AMBASSADOR GALT: Good morning everyone. Thank you General Director Tserenjigmed for the invitation to join you today.
I am honored to celebrate the opening of an iconic U.S. brand, Burger King, in Mongolia.
It is wonderful to see U.S. brands enter into new countries, bringing with them high quality standards and excellent products.
During my tenure as Ambassador, I look forward to many future opportunities to welcome U.S. companies and brands to Mongolia.
The partnership between Burger King and the Max Group is propitious — and not only in the sense that the partnership is likely to prove profitable for both partners.
I’d like to point out two important reasons why this partnership can be expected to flourish.
First, both companies have excellent track records of entrepreneurship.
As General Director Tserenjigmed just said and as President Obama always says, Entrepreneurship creates new jobs.
Indeed, “Entrepreneurship creates … new businesses, new ways to deliver basic services, new ways of seeing the world — it’s the spark of prosperity.”
As you can see on these beautiful banners here today, Burger King started in 1954 as a single restaurant and has аrown to an incredible 14,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries.
Max Group was a two-brothers operation in 1992 and today employs more than 2,000 Mongolians.
When two great entrepreneurs come together in a new venture, I am confident it will succeed.
The second reason why this partnership is destined to succeed is corporate social responsibility.
Burger King invests in its people, protects the environment, and contributes to overall social welfare.
Max Group’s corporate citizenship is amply demonstrated by its record as one of the largest taxpayers in Mongolia, its support of young athletes, and by the assistance it provides to the disabled and to orphans in Mongolia.
But, of course in any business venture profitability is also important.
It is no secret that Mongolia wants and needs the kind of foreign direct investment we are witnessing here today.
The world’s investors need to see that foreign investors can succeed in Mongolia.
So let me close by saying that with today’s partnership between Burger King and Max Group – it is clear to me that Mongolia is truly “open for business.”
Thank you very much.
