Edgravity online learning company expands educational and knowledge-sharing opportunities

ASTANA – Online education is a new field for Kazakhstan required for expanding educational and knowledge-sharing opportunities, said Edgravity online course company founder Aigerim Khafizova in an interview with...


Kazakh-Slovak cooperation in 2019 to centre on trade, OSCE chairmanship and Central Asia, says Slovak envoy

ASTANA – In the year ahead, Slovakia and Kazakhstan are aiming to boost trade turnover and tourism, share international organisation leadership experiences and address problems faced by Central Asian...


World Bank forecasts Kazakhstan’s growth to ease to 3.5 percent in 2019

ASTANA – The growth rate of Kazakhstan’s economy will decrease to 3.5 percent this year as oil production growth levels off and further fiscal consolidation efforts continue, according to...


Czech Bílek appointed head coach of Kazakh national football team

ASTANA – Czech football manager and former player Michal Bílek was appointed Jan. 17 head coach of the Kazakh national football team, a post formerly occupied by Bulgarian football...


Kazakhstan and its rapidly emerging role as a global conduit

It has been aptly said that in development economics, more than a scorecard of passive data and numbers, the true story is best perceived by naked human eyes. I...


Almaty edible bouquet business to expand to Astana

ASTANA – Almaty businessman Dinmukhamed Baitukayev plans to open a store in Astana by Feb. 14, selling edible bouquets into the Astana market before Valentine’s Day. His company Cosmoberry...


Kazakh alpinist leads expedition to climb K2

ASTANA – A seven-man expedition led by experienced Kazakh alpinist Vassiliy Pivtsov has set out from Askole, a Pakistani village near the city of Skardu, to climb K2. Located...


Kazakh capital’s Paralympic Training Centre offers free facilities to those with disabilities

ASTANA – The capital’s Paralympic Training Centre began allowing Jan. 1 free access to its facilities for people with disabilities, reports the city akimat (administration) press service. The Paralympic...


OneWeb to launch satellites from Baikonur

ASTANA – OneWeb will be launching a constellation of satellites which will provide broadband Internet access to users worldwide by fully covering the Earth’s surface. OneWeb British communications satellites mounted...


Kazakh national programme provides housing for 40,000 people

ASTANA – Approximately 40,000 Kazakh citizens received housing in the past year and every fourth loan was issued as part of the Nurly Zher national programme, reported Housing Construction...


Kazakh government makes strides in e-government development, plans further services

ASTANA – Kazakhstan does not plan to lag behind in the global digitisation trend and the Kazakh government is taking an active approach to developing electronic government services, planning...


Free Kazakh healthcare policy underway, national screening campaign brings results

ASTANA – Kazakhstan saw an increase from 40 to 46 percent last year in the number of private medical organisations participating in the guaranteed free health care programme, according...


Islamic Development Bank provides $40 million loan for Kazakh businesses

ASTANA – The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has provided a $40 million loan to Kazakhstan’s Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund, said fund Deputy Chairperson Daulet Abilkairov at the Central Communications...


Kazakh government to take new approach to ensuring product safety, quality

ASTANA – The Kazakh government recently adopted amendments to its laws on standardisation to enhance control over the safety and quality of domestic products. The changes will come into...


High quality professional Kazakh language media products should be produced, says actor and voice over director

ASTANA – The Aray Media Group is the first company making professional Kazakh language dubbing according to the international standards in Kazakhstan. This is an important project to develop...


Aesthetic works should surround people in public spaces, says Kazakh sculptor

ASTANA – Kazakh sculptor Kadyrkhan Kakimov has created more than 90 works of art displayed across the country. He believes public spaces should be filled with beauty, because it...


Registration for free Kazakh language courses opens in Astana

ASTANA –The Rukhaniyat government institution is offering free eight-month courses for anyone wanting to speak and write in Kazakh, reported the capital Akimat (city administration) press service. The courses...


