2,800 HIV-positive cases in Kazakhstan last year, prevalence remains low, says health official

ASTANA – Last year, more than 2,800 new HIV cases were detected in Kazakhstan, though the prevalence of HIV in the country remains low, said Vice Minister of Healthcare...


China’s Development Bank registers at AIFC

ASTANA – Astana International Financial Centre’s (AIFC) Financial Services Regulatory Committee recently registered the Development Bank of China, which makes it the 10th participant of the centre. It is...


Kazakhstan’s external debt increases $75 billion in 10 years

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s external debt has increased $74.6 billion to $168.9 billion in the past ten years as of October 2017, according to Kazakh National Bank press service. The...


Kazakh Agrotechnical University to be country’s centre for agro-sector digitisation

ASTANA – Seifullin Kazakh Agrotechnical University will become the scientific and methodological centre for digitisation in the agro-industrial sector, university rector Akhylbek Kurishbayev said at a Feb. 16 press...


Kazakh association takes initiative to create rules of the game on crypto-currency market in EAEU

ALMATY – Organisers of the Feb. 16 International Crypto Conference 2018 in Almaty said their goal was to become a “translator of the Eurasian view on the problems of...


Kazakh figure skater participates in Olympic Channel documentary

ASTANA – Kazakh Figure skater Denis Ten, the bronze medallist at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, was the first athlete shot for the Game Breakers documentary series produced by the...


Red Cross and Red Crescent conference slated in Almaty

ASTANA – The Kazakh Red Crescent Society, which provides social and humanitarian assistance, first aid classes and training and prepping for natural disasters, will hold its European conference May...


Kazakhstan’s 2014 figure skating medal winner Denis Ten comes up short in PyeongChang

PYEONGCHANG – Kazakhstan’s Sochi Olympics bronze medal winner Denis Ten found himself in 27th place here overall after his figure skating performance at the PyeongChang Games, failing to reach...


Tokmadi pleads guilty to murdering BTA Bank chief in 2004

TARAZ – Muratkhan Tokmadi, a former gang member turned businessman, pleaded guilty Feb. 16 to murdering chairman of the board of the BTA Bank Yerzhan Tatishev in 2004. The...


Kazakh champion FC Astana loses to Portugal’s Sporting in UEFA Europa League

ASTANA – FC Astana lost 1-3 to Portugal’s Sporting in the Europa League’s round of 16 competition. The match was of historical importance for Kazakhstan: no Kazakh football club...


New government website allows citizens to submit documents electronically

ASTANA – Kazakh citizens are now able to provide residence certificates to government agencies and other property information through a government website rather than in paper format. The new...


Kazakh special economic zones do not justify state support, need to be improved

ASTANA – The Ministry for Investment and Development recently determined that special economic zones are not justifying the state support they receive and has called for increased efficiency within...


Ust-Kamenogorsk – major industrial and tourism centre

ASTANA – Ust-Kamenogorsk, a city in eastern Kazakhstan with a population of more than 300,000, is a must visit destination for someone starting his or her journey through the...


Kazakh competitive cheerleading gaining recognition abroad

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s cheerleading achievements are mounting and the sport is developing in the country, President of the country’s Federation Union of Cheerleading and Cheer Sport (KUC) Ruslan Mammadov...


Alageum Electric expands export borders

ASTANA – Alageum Electric, one of Kazakhstan’s major electrical engineering companies, offers a wide range of products and services. The company not only provides power transformers to the domestic...


Abai Arena multifunctional complex construction starts in Semey

ASTANA – Construction has started on Abai Arena, a complex with an entertainment and sports centre in the new district in Semey. The facility is dedicated to the city’s...


Entrepreneur inspires Kazakh teenagers

ASTANA – Askhat Abzhanov, an entrepreneur from Stepnogorsk, is the founder of Zhana Urpak (“new generation” in Kazakh) Leadership School in Almaty. The school conducts various trainings for teenagers,...


Kazakh citizens will soon be able to enter UAE without visas

ASTANA – Starting March 10, citizens of Kazakhstan will be able to enter the United Arab Emirates without visas. This was reported by the head of the press service...


Imantau: pearl of Blue Mountains in North Kazakhstan

ASTANA – Imantau natural zone, in the North Kazakhstan region, is popular with tourists keen on fishing and camping. Its low mountains, beautiful lake and dense forests are within...


Kazakhstan to offer some medical services for purchase within national healthcare programme

ASTANA – Kazakhstan plans to launch by 2020 a set of additional health benefits within its national healthcare programme, which citizens can pay for themselves or with health insurance....


Garage incubator selects 14 projects ahead of Astana Hub accelerator launch

ASTANA – The Kazakh capital recently hosted the launch of Garage incubator seeking to provide a platform for start-up development ahead of the upcoming launch of Astana Hub accelerator...


Kazakhstan’s prison population drops dramatically in criminal justice reform breakthrough

ASTANA – Kazakhstan has made what officials called an “incredible” leap forward on the prison index, moving from the third-ranked country in the world in terms of number of...


Kazakhstan joins Global Happiness Coalition

ASTANA –Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Portugal, Slovenia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently formed the Global Happiness Coalition. Initiated by the UAE, the coalition aims to ensure effective...


Precision agriculture technology, digitisation introduced to boost productivity

ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture has presented plans to focus this year on introducing precision technology and intensive irrigation, livestock development and renewing agricultural machinery. The four...


Mangistau eagle hunters to open falconry school

ASTANA – Mangistau region’s berkutchi, or eagle hunters, plan to open their own falconry school in Tushybek village in an effort to preserve the ancient tradition, reported Kazakh TV....


