundred kilometres from the capital, Terengsigmed Dagvadorj has come to see his racehorses. He is one of the most powerful businessmen in Mongolia.
01:38
TERRY: "Here are the first three. The middle one really stands out.
We've come from Ulan-Bator. Our stables are based here.
Next Sunday, there is a race in honour of Davaakhuu. We're training them for that.
In all, we have more than 500 horses."
02:08
Terengsigmed shares a passion for horse-racing with his brother, Ganbaatar.
02:13
As soon as they can, the two businessmen swap their suits for something more traditional, to recuperate in the steppe.
02:23
Whenever the Dagvadorj brothers come to visit the two families of breeders who tend their stables, there is an air of celebration. Everyone seems glad to dress up in their finest clothes to welcome them.
02:39
In Mongolia, owning a stable of 500 racehorses commands respect and prestige.
02:46
In the ceremonial yurt: the trophies and medals won by their stock.
02:56
The brothers wear the traditional breeders' hat. Despite both being born in the city, they have retained strong links with the steppe.rejoinder
03:10
TERRY: "Our father was born a thousand kilometres from here.
When we were children, during the holidays, we would all go to our grandfather's.
The journey lasted four or five days.
As soon as we arrived there, we would ride down to the sheep in the pasture.
Our passion for horses dates back to our childhood.
From generation to generation, our breeders and their children have spent their time dealing with livestock and horse-races. By contrast, the city-dwellers and the children in the towns are slothful and inactive. They seem less and less to know the '5 muzzles' (horses, cows, goats, sheep, camels).
The Westernization and increasing stagnation of recent times are a real concern in our nomadic culture.
04:14
Right, come on, let's cut the meat and eat now!
For our part, we try to set a good example: to keep this link with our culture, not to drift away from it; to retain our bond with the animals; to stay as close as possible to our heritage."
04:44
Preserving a nomadic culture in the face of an unprecedented rural exodus is a serious challenge in this rapidly changing society.
04:51
Of 3 million Mongols, half live in the capital.
04:56
In Ulan-Bator, a new consumerist way of life is emerging.
05:00
In less than 30 years, Mongolia has moved from agrarian socialism to a market economy.
05:10
The Dagvadorj brothers can well remember the days when the private sector was outlawed.
05:21
BROTHER 1: "During the socialist era, business was prohibited.
When reselling merchandise against the dollar, we had to hide it in order to cross the border.
Thinking back to that time, we used to sell clothes and chewing gum at the markets and have the whole lot confiscated. It was difficult.
When you compare that period to today, you realise just how harsh and insular the system really was."
05:54
BROTHER 2: "At that time, we were thought of as opportunists rather than entrepreneurs."
06:03
JARGALSAIKHAN DANBADARJAA: (IN ENGLISH) "Mongolia is a former Communist Bloc country, and 20+ years ago, we decided to change this system, because that system was not working any more. So the country was on the verge of, say, new choice, and Mongolians chose a free-market economy with a democratic political system; and today we are exercising this freedom."
06:40
The 'Max' firm was founded by the Dagvadorj brothers in 1992, at the moment when the People's Republic fell, paving the way for private sector commerce.
06:50
Now they are at the helm of an empire worth 42 million Euros, and which employs more than 2,000 people.
06:58
BROTHER 1: "In the beginning, we used to stitch hats and coats out of mink skin, put them in bags, and go and sell them. That's how our business started.
Then, it was mostly Russians who bought our products. Later, with the opening-up of the market, we could sell to China, we had more freedom, we could travel abroad.
This is a picture from back when we did business in Germany.
That was the time we were importing cars. The two of us, we used to import cars that weren't available on the Mongolian market. Like, back then, the Ford Expedition.
That's in France, in Bordeaux. We import wine from Bordeaux. That's our business partner."
08:05
BROTHER 2: "Not so long ago, there was only bread and salt on our stalls. It was a difficult time. The transition has been very quick - in the space of barely 20 years, Mongols have known life without money, and now, with lots of it."
08:25
BROTHER 1: "Now, globalisation has reached Mongolia. And I'm finding that it's positive.
30 years ago, when we ran our small enterprises, we never thought that, one day, we would become the managing directors of such a large commercial group."