Kazakh Zhansaya Abdumalik named best under-20 female chess player in the world

ASTANA – Kazakh chess player Zhansaya Abdumalik was named the world’s best female chess player under 20 in three variants, reported the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KCF). As of January,...


Kazakh FM supports stronger regional relationship with India at India-Central Asia-Afghanistan Dialogue

ASTANA – Kazakh Minister of Foreign Affairs Beibut Atamkulov stressed the need to establish a closer relationship between India and Central Asia during the Jan. 13 India-Central Asia-Afghanistan Dialogue...


Kazakh national award highlights prominent public figures in different fields

ASTANA – The eighth annual Khalyktyn Suiiktisi (People’s Favourite) national award ceremony was held Jan. 12 at the Rixos President Astana hotel. Public figures, activists, sportspeople, artists and government...


Singapore welcomes establishment of AIFC, minister says, as FinTech seems most promising area of cooperation

Singaporean Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Dr. Koh Poh Koon shared his views on relations with Kazakhstan, the prospects of cooperation with AIFC and the future...


Tele2 AB telecom operator to leave Kazakh market

ASTANA – Swedish company Tele2 AB has announced its intention to sell its stake in Mobile Telecom Service (Tele2), the Tele2 Group-Kazakhtelecom joint venture, to Kazakhtelecom. The closing is...


Emphasis on economic diplomacy positions Kazakhstan well to attract investment in times of growing competition

In today’s highly competitive global environment, economic and trade ties are an increasingly important part of international diplomacy. Nowadays, official government visits focus not only on international political issues,...


Economic news in brief

Kazakhstan’s external debt to gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 8.6 percent or $3 billion in the third quarter of last year, mainly due to the debt securities reduction...


Kazakh colleges now offer distance learning bachelor’s degrees

ASTANA – Students studying in Kazakh universities are now able to receive bachelor’s degrees with 100 percent of their credits received through distance learning. “There will be a completely...


External news in brief

Kazakhstan’s Partnership for Peace training centre has earned the United Nations certification that will allow it to train and prepare peace officers from around the world. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN...


National news in brief

This year, 25 kindergartens and 37 other schools will be built in the capital, Kazinform reports. By 2023, there will be 124,000 more students in Astana. Fifteen additional health...


Business news in brief

Korean confectionery Lotte Confectionery has acquired 92.44 percent of Kazakh confectionary Rakhat, reports Kapital.kz. The total market value of Rakhat shares is 25.2 billion tenge (US$67.66 million). The company,...


Kazakh finance ministry presents draft law to improve rehabilitation, bankruptcy procedures

ASTANA – The Ministry of Finance presented Jan. 10 the draft law on improving rehabilitation and bankruptcy procedures of business entities at the Mazhilis (lower house of Parliament). Approximately...


Two Kazakh entrepreneurs shared top entrepreneurial prize at People’s Choice Awards

ASTANA – General Directors of Raduga diversified enterprise Dmitry Sharapayev and Zhas Kanat smart poultry farm 2006 Kairat Maishev were recently awarded the Narodnyi Liyubimets (People’s Choice) Awards as...


Local organisation stimulates Astana’s interest in arts

ASTANA – Art Masters London is a commercial educational organisation that holds one-time and short-term visual arts courses and lectures in the city. The unique educational project aims to...


Public, private Alakol Lake investment drives tourist boom

ASTANA – Alakol Lake tourists will have an opportunity to enjoy a more comfortable stay in a four-star hotel and new entertainment centre this year. Construction on a hotel...


Kazakh public figures presented with Kazakh People’s Choice Awards for philanthropy

ASTANA – The honorary award Patron of the Year was awarded to philanthropists Sergey Blok, Alibek Semgaliyev and Bekbolat Achibekov at the Dec. 12 national award ceremony Narodnyi Lubimets...


