Astana Akim discusses healthcare, housing and other issues with Astana residents

ASTANA – Astana Akim (Mayor) Bakhyt Sultanov discussed housing, medicine, education, ecology, security and other issues with citizens at the Feb. 20 annual reporting meeting. The meeting came as...


Non-profit promotes Central Asian culture in South Korea

ASTANA – The Central Asian Supporters Association (CASA) based, a non profit organisation based in Seoul, South Korea, promotes Central Asian culture and connects citizens of the region living...


Kazakhstan is global leader in flax production

ASTANA – Kazakhstan ranked first in the world in the production of flax reaching the volume of more than 900,000 tonnes flax in 2018. This was announced by Kazakh...


Martian landscapes on Earth: Kiin-Kerish Valley and Shekelmes Cape

ASTANA – Kiin-Kerish Valley and Shekelmes Cape in the East Kazakhstan region are famous for their red, orange and white-coloured landscapes that resemble the surface of the moon. Although...


Becoming a 16-year old world champion: a story from a Kazakh karate fighter

ASTANA – A 6-year-old girl who became a world karate-do Shotokan champion in four years has been named one of Kazakhstan’s 100 New Faces. Eduarda Velk is a two-time...


Central Asia’s largest solar power plant opens in Karaganda region

ASTANA – The Karaganda region began large-scale transition to green technology by opening a solar power station in Saran, the largest such facility in the Central Asian region. “The...


Kazakh citizens invest $2.6 million in National Bank notes

ASTANA – Kazakh citizens have purchased government notes worth $2.6 million through the National Bank’s Invest Online system, an innovative technology product for people to invest in securities. Invest...


Time to end sanctions against Syria and restore economic stability

Whenever light appears at the end of the tunnel in the Syrian conflict, it escalates into new dimensions. The military war has now been replaced by an economic war...


“Ayka” film premieres in Astana

ASTANA – The Oscar-shortlisted “Ayka” film directed by Sergey Dvortsevoy was recently released in the capital. The film features Kazakh actress Samal Yeslyamova who won the Best Female award...


Kazakh clock-in, clock-out automation service start-up plans expanding to Southeast Asia

ASTANA – Kazakh start-up Clockster, a clock-in, clock-out automation service powered by biometric identification, seeks to expand to Southeast Asia after selling four devices to SubicWorx in the Philippines,...


Kazakh university students with C grades studying on state grants will retain stipends

ASTANA – The Ministry of Education and Science and the Kazakh League of Academic Integrity, which includes the country’s leading universities, proposed cancelling the older system of depriving Kazakh...


Construction to start in the second quarter on Astana’s first gastronomic market

ASTANA – The capital’s first gastronomic market will be built in the second quarter of 2019, reports the city akimat (administration). The Keruen Global gastronomic market will be located...


Kazakhstan increases solar power electricity by 9 percent

ASTANA – Kazakhstan saw a 9-percent increase last year in its volume of solar power generated electricity. The 2018 volume was 107.1 billion kilowatt hour (kWh) compared to 103.1...


Zaisan Lake residents investing in tourism infrastructure

ASTANA – Zaisan Lake’s rich and diverse fish stocks are attracting fishing enthusiasts from within Kazakhstan and from neighbouring Russia. Now, the local population has built a hotel for...


Digital Kazakhstan measures increase labour productivity, reduce costs

ASTANA – Measures implemented through Digital Kazakhstan have had a 218-billion tenge (US$579 million) economic impact and created more than 43,000 jobs, said Minister of Information and Communication Dauren...


Kazakh President meets with newest 100 New Faces winners

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s 100 New Faces project aims to motivate citizens to achieve better results in their activities, said President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the Feb. 13 meeting in the...


Artificial intelligence cleaning robots from Yakutia find first customers in Kazakhstan

ASTANA – An autonomous robot cleaner designed to clean large premises and industrial and commercial facilities was presented Feb. 4 at the Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport in the capital....


Be human above all, Kazakh war correspondent stresses

ASTANA – Nazgul Kenzhetay, perhaps Kazakhstan’s first war correspondent, hopes to raise awareness of the lost childhoods of the millions of innocents along the border between Turkey and Syria....


Turkestan region signs memorandums to modernise trade system, healthcare, research centres

ASTANA – Turkestan regional authorities recently signed memorandums of cooperation (MOC) with local and foreign companies and institutions to improve and modernise its trade system, build a pharmaceutical plant...


Kazakh National Bank blocks second-tier banks from taking commissions for loans

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s National Bank has banned second-tier banks from charging fees for lending to the population. This move follows its ban on such banks charging interest on accounts...


Nazarbayev University scholars, students invent medical device named among world’s top 20 innovations

ASTANA – The United Nations (UN) recently recognised an invention by Nazarbayev University (NU) scholars and students’ to rehabilitate patients after a stroke as among the world’s top 20...


Kazakh defence-industrial sector to prioritise local production, says deputy prime minister

ASTANA – Increasing Kazakhstan’s production in the defence-industrial sector is to be prioritised among defence-industrial firms in Astana and Almaty, said Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence...


Kazakh skater wins silver at Four Continents Figure Skating Championships

ASTANA – Kazakh figure skater Elizabet Tursynbayeva won the women’s singles silver medal at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Anaheim, California (U.S.). She placed sixth in her...


Kazakhstan to send second military unit to UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon

ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry of Defence is preparing the second contingent of Kazakh soldiers to be deployed as peacekeepers in Lebanon. The troops are expected to be deployed...


Astana Opera, Astana Ballet and Bolshoi Theatre to exchange artists, performances

ASTANA – Performers from the Astana Opera and Astana Ballet companies will now be able to intern and perform at Russia’s historic Bolshoi Theatre, according to an agreement reached...


