AKIPRESS.COM - Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh said on Tuesday that more attention should be paid to protecting the rights of the country's disabled people, Xinhua reported.

Khurelsukh made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the fourth Asia-Pacific Community-Based Inclusive Development (CBID) Congress under the theme "Sustainable Social Development and Economic Growth through CBID."

Khurelsukh expressed his hope that the event would help strengthen cooperation between governments and non-governmental organizations that focus on persons with disabilities.

"We have to pay more attention or make more efforts to protecting the rights of disabled people and solving issues facing them," he said.

The Mongolian government has been providing 15 different types of pensions, allowances and assistance to people with disabilities, he said, noting that annual expenditures amount to 0.7 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

According to the prime minister, there are more than 100,000 people with disabilities in Mongolia, a country with a population of 3.2 million.

Around 600 representatives from 43 countries including Mongolia, China and South Korea are participating in the event.