08:51
Hotels, shopping malls, restaurants, furniture, cosmetics, agriculture, and, of course, coal, copper and gold mines. The Dagvadorj brothers had the foresight to invest in all of the emerging sectors. From modest beginnings, they have come to embody a real Mongolian success story.
09:10
JD: "For the first time, we have today Mongolian millionaires - maybe even billionaires in terms of US Dollars - and we have private companies producing, moving the economy. And suddenly we have now private, wealthy individuals, who own big companies - some of them employing several thousand people. So, altogether, Mongolia is prospering now in that sense."
09:45
A prosperity driven by the mining boom.
09:49
Mongolia is witnessing double-digit growth, sparking a consumerist euphoria.
09:54
A new middle-class is slowly emerging, with a desire to experience the Western lifestyle. Today, the most illustrious international brands can be found in Ulan-Bator.
10:04
New Mongolian designers are also trying to harness this momentum.
10:09
Tuul Saruula is a former model. She has just launched her own brand.
10:15
TUUL SARUULA: (IN ENGLISH) "When I was a child, back in Soviet times - in the 1980s and '90s - I remember that if you went to the shop, like, everywhere, you would have the same clothes, the same shoes, and the same school-bags.
And I remember that my mom went to Moscow, and she brought some jackets and trousers, and we were so happy... And I wore it to school and I was the subject of the day!
10:49
5 years ago, we started to have all these, like, paparazzi magazines that would take a photo of you and write what kind of brand clothes you are wearing, and they would explain the logos - what is Chanel, what is Louis Vuitton. And then from that time on, I think I felt that the girls started to feel more conscious about what they were wearing. It was important that you were wearing a logo."
11:15
Tuul works exclusively to order, for a well-off clientèle. Her dresses cost 600 dollars each: 5 times the minimum monthly wage.
11:24
TS: "From last year, we started to create our own designs that is... kind of a mix of the traditional Mongolian clothing [and Western style]. As you can see, I have special prints on the clothing, and these are the queens of Mongolia. So, basically, the person who will wear it, they will know the history of these women because I will put the explanation next to my clothing. So that's the main idea of the collection.
11:57
I think that the Mongolian traditional clothing has such elements that really can make women look sexy, very tasteful, and also very aristocratic. And that's the things that I'm also trying to put into my collection."
12:20
In the thirteenth century, the empire of Genghis Khan stretched from China to the Danube. The Mongols were the rulers of the world.
12:28
If they aspire to - once more - become a global power through their vast mineral wealth, they've still a long way to go.
12:35
In a country three times the size of France, the infrastructure requirements are immense.
12:40
Ulan-Bator, the capital, is a construction site. Pipelines, roads, railways, power plants: the list of works is endless.
12:54
In this ever-changing landscape, the Dagvadorj brothers have found their place.
13:04
Their group is currently working on four large real-estate projects.
13:10
BROTHER 1: "So, how's the work progressing?"
PROJECT MANAGER: "We're just beginning to install the electrics on the upper floors."
BROTHER 1: "Right, how do we get there? Round the back?
From this side, this will be the hotel."
13:25
In order to build a new four-star hotel and an ultra-modern suite of offices, the brothers have demolished one of their old supermarkets.
13:34
200 workers are deployed on-site.
13:40
BROTHER 2: "Here, we are very well-situated.
From the top floors you can see the whole city.
Over there, you can see our headquarters, straight ahead.
We're also in the process of building an apartment complex.
That one over there is the Ramada, with apartments at the back and a shopping mall below.
In 5 or 10 years, we're going to see houses, nurseries, schools, businesses, shops and green spaces thriving over here.
In a few years' time, there won't be a yurt neighbourhood any more.
Mongolia is developing very quickly.
14:22
The Chinese, the French, Canadians, Germans... The whole world seems to want a slice of the cake, and Mongolia needs foreign investors in order to develop. But relations are far from simple.
14:37
Pierre-Olivier Guy is part of a cabinet of commercial solicitors at the heart of these negotiations.
