Enkhbayar said that during Bush's four-hour visit on Nov. 21, the two leaders discussed economic cooperation, a trade agreement and scholarships for Mongolian students to US universities.
"A free-trade agreement would give stimulus to sell our products and it will create jobs," Enkhbayar said.
Bush was the first US president to visit Mongolia, a nation of 2.8 million people, and many in this former communist country sandwiched between Russia and China saw the trip as a show of support for its democratic system.
The US and Mongolian presidents issued a statement affirming a "comprehensive partnership," promising to fight international crime, money laundering and terrorist financing, and to cooperate in international peacekeeping. Mongolia has about 160 troops in Iraq and also sent forces to Afghanistan.
Enkhbayar said he hoped his country would soon receive aid from the Millennium Challenge, a $1 billion US program meant to reward poor countries that show a commitment to economic and government reform.
Bush and others say the key requirement for Mongolia to qualify for aid is to tackle widespread graft, which Enkhbayar said was a priority.
"There should be a strong determination of the leadership to have a good legal system to fight corruption," he said.
Bush announced $11 million in aid to Mongolia's armed forces through a separate program for nations allied with the US-led war on terror.
"As you build a free society in the heart of Central Asia, the American people stand with you," Bush said in a speech to members of the Great Hural, Mongolia's parliament.
This sprawling nation of grasslands and desert abandoned communism in 1990 and launched aggressive economic reforms. But it has struggled with falling incomes amid complaints that privatization of state industry put the country's wealth in the hands of a politically connected elite.
Many Mongolians work as herders of cattle and sheep. The country's main exports are commodities such as copper and cashmere that leave it at the mercy of fluctuating world market prices.
Wages average less than $200 per month, according to N. Dorjdari, an economist with the Open Society Institute, a think tank backed by philanthropist George Soros.
Enkhbayar was elected president in May after serving as prime minister for the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, which led the country for six decades under communism but now supports democracy and free markets.
Although Mongolia's government is run by the prime minister, the presidency grew in importance in the past decade as the country went through a series of short-lived governments.
Many ordinary Mongolians were delighted by Bush's visit.
"I was very excited about his visit," said shop clerk Ariuntsetseg, who like many Mongolians uses one name. "We're so glad he came."
Even O. Bhum-Yalagch, a leader of Mongolia's Green Party, said he didn't mind Bush's visit. He stood outside a downtown hotel a day before Bush's arrival holding up protest banners urging, among other things, "Peace in Iraq."
"We aren't personally against Mr. Bush's visit," Bhum-Yalagch said. (DJCS via Comtex)
