The five winning start-ups of Kazakhstan’s Go Global Programme will be on display in Singapore from Nov. 15-Dec. 15. The winners will complete a start-up acceleration programme there, which is expected to be a first step toward introducing Kazakh businesses to Southeast Asia. The competition winners include PhoneBooth, a mobile application for optimising call centre spending, and Mobiliuz, a platform providing cars with access to the Internet to examine on-board computer data and provide detailed reports on the car, the user’s driving style and fuel consumption. Other winners are the e-wallet system WoopPay, VA3S (Video Analytics As A Service) and the People communication platform. These start-ups will get market and technical expertise as well as recommendations from Joyful Frog Digital Incubator Asia mentors Alena Arens and Hugh Mason.
More than 400 business leaders and government officials throughout Central Asia gathered recently in Almaty as part of the fourth annual Central Asia Trade Forum organised by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Participants included technical experts, opinion shapers, government leaders, trade promotion agencies, international organisations, private businesses and business associations from the region. Delegations participated from as far as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Latvia. The Central Asian Trade Forum is the largest trade forum in this part of the world. The theme for this year’s forum was “From Dialogue to Deals,” demonstrating the event’s focus on business-to-business support. USAID trade forums held in the past two years have resulted in trade deals valued at more than $2.2 million. The trade forum’s business-to-business networking opportunities among entrepreneurs provide an important platform for finalising regional trade deals.
Astana’s Korme exhibition hall was the host Oct. 27-29 of the international exhibitions KazAgro 2014, dedicated to the agriculture and food industry, andKazFarm 2014, on the livestock and meat industry. Agriculture is a priority sector and one of the most dynamically growing parts of Kazakhstan’s economy. The exhibitions were attended by more than 250 companies from 18 countries. The event was organised by theExpo Group international exhibition company, with official support from the Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture, German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Astana city administration, KazAgro joint stock company, Alliance of German Engineers and North Dakota Chamber of Commerce, and sponsored by the Rostselmash Combine Plant nongovernmental organisation.
Bechtel Oil, Gas & Chemicals, a US engineering, construction and project management company, received a contract to provide engineering, procurement and construction services to build four crude oil storage tanks at the Tengizchevroil oil production facility at the Tengiz oil field in the Atyrau region. Under the contract, Bechtel will also upgrade the fire and gas detection systems across the entire crude tank farm. Tengizchevroil is a joint venture among Chevron, ExxonMobil, KazMunayGas, and LukArco. Bechtel business unit president Jack Futcher said, “The Bechtel team will apply extensive technical knowledge and more than 30 years’ worth of experience working in Kazakhstan to deliver new tank storage capacity to the Tengiz facility on a short schedule. We look forward to continuing our work with Tengizchevroil and the people of Kazakhstan as they develop important energy resources.” The project is expected to enhance 500,000 barrels of tank storage, export pumps, interconnecting pipe, switching manifolds, a monitoring station, associated facilities and supporting infrastructure at the existing facility. Earlier, Bechtel supported the development of the Tengiz and Korolev oil fields, built several oil and gas facilities at Tengiz and constructed artificial islands with associated port facilities in the Caspian Sea off the coast of Bautino.