14:43
PIERRE-OLIVIER GUY: "These investors have certain concerns about investing in a country like this, as it is a totally different culture - Mongolia is a country still very much marked by its Soviet past, by communism, by bureaucracy. So my role as a commercial solicitor is to accompany the French client - the French investor - in the Mongolian market. Accompanying them is all the more important as the law changes very quickly. I say 'quickly' for a number of reasons. It's quick because the Mongolian legislature is pretty inconclusive: it makes a leap forward, and then back again, altering laws in a totally contradictory way. So you have to follow these developments day by day - you have to understand them - in order better to advise the client."
15:44
In 2012, just before the elections, the government adopted a protectionist policy.
15:50
Foreign investment fell by 50%. The country, heavily in debt, changed course less than a year later, in an attempt to bring back the investors.
16:03
PIERRE-OLIVIER GUY: "The Mongolian authorities would like to have the advantage of foreign expertise, technology, and investments in order to develop and exploit the country's resources; and yet at the same time, ensure its people feel the benefits in terms of the economy, employment, and improved living conditions.
16:25
JD: (IN ENGLISH) "That prosperity is not felt, probably, by every family. Because now, according to World Bank economic statistics, one third of this country is under the poverty level - which is 2 dollars per day consumption per person. So, in that sense, we have a lot of things to do. It could be much better if we have less government, non-corrupt government, if we have a better public governance... The situation could be much better. And I hope, and I strongly believe, that we can do it."
17:21
Attracted by the illusion of growth, erstwhile nomads cram into the yurt neighbourhoods that surround Ulan-Bator. They have often fled the steppe after losing their livestock to the harsh winters.
17:36
More than 50,000 a year come to settle in these outlying areas, where poverty and alcoholism are rife.
17:45
Despite the country's rapid expansion, few opportunities are open to them. Jobs are unstable, and wages low in relation to the cost of living.
17:56
Pending the enactment of repeatedly promised social policies, charitable foundations and NGOs have taken the reins.
18:05
Tuul, the fashion designer, heads her own non-profit organisation, which she can fund thanks to her millionaire husband. Today, she is paying a visit to one of the 7 nurseries it supports.
18:16
TUUL: "I've brought back some chairs and tables. They don't take up much room, they stack."
NURSERY LADY: "That's great, they can eat their food, and use them for drawing as well. It's exactly what we wanted. Now we have tables and chairs."
18:39
Fifty children are looked after here. Tuul finances the nursery almost single-handedly.
18:50
TUUL: "Are there state benefits this year?"
NURSERY LADY: "Yes, we received a small contribution to the teachers' salaries, and to expenses for the children's meals and learning. It only started this year."
TUUL: "And last year there wasn't anything?"
NL: "No, nothing. The government is only just starting to help."
19:20
TUUL: (IN ENGLISH) "Since the economic boom and the mining boom, what you could see at the first phase is that a big inequality started to develop in this country. And that wasn't giving a good result, because you could see that people started to hate each other because of the big difference, and it became more insecure to walk in the streets in the evening time. So, I thought, ‘Why are we having this problem? Why are we facing this big social unsatisfaction?' And I wanted to do something about it. So the first thing for me was to find out what is the poverty: what is the main reason, how we can eliminate it, how we can reduce it. And that's how I started my NGO."
20:02
To that end, Tuul has called her organisation ‘Reduce Poverty' - an ambitious objective.
60% of the population of Ulan-Bator live in slums. These areas have no access to mains water, sewers, or an electricity supply. In winter, for months at a time, the temperature comes close to minus 40. The only way to warm up: coal, which brings with it infernal fumes. At this time of year, Ulan-Bator becomes the most polluted capital in the world.
20:29
In these slums, Tuul also supports more than 400 single mothers and their families. She even goes so far as to offer yurts, like she did for this woman, who can't survive on her social worker's wage.
20:40
WOMAN: "After the death of my mother, I found myself alone with my little brothers and sisters, and it was difficult to carry on living in the country. I came to Ulan-Bator thinking that I was going to find work more easily."
20:58
TUUL: (IN ENGLISH) "When we started to create our own database of the single mums, she was really looking to help me, and she was explaining every family, she asked how we can help them. And in the end, I found out that she was also a single mum, and she was also living a very very hard life. And she told me, but she didn't ask me to help. Um, but I knew that I had to help her."
21:26
WOMAN: "In the beginning, living in Ulan-Bator was difficult. It was the unknown, I was lost."
