Last weekend, I had the chance to present a single slide to the Prime Minister of Mongolia. It showed one thing: how far behind we are.
Kazakhstan's Astana Hub — 0% total tax burdenfor startups. Uzbekistan's IT Park — 7.5%. Mongolia — 59%.
That number includes corporate income tax, VAT, social insurance contributions, customs, and personal income tax. Fifty-nine percent. Before a young founder has found a single paying customer, more than half of every tugrug they earn or raise is spoken for.
What I Said
I want to be clear about what I was asking for. I was not there to complain. I was not asking for grants or government money. The founders I speak for are not waiting for handouts — they are already working, already paying their taxes, already building with whatever is left after the government takes its share.
The ask is simple: give early-stage startups room to breathe. Stop taxing companies that haven't yet proven themselves. Let them build for a period — a few years — without the full weight of the tax system bearing down on them. Then, when they grow, when they generate real revenue, when they expand — take your share. The state will get far more from a thriving company than from a startup that collapses under compliance costs before it reaches the market.
The Example That Stopped the Room
In 2017, Kazakhstan introduced serious startup support through Astana Hub. One outcome of that support: 30 engineers came together and founded a startup. Today, that company's market valuation is equal to Mongolia's largest publicly listed company.
Thirty people. Started from scratch. Eight years of the right policy environment. That is what is possible.
We have the same raw material. Mongolia has hungry, talented young people who want to build companies — not just find jobs. The legal framework for a Virtual Zone already exists on paper. The opportunity is not theoretical. What is missing is the willingness to implement what has already been written into law.
What the Prime Minister Said
He listened. He promised to accelerate the Virtual Zone initiative and to support young founders. Those were his words.
I have heard promises before. So has every founder in this country. What matters now is whether those words translate into regulation — into specific, enforceable tax relief for early-stage companies — or whether they remain on a stage somewhere, applauded and forgotten.
I will keep watching. And I will keep showing up with slides.