Notes from Mongolia Presidential Advisory Board meeting Davos, 24 January 2014 The inaugural meeting of the Mongolia Presidential Advisory Board was held in Davos on 24 January. Taking part in person were: • Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, President of Mongolia • Lundeg Purevsuren, National Security and Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Mongolia • Larry Summers, former Secretary of the US Treasury, former President of Harvard University, Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University • Terje Roed-Larsen, former Deputy Prime Minister of Norway, President of the International Peace Institute (IPI) Joining via telephone were: • Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister of Israel • Kjell Magne Bondevik, former Prime Minister of Norway, President of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights • Jeffrey Epstein, Financier • Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia The Board was supported by a Secretariat comprised of Andrea Pfanzelter, Director of the IPI Vienna Office, and Walter Kemp, IPI Director for Europe and Central Asia. The President began by thanking all members of the Board for agreeing to take part in this initiative, and to provide the President, and by extension Mongolia, with expertise to develop his country in a sustainable, stable and democratic way. He observed that there is a tendency for people to think of Mongolia's past (particularly Genghis Khan) rather than its future. The President underlined the country's peaceful transformation from dictatorship to democracy over the past twenty years. He noted that he wants to create a new image for his country, and to develop opportunities for the future. Mr. Bondevik highlighted the "Scandinavian welfare model", including the comprehensive public responsibility for all facets of life, a strong role for the state in all policy areas, the active engage of civil society, strong organizations of employees and employers, and respect for the equal rights of all citizens.