ULAN BATOR, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia received 1.56 billion U.S. dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first 10 months of this year, the country's central bank said Tuesday.

The figure was down 6 percent compared with the same period last year, said Batmunkh Batdavaa, director general of Research and Statistics Department at the Bank of Mongolia.

"The Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in the southern Gobi Desert single-handedly attracted around 80 percent of the total FDI in the January-October period," Batdavaa said.

"For FDI, the dependence on the single project has been increasing the economic vulnerability of the country. Therefore, our country needs to diversify its investment and exports, attract more investment and increase its foreign exchange reserves to ensure economic stability," he noted.

Ownership of the Oyu Tolgoi mine is shared by the Mongolian government, which has a 34 percent stake, and the Canadian mining company Turquoise Hill Resources with 66 percent.

The mine is expected to produce an average of 425,000 ounces (12,050 kg) of gold and 430,000 tons of copper annually for 20 years.

Mongolia is rich in natural resources, with FDI in the mining sector being one of the main drivers of the country's economic growth. Enditem

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