TUUL: "Do you want to go back to living in the steppe?"
WOMAN: "No, because we're here. Now I'm thinking about my two daughters' futures - about them getting a job - and that's it."
21:47
WOMAN: "I say to my daughters, ‘You must never turn down a job, you have to work.' When my wages fall, it all goes on expenses. 126,000 tugruks (50 Euros) a month - it's not a lot for a wage. Right now, I've already spent my father's pension for up to 2014."
22:04
These social outcasts are beginning to tire of such pitiful earnings.
22:11
Voices are being raised against a mining boom which appears only to benefit foreign companies.
22:17
First to be accused: the Chinese, who buy 90% of the ore, at a discounted rate.
22:23
This resentment manifests itself in a virulent nationalism.
22:28
AMRAA: "Let's be proud of our Mongol tongue, let's pass it on through our shamanic rites!"
22:37
Amraa is a rock star in Mongolia: 'the most famous nationalist singer', as he styles himself.
22:48
AMRAA: "Let's defend the glory of the empire of Khan,
Let's defend the customs of our ancestors.
Let's honour our beloved country."
23:00
His concerts draw crowds of up to 120,000 - a record for Mongolia.
23:05
AMRAA: "For the evil men who seek profit:
The death penalty! Let's throw them in the ravine!"
23:24
His lyrics echo the disquiet of a whole population, who regard the mining operation as plunder, and a destruction of natural resources.
23:35
AMRAA: "Today, a few people after a quick profit are beginning to destroy and resell the land of our forefathers.
They've made our land uninhabitable, not only for people, but also inhospitable for the animals and their environment.
This is not just an issue for me; it's becoming a disaster for the whole country."
24:07
In the heart of the steppe, mining has only just begun. But already it is endangering a fragile ecosystem. Soil pollution, depletion of water sources, destruction of pasture: this is the cost of extracting gold, copper, coal and uranium - these riches that crystallize, at the same time, both bitterness and hope.
24:33
The Dagvadorj brothers neatly illustrate this national paradox: between an adopted globalised culture, and a fierce desire to safeguard their country's identity.
24:47
BROTHER 1: "So, our champion, are you going to fight with honour?
Right then, this youth fight promises to be alright."
24:57
Year-round, they subsidize a team of wrestlers: one of the national sports.
25:01
These men defend the colours of Team Max at major competitions.
25:08
BROTHER: "There, you should have grabbed him and held him.
Watch your leg, he's going to hit you.
There you go! The foot, the foot!
My boy, you're going to be a wrestler, huh?
Or, if not, a great horse trainer.
25:39
You fought well.
Khundag, let your little brother get on! Go on, help him onto the horse.
And what about you, little one? Are you OK?"
25:58
The families of breeders who work for the Dagvadorj brothers are getting ready to head back to the winter camp. It will take 3 days for these men and their team to travel 200 kilometres.
26:09
Their nomadic lifestyle persists thanks to the pay they receive from the Dagvadorj brothers.
26:18
BREEDER: "I've always lived in the steppe.
Many of my friends have left for the towns. Some suggested it to us. I spoke to my wife about it once or twice, but we realised that it was much better in the countryside than in the city. It just doesn't interest us.
Because of the changing climate, livestock isn't a safe bet any more. As a result, some prefer to go and settle in the city.
Of course, the children will go to town for their schooling.
I'm thinking about the future. When the children are settled, we'll follow - it may be 10, 20 years from now, or 4 or 5: it depends on what's happening at the time."
CHILD: "Daddy, do you not want to eat?"
27:12
The breeder's youngest son has just turned 3 in lunar years. The occasion is marked according to tradition.
27:24
BROTHER: "I'm going to cut here! I wish for you to become a good person, useful for your country, grateful to your parents.
There we go. Right, now I'm going to give you a present.
Would you like to become a jockey?
Here, Baterden, take it with both hands.
Do you want the sweets or what's underneath?
Ah, he's only taken what's underneath!!!
Ah, he says thank you. Come here so I can kiss you!
You don't like sweets, do you? You prefer money!
The children of capitalism, that's what they've become!
And then, look! He gives the money to his dad!"
28:14
What will Mongolia look like when these children have grown up?
28:20
Can this country, living through a key moment in its history, hang on to its identity?