During his first visit to Kazakhstan, International Anti-Corruption Academy Dean and Executive Secretary Martin Kreutner met with Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov to discuss education-related issues in the fight against corruption. Abdrakhmanov noted Kazakhstan’s anticorruption legislation meets international legal norms and best practices in the field. He also welcomed strengthening cooperation between the Vienna-based academy and Kazakh Academy of Public Administration. Kreutner was to meet with top management at the Regional Public Service Hub, Civil Service and Anti-Corruption Agency, Public Administration Academy, Ministry of Education and Science, Office of the Prosecutor General as well as Supreme Court Chairman Zhakip Asanov.
Twenty-two Kazakh businesspeople have travelled to Germany to learn about the country’s corporate culture, ways to develop and promote business and master business negotiation skills, reported 24.kz. The opportunity to attend trainings and workshops was provided by the Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy programme aimed at boosting economic cooperation between the countries. The Kazakh entrepreneurs also planned to visit German enterprises in Berlin, Dresden and Leipzig to gain insight into high technology development and set up business contacts. To date, more than 11,000 specialists from 19 countries are programme alumnus.
Kazakh investment opportunities were presented at the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) in Dubai, the world’s leading platform gathering the international investment community and experts to discuss current trends in investment-related issues. The Kazakh delegation, composed of heads of 15 large companies, state bodies and national companies, greeted visitors at the national pavilion along with other 146 countries-participants. AIM President Dawood Al Shezawi welcomed Kazakhstan’s participation in the forum and noted the history of bilateral relations between Kazakhstan and
A Kazakh delegation led by Vice Minister for Investment and Development Arystan Kabikenov visited Seoul to meet with leading South Korean companies and facilitate economic cooperation. The representatives met with Korean Energy and Mineral Resources Vice Chair Sung Woon Khan to gauge potential areas of collaboration. He noted the organisation has been actively working with the Kazakh Embassy in Seoul and KazGeology and hoped the two sides will find interesting projects in the Kazakh mining sector. The delegation also held talks with Highvill, Noroo Kiban and POSCO ICT, South Korea’s largest transnational companies.
Nearly 30 companies from the five Central Asian countries recently briefed Latvian company representatives on cooperation opportunities in the transport, logistics and food sectors in an effort to expand collaboration with the Baltic region. The trade mission was organised for the first time in the Baltic region by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID Senior Regional Trade Adviser for Central Asia Ryder Rogers marked the growing interest in the region among Baltic countries due to “similar language, common past and good understanding of each other.” Latvian Ambassador to Kazakhstan Juris Pogrebnaks noted the meeting resulted in signing agreements worth more than $120 million, providing a “strong boost to the development of trade turnover between Central Asia and Europe.”
Almaty Youth Jazz Band, one of Kazakhstan’s few jazz schools, represented the country at the International Jazz Festival in New York performing classic compositions of famous jazz figures including Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Gordon Goodwin. Led by Tagir Zaripov, the young musicians shared the stage with representatives of the best jazz schools from California, Connecticut, Florida and Pennsylvania. A member of the International Association for Jazz Education since 1996, the Kazakh jazz orchestra has participated in international jazz gatherings, including conferences in New York (1998), California (1999) and New Orleans (2000).
Kazakhstan provided nearly $500,000 in humanitarian aid to Rohingya refugees April 18 in the Bangladeshi border town of Cox’s Bazar. The Kazakh government announced in December it would send humanitarian assistance to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, which has welcomed since August more than 700,000 refugees fleeing neighbouring Myanmar after they were subjected to brutal violence from the Myanmar’s militias. Over the past 20 years, Kazakhstan has provided around $450 million in aid, mostly for humanitarian projects, and in 2014 decided to launch its official development assistance (ODA) programme, provisionally called KazAID, with a focus on Central Asia.
