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Japanese telecom KDDI enjoys growth in crisis-battered Mongolia

Country's young population shrugs off IMF bailout and snaps up smartphones

A Mongolian performer, right, takes a selfie with her smartphone before a shortened version of a Naadam festival, a traditional Mongolian cultural and sporting event in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

TOKYO -- Mongolia's economic crisis of of the past two years has proved one thing: smartphones sell even during a downturn.

The East Asian country has few industries other than farming and mining, but it already has mobile phone subscribers in excess of its population of 3 million. The growth continued even during the fiscal crunch that had reduced the country's growth rate to just 1.2% in 2016.

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