October 25, 2011
Ulan Bator, Mongolia

Chinggis Khan has been gone for centuries, but his spirit undoubtedly lives on in Mongolia. Empire-building is in the cultural DNA here.

Mongolians know that they’re sitting on trillions of dollars worth of valuable resources, and that the economy is undergoing a rapid transformation. You can see it in their eyes… the energy, the buzz.

Bear in mind that Mongolia is an incredibly young country. The average age is mid-20s, and it’s common to see younger people in positions of significant influence. I dined with a director of the local stock exchange yesterday and doubt he was even 35. Same with the bank executives that I met.

This relative youth infuses the local economy with tremendous drive, energy, and creativity. These people don’t want to sit back and watch the economic boom happen; they want to be at the forefront of their country’s emergence into the developed world. And they know the time is now.