Mr. Puntsag Tsagaan is a Chairman of the Board of Economic Policy and Competitiveness Research Center of Mongolia. He previously worked as a Policy Advisor on Minerals, Energy and Infrastructure in the team of the President of Mongolia.
He became a lawyer in 1979 in Ulaanbaatar, attended the Mongolian National University in 1979-1980, and graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1985. Mr. Tsagaan started his working career at the Federation of Mongolian Trade Unions as an officer in charge of international relations and legal matters, and later, as a general coordinator of relations with trade unions and the International Labor Organization. After this, he served as a legal assistant to the Secretary General of the State Baga Khural, the country’s Deputy Labor Minister, and the Personal Assistant to the President of Mongolia. In 1995, Mr. Tsagaan started managing the Golomt Bank. The next year he became the Minister for Finance. In 1989, Mr. Tsagaan established a private consulting firm Premier International, which provided business and legal consulting services to private and public entities. He was appointed as the Minister of Education, Culture and Science in 2004.
Here Minister Tsagaan elaborated and oversaw the implementation of the national policy on education, culture and science and reinvigorated Mongolia’s multilateral cooperation in education, science and culture. He was the initiator and the driving force of elaboration of Mongolia’s education development master plan, and the Fast Track Initiative. In between these busy jobs and state assignments, Mr. Tsagaan has always strived to keep up pace with growing demands for apt education and development. He is a dedicated social patron as well – he is a Board Member of Arts Council of Mongolia, member of the Arbitration Court under the Mongolian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a Founding Member of the Environmental Protection NGO Baga Khuandai, a Board member of Mongolia Economic Forum, a Member of Global Agenda Council on the Future of Mining and Metals and the President of the Mongolian Archery Federation. As a son of an attained archer himself, and thus, a carrier of a familial tradition of archery, Mr. Tsagaan is a sharp archer and has caringly instilled the affection to this trade and skills to his children and other youth. In July 2012, President Elbegdorj entrusted a responsible position to Mr. Tsagaan – Chief of Staff of the Office of the President of Mongolia.