Kazakhstan offers global investors stable political, social and economic climate, says Kazakh Invest executive

ASTANA – Kazakhstan is able to offer stable political, social and economic conditions and sufficient infrastructure for global investors, said Kazakh Invest Deputy Chairman of the Board Marat Birimzhan....


Kazakh boxer Gennady Golovkin splits with his promoter

ASTANA – Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs) has parted ways with his promoter, Tom Leffler. Now the Kazakh fighter is a free agent and is...


Kazakh businesswomen elevate small retail business to new level

ASTANA – When sisters Nasima and Nafisa Rozikova realised the format of the store near their house did not meet their needs, they decided to open their own. The...


Kostanai region foreign investments increase two-fold

ASTANA – The Kostanai region has developed 40 investment projects totalling more than 2.1 trillion tenge (US$5.5 billion) to implement in 2018-2025, reported Kazinform. Fourteen projects have been launched...


Kazakhstan will kick off Euro 2020 bid at home against Scotland, Russia

ASTANA – The Kazakh national football team will begin its Euro 2020 qualifying campaign with home matches at Astana Arena against Scotland and Russia March 21 and March 24,...


Heat supply to remain uninterrupted throughout winter, say Kazakh ministers

ASTANA – Kazakh Minister of Energy Kanat Bozumbayev and the then Minister for Investments and Development Zhenis Kassymbek reported on the country’s heat supply in the autumn-winter period at...


Kazakh freelancers will no longer need to pay mandatory pension contributions

ASTANA – Freelancers who combine work and have employment contracts will soon be exempted from the obligation to pay pension contributions. According to the Ministry of Labour and Social...


Kazakh designer wins NASA competition

ASTANA – Kazakh designer Arsen Seksenbayev was among the winners of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) competition with the best sketch for the space laboratory. Seksenbayev’s sketch...


Kazakh ice cream gets silver in Forbes Russia top 10 new brands rating

ASTANA – Forbes Russia, one of the most popular and authoritative economic rating agencies, has ranked Shin-Line’s Bakhroma ice cream second among its top 10 best new products of...


Kazakh surgeons performed first hybrid cardiac surgery in country, eighth in world

ASTANA – Presidential clinic surgeons performed hybrid cardiac surgery in the capital Dec. 19 for the first time in the post-Soviet space, reported its press service. The operation was...


Astana clinics introduce health bracelets with patients’ medical records

ASTANA – A pilot project involving health bracelets with QR codes has been introduced at capital clinics Nos. 4, 9 and 10. The bracelets provide information about a patient’s...


Mangystau youth receive up to one million tenge for social projects from World Bank

ASTANA – Mangystau region youth have received up to one million tenge (US$2,664) in World Bank grants for social projects, said regional Youth Policy Department head Bauyrzhan Tuyakov during...


Smart locks to be installed in Astana residential complexes

ASTANA – Smart locks will be introduced in the capital’s residential complexes, reports 24.kz. A new mobile application will allow users to access courtyards, parking and apartments with a...


Kazakh housing prices expected to grow 10 percent in 2019, Astana remains highest priced city

ASTANA – Housing prices in Kazakhstan are expected to increase 10 percent in 2019, according to a recent report by the Union of Builders of Kazakhstan. The rising exchange...


Kazakh Healthcare Ministry to set price ceilings for medicine

ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry of Healthcare will set price ceilings on the sale of medicine across all regions in the country, said Pharmacy Committee Head Lyudmila Byurabekova during...


One of Kazakhstan’s 100 new faces trains young sportspeople in rural area

ASTANA – Almas Beissenov, an 18-time winner of the Kazakhstan Athletics Championship, is sharing his experience with young athletes. He works as a coach at a sports school in...


New tax regulation will serve as safety cushion for self-employed Kazakhs

ASTANA – The New Year started with enforcing the Unified Cumulative Payment (UCP) programme for informally employed Kazakh citizens. President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed the amendments to the Tax Code...