Kazakhstan may host the United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in 2025. Kazakh Agency for Civil Service and Anti-Corruption Deputy Chair Olzhas Bektenov and UN Drugs and Crime Office corruption and economic crimes department head Dimitri Vlassis met Sept. 3 in Vienna to discuss cooperation between the agencies. Vlassis praised Kazakhstan’s efforts in fighting corruption, noting its example should reach out to other countries. He invited the nation to host the largest thematic international forum, organised every five years since 1955 and gathering high-level government, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisation representatives as well as criminal justice experts to discuss acute problems in the field. The next congress will be in Kyoto in April 2020.
Astana Ballet performed its “Astana Ballet Gala” Sept. 9-10 in Milan. The programme, welcomed with applause in January at Lincoln Centre in New York, features the one-act ballets “Legacy of the Great Steppe,” “A Fuego Lento” and “Love Fear Loss.” “Legacy of the Great Steppe” reflects Kazakh culture elements and includes a series of choreographic miniatures, including Scythian Frescos, Kyz Zhibek Dreams, Martinets and Almehs’ Dance, as well as fragments from world-renowned ballets. “Love Fear Loss,” set to the songs of Edith Piaf and choreographed by Ricardo Amarante, is inspired by the singer’s remarkable life story.
An Uzbek film crew is shooting a documentary about Abai, the famous Kazakh poet and founder of Kazakh written literature. The crew, including members of Tashkent Documentary Film Studio, recently visited Semipalatinsk, the poet’s birthplace in eastern Kazakhstan, and the Abai museum. The film, scheduled to be released at the end of the year, tells viewers about his childhood, life and works. The production is part of Uzbekistan’s effort to promote the legacy of the Kazakh poet envisioned in the decree signed by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in March. The document noted the significance and influence of Abai’s works not only on Kazakhstan, but the entire Turkic world.
“OYLA” (think in Kazakh), Kazakhstan’s only popular science magazine published since September 2015, signed a contract with CHIP-Holding GmbH, the German publishing house owned by Hubert Burda Media, reported Forbes Kazakhstan. The magazine will be published in seven European countries – Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland – with a print run of 150,000 copies. The first issue was published in July in Germany under the new name “CHIP Wissen.” The magazine will also be published in India in October and seeks to target Spanish speaking countries next year.
Italian company Areas More will open five enterprises by the end of 2018 in the Almaty region, reports the press service of the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs. Investors are interested in processing soybeans, apples and raw materials and in producing agricultural machinery. The company plans to cooperate with the regional Business Women’s Council. “More than 40 percent of entities are headed by women in the region. Women entrepreneurs work from service provision to the manufacturing industry. Entrepreneurship development in Italy will be interesting for regional business. We are ready to implement joint projects in the future,” said head of the regional chamber of entrepreneurs Rimma Salykova. Silvia Pessini, president of Aries More spoke with Salykova to discuss potential areas of cooperation. Pessini noted the big prospects of the country’s agricultural sector and its attractiveness for foreign investors, adding the company plans to build five enterprises in the region. “Italian banks and funds are ready to finance these projects. There is great interest in processing soybeans, apples and other agricultural products, as well as in the production of agricultural machinery,” she said.
