ASTANA – The Astana Times has selected articles from global media outlets covering Kazakhstan. This week’s foreign media digest covers Kazakh-Singaporean cooperation, digital services in the Central Asian countries, and more.
Astana. Photo credit: The Astana Times/ Aiman Nakispekova.
Kazakhstan, Singapore sign agreements in six areas of cooperation during Kazakh President’s state visit
Kazakhstan and Singapore have agreed to cooperate in six areas – economic integration, security, enterprise standards, intellectual property (IP) rights protection, higher education, and legal dispute resolution, reported the Straits Times on May 23.
The memorandums of understanding, sealing the agreements, were signed by officials representing the two countries on May 23, as part of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s two-day state visit to Singapore.
Kazakh President visits Iran embassy to condole Raisi passing
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Astana to offer condolences over the death of his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, and his entourage, reported IRNA on May 21.
President Toayev described Raisi as an outstanding statesman who dedicated himself to serving the Iranian nation, improving the well-being of his people, and maintaining stability in the region.
Singapore and Kazakhstan plan Eurasia to ASEAN trade & transit corridor
India’s closest partner in Southeast Asia, Singapore, and Central Asia’s largest state, Kazakhstan, are the leading transit hubs in their regions, according to an article published in the Economic Times on May 23.
This is one of the reasons why the two countries are establishing close economic ties that can stimulate growth and find new business opportunities. This will also boost India’s role as a link country between Southeast Asia and Eurasia, as well as the Chabahar Port, where India has gained management rights for 10 years.
Kazakhstan is developing the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route that will connect the vast markets of Asia and the EU. Kazakhstan’s cooperation with Singapore, a major international transport and logistics center, can help both countries improve the efficiency of transport links in Asia. Singapore has arrangements with the Eurasian Economic Union to boost economic presence in Eurasia.
Wang Yi: China to expand economic cooperation with Kazakhstan
China is ready to expand economic and trade cooperation with Kazakhstan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during his meeting with Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Murat Nurtleu in Astana, reported the China Global TV Network on May 20.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said China expects the two sides to reach a consensus on a new version of the bilateral investment treaty as soon as possible.
It is hoped that the Kazakh side will provide a favorable business environment to facilitate Chinese enterprises to invest and do businesses in Kazakhstan.
According to Wang, China is willing to cooperate with Kazakhstan to strengthen ties in oil and gas resources, enhance connectivity efficiency and quality, and expand cooperation in emerging industries. Additionally, China supports expanding tourism cooperation and strengthening people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. He added that China supports the two countries in expanding tourism cooperation and strengthening people-to-people exchanges.
StrategEast promotes Central Asian countries as reliable provider of digital services
StrategEast plays a key role in developing and promoting Central Asian countries as reliable providers of digital services, President Anatoly Motkin told Trend in an exclusive interview on May 24.
“StrategEast’s most ambitious project in Central Asia focuses on developing and promoting the region as a reliable provider of digital services, supported by USAID’s Future Growth Initiative. We also highlight Central Asia’s capability to develop products of interest to other countries. To achieve this, we conduct research and provide recommendations to international financial institutions and government development agencies, such as in our ‘The billion in the distance: Central Asian IT exports and strategies for growing them’ report. Our goal is to offer guidance on how these countries can foster the dynamic growth of their IT industry,” he said.
Motkin also mentioned that StrategEast follows its own recommendations, establishing partnerships with major global vendors to support the development of Central Asia’s IT ecosystem. One notable project involved training 2,000 students in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in collaboration with Google, resulting in all participants earning Google certificates of completion.
