The National Museum of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan National History Museum launched the Legacy of the Great Steppe: Jewellery Art Masterpieces exhibition in Baku as part of the Golden Man world tour run by the Kazakh museum. The exhibition, which will last until July 1, features the Golden Man statue of a noble Saka (ancient tribe inhabiting the territory of today’s Kazakhstan) warrior. The statue, with more than 4,000 gold items, and dating to the fourth-third centuries BC, was discovered in 1969 by eminent Kazakh archaeologist Kemal Akishev in the Issyk burial mound approximately 54 kilometres from Almaty. The exhibition also includes a collection of women’s silver jewellery of the 19th-20th centuries. Kazakh Ambassador in Baku Beibit Issabayev noted visitors have a chance to enjoy a “unique historic legacy of the great steppes of Eurasia.” The Golden Man world tour will continue to China, Poland and Korea and is set to visit more than 12 countries worldwide until 2021.
For the first time, Brazil imported uranium from Kazakhstan, the world’s top uranium producer possessing 12 percent of the world’s resources. Kazatomprom, the country’s major uranium producer, announced expansion of its export destinations. The Kazakh company won the tender to supply natural uranium concentrates to Brazilian company Indústrias nucleares do Brasil (INB), regulating production of uranium and reactor fuel in the country with its activities licensed and controlled by the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) and Brazil Environment and Renewable Natural Resources Institute (IBAMA) as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The agreement is important for the “development of Kazakh-Brazil cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy and search of new markets for the company,” noted a Kazatomprom press statement.
A Kazakh delegation led by the country’s Healthcare Minister Yelzhan Birtanov participated in the 71st World Health Assembly May 21-26 in the United Nations Office in Geneva, joining more than 2,000 representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO) member states and international agencies. This year’s agenda focused on acute issues in the global health system, including the WHO’s legally-binding International Health Regulations, non-communicable diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis, digital health and assistive technology. The delegates also endorsed the 13th General Programme of Work, the organisation’s five-year strategic plan designed to facilitate achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In his remarks, Birtanov noted the WHO Global Conference on Primary Health Care scheduled for October 25-26 in Astana, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the Alma-Ata Declaration, is designed to bring attention to strengthening primary health care to ensure universal access to healthcare and achieving the SDGs.
Kazakh Ambassador to Japan Yerlan Baudarbek-Kozhatayev met in Tokyo with Japanese astronaut and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronauts group head Kimiya Yui. Yui visited Kazakhstan as part of the Japanese delegation led by JAXA chair Hiroshi Yamakawa to participate in KADEX 2018, the fifth international biennial exhibition of weapons systems and military equipment held May 23-26 in Astana. During the meeting, Yui recalled his expedition to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-17M in 2015 with eight other astronauts, including Aidyn Aimbetov of the Kazakh Space Agency. Kazakhstan is a big and beautiful country, he said, which is very visible from outer space.
Croatia is set to open its embassy in Astana this autumn, as confirmed May 18 by Croatian Ambassador to Russia Tonci Stanicic during the May 17-19 Astana Economic Forum (AEF) in the Kazakh capital. The two countries agreed to advance their cooperation to a new level, as the agreement on economic cooperation designed to enhance cooperation in industry, agriculture, informational technologies and energy was signed May 18 by Kazakh Economy Minister Timur Suleimenov and the Croatian envoy to Russia. The sides noted the increasing trade turnover that reached $316 million in 2017, an eight-fold increase compared to the previous year. Deputy Economy Minister Natasha Zigman, leading the Croatian delegation, and Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko welcomed the signing of the agreement. “The opening of the Croatian embassy reflects the political will of the Croatian leadership to develop ties with Kazakhstan contributing to the further expansion and deepening of bilateral cooperation,” said Vassilenko.
Beijing hosted the 13th meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states security council secretaries, welcoming the representatives of India and Pakistan that joined the organisation last year. The participants discussed multilateral efforts in fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism. Recently-appointed Kazakh Security Council Secretary Nurlan Yermekbayev briefed his colleagues on the country’s measures meant to galvanise global efforts in fighting terrorism and extremism under United Nations aegis. The participants were familiarised with the Kazakh initiative to launch a code of conduct to achieve a terrorism-free world by 2045. In January, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov presented the initiative calling for creating a broad international coalition of partner countries to counter terrorism at UN headquarters in New York. Yermekbayev also urged the countries to facilitate cooperation in addressing salient issues and challenges in information space, such as combating the malicious use of information and communication technologies including for terrorist and criminal purposes.