Kazakhtelecom, Air Astana to be listed as IPOs in 2019

ASTANA – Kazakh national telecom operator Kazakhtelecom and national airline Air Astana will be listed as IPOs this year, Minister of Finance Alikhan Smailov said at a Feb. 11...


KAZGUU supports young researchers in Year of Youth

ASTANA – KAZGUU University has launched a special grant programme during the Year of Youth to demonstrate its institutional support for young researchers and generate new knowledge. The university...


National Museum presents Urzhar priestess and restored treasures exhibition

ASTANA – The Kazakh National Museum opened the Urzhar Priestess and Restored Treasures: results of conservation and restoration works exhibition Feb. 13 in the capital. The show is dedicated...


Kazakh Senate passes laws to modernise judicial system

ASTANA – The Kazakh Senate passed two laws aimed at modernising the judicial system, including qualitative developing and renewing of judicial personnel, strengthening guarantees of judges’ independence and eliminating...


KMG International sets operating and financial records

ASTANA – KMG International recorded high operating and financial results in 2018, according to management reports. The group’s operating profit (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA)) was...


Kazakh government, EBRD reaffirm support for SMEs, business consulting increases turnover

ASTANA – Small and medium-sized businesses are key focus areas in the country, said European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for Kazakhstan Director Agris Preimanis at the sixth...


Japanese chef treats Astana customers to his country’s home cuisine at Café Momo

ASTANA – Café Momo chef Daiske Kishigami has been giving Astana locals a taste of Japanese cuisine at reasonable prices for four years. Born in Kobe, Kishigami moved to...


Nazarbayev University to host Harvard University’s largest student-run conference in Asia

ASTANA – Nazarbayev University (NU) will host the 2019 Harvard College Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) Asia Conference in mid-August, reports the university’s press service. The HPAIR...


Kazakh, UAE businesswomen commit to developing economic ties at business forum

ASTANA – A Kazakh delegation of businesswomen to Dubai recently committed to deepening bilateral economic, trade and technological ties between Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the...


Kazakh nonprofit coordinates the transportation of more than 3,000 Astana residents with disabilities per year

ASTANA – Kazakh nonprofit Invataxi coordinates the transportation of approximately 3,000 people with disabilities in Astana annually, including more than 1,000 children, reports the city akimat (administration) press service....


Cost, travel logistics remain barriers to maritime cruise popularity in Kazakhstan

ASTANA – Maritime cruises have never been as popular in Kazakhstan, a landlocked nation, as they have in other more ocean-accessible countries. But some domestic travel officials hope that...


Kazakh retailers see positive dynamics in online shopping, plan to strengthen customer service

ASTANA – The government anticipates e-commerce will account for 2-3 percent of the retail market by 2021. The figure is currently approximately 1.9 percent of the total trade market,...


E-services transition in public procurement exceeds state budget plan, says Kazakh Minister of Finance

ASTANA – The Kazakh government is fulfilling 117.9 percent of budget revenues, according to the January monthly report presented at a recent government meeting. The main factor for timely...


Kazakh tennis player wins one leg of ATP Challenger Tour

ASTANA – Kazakh tennis player Alexander Bublik won the 2019 Hungarian Challenger Open, an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger Tour tournament, held Feb. 4-10 in Budapest. Bublik beat...


Kazakh President decrees reshuffles in government and administration

ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed the heads of Syrbar Foreign Intelligence Service, Ministry of Internal Affairs and the new Secretary of the Security Council, the Ak Orda...


Kazakh sustainable investing expert advocates for business-led societal change

ASTANA – Businesses are key to greater societal change, a young Kazakh expert drawing on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in investment analysis and decision-making says. Yelena Novikova’s...


Galysheva wins Kazakhstan’s first gold in Ladies’ Moguls at FIS World Championship

ASTANA – Kazakh professional freestyle skier Yulia Galysheva won the first gold of her career at the Feb. 9 International Ski Federation (FIS, Fédération Internationale de Ski) Ladies’ Moguls...


Contemporary Uzbek art on display at Astana exhibition

ASTANA – The Kazakh National Museum is presenting an exhibition of contemporary Uzbek photos and paintings. The show, running through March, gives visitors an opportunity to analyse the modern...


Adopting children should be norm, says Mothers House Public Fund Director

ASTANA – Ana Uii (Mothers’ House) Public Fund has helped approximately 3,500 women keep their children in their birth families and more than 900 youngsters find adoptive families. The...


Israel and Kazakhstan have close ties in education, medicine, agriculture and technology, says envoy

ASTANA – Israel and Kazakhstan have been developing close ties in different spheres and on various levels, exchanging experience and knowledge in education, medicine, agriculture and technology, said Israeli...


Economic news in brief

The tax burden for Kazakhs earning less than 63,100 tenge (US$167) a month has been reduced by 90 percent as of this January. According to the Statistics Committee, every...


National news in brief

A 60-hectare wholesale distribution centre for agricultural trade will be built in Karaganda, connecting the northern and southern parts of the country, reports the regional press service. The construction...


Business news in brief

Kazakhstan is the world’s largest flax producer with domestic producers collecting a record harvest of 700,000 tonnes this year, reports Abctv.kz. It surpassed flax export leader Canada with its...


External news in brief

Kazakh and German business representatives gathered in Hamburg Feb. 4 to explore the role of Kazakhstan as an economic and logistics hub in Eurasia and beyond. The forum was...


Norwegian seed vault preserves seeds for global food security and diversity

ASTANA – Svalbard is home to approximately 2,500 people and one million types of seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a secure bank preserving copies of plant seeds...