Kazakh Investment Ministry to focus on manufacturing, exports and labour productivity

ASTANA – The Ministry for Investment and Development will concentrate this year on manufacturing, focusing on export-oriented sectors and labour productivity under the Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development programme,...


Kazakh economy grows 4 percent in 2017 on increases in manufacturing, non-extraction industries

ASTANA – The Ministry of National Economy leadership outlined Kazakhstan’s economic results for 2017 and shared its plans for the current year at a Feb. 12 press conference, reported...


Oilfield service companies seek state support to increase competition in industry

ASTANA – The Union of Kazakhstan Oilfield Service Companies wants to increase the involvement of domestic businesses and state support for the $45 billion in projects underway by Tengizchevroil,...


North Kazakhstan region to welcome 767 families from south

ASTANA – More than 3,400 people, or 767 families of migrants and “oralmen” (ethnic Kazakhs who have immigrated back to Kazakhstan since its independence), will move to the North...


Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Reserve – on the way to Great Silk Road

ASTANA – Picturesque Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Reserve has developed tourist routes and launched a tulip festival as part of the Great Silk Road cluster revival. Far from the urban bustle,...


Kazakh singer named most popular singer of the year in China

ASTANA – Kazakh singer Dimash Kudaibergen is gaining popularity worldwide and was named Most Popular Singer of the Year for the second year in a row at the Feb....


Kazakh Labour and Social Protection Ministry to focus on self-employed workforce, digitisation

ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry of Labour and Social Protection will focus on formalising the self-employed workforce and continue digital transformation in the field in 2018, according to newly-appointed...


Kazakh Ministry of National Economy to cut public debt, boost tax to GDP ratio

ASTANA – Decreasing Kazakh public debt to 23.7 percent by 2022 using eurobonds and Islamic Sukuk securities and other priorities for economic development, including privatisation, industrial development, an automated...


Phased plan developed to transfer Kazakh alphabet to Latin script

ASTANA – A draft action plan has been developed detailing the phased transfer of the Kazakh alphabet to Latin script by 2025. Sacral Geography of Kazakhstan, a special project...


Young dombra player among those who inspire nation

ASTANA – Nineteen-year-old dombra player Alexey Lodochnikov has been named one of Kazakhstan’s 100 New Faces. An ethnic Russian, the gifted educator at Kachirsky children’s home in the Pavlodar...


Kazakh, French cooperation produces successful cement plant in Zhambyl region

ASTANA – The Jambyl Cement plant near Mynaral in the Zhambyl region, the first in Kazakhstan to use the dry method for cement production, is currently the largest facility...


Green Bridge Partnership Programme offers tool for Paris Climate Agreement implementation

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, in his state-of-the-nation address earlier this year, as a priority, underlined the importance of increasing requirements for energy efficiency and energy saving by enterprises,...


Kazakhstan loses heartbreaker to Spain in European Futsal Championship semifinals

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s national futsal team reached the European Championship semifinals in Slovenia carrying high expectations, given their 2016 European Championship bronze medal, but fell to Spain after a...


Kazakh short-track skater carries flag at Olympics opening ceremony

PYEONGCHANG – The 2018 Winter Olympic Games kicked off in PyeongChang, South Korea, with the Feb. 9 opening ceremony. The Kazakh flag was carried by short-tracker Abzal Azhgaliyev. “It...


Dialogue platform for Kazakh state and civil society sets agenda for 2018

ASTANA – This year’s first meeting of the Dialogue Platform on the Human Dimension, involving the Foreign Ministry, public authorities and civil society, was held in Astana Feb. 8...


First virtual museum launches in Taldykorgan

ASTANA – The first virtual museum in Kazakhstan recently launched in Taldykorgan, 24.kz reported. A group of young artists created the “Zhetysu 360” project under the Digital Kazakhstan programme....


Kazakhstan’s UN Security Council presidency marks significant step in country’s development

In foreign policy terms, Kazakhstan can look back at many achievements over the last 26 years. It has forged, almost from scratch, excellent relations with nations across the world...


TSE Art Destination opens in Astana, holds first modern art exhibit

ASTANA – TSE Art Destination, which combines a modern art gallery, educational centre and experimental art lab, seeks to make art an indispensable part of capital life. The first...


Freestyle skier wins bronze, Kazakhstan’s first medal at Pyeongchang

PYEONGCHANG – Kazakhstan freestyle skier Yulia Galysheva won Kazakhstan’s first medal at the 2018 Olympics, taking bronze in the individual moguls. The Kazakh athlete was considered one of the...


Kazakhstan’s foreign aid systems are maturing, integrating with foreign policy, says official

ASTANA – Not many know that Kazakhstan has been providing aid to other countries for the last two decades. A few years ago, the country adopted a law on...


Kazakh mathematician suggests solution to famous Millennium Prize problem

ASTANA – Aset Durmagambetov, eminent mathematician and scientist, recently proposed his version of a solution to Riemann hypothesis, one of Millennium Prize Problems. The solution is particularly useful for...


Kazakh government to devote $61.4 million annually to develop AIFC

ASTANA – Kazakhstan will devote approximately 20 billion tenge (US$61.4 million) annually over the next three years to develop the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and the centre hopes...


AIFC to launch exchange, court and arbitration centre in 2018

ASTANA – The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), which opened Jan. 1, is set to register companies and launch its exchange, court and arbitration centre this year. The main...


History of dombra exhibition opens in Atyrau

ASTANA – An exhibition recently opened in Atyrau’s local history museum on the history of the Kazakh folk instrument, dombra. A dombra is a round and flat two-stringed instrument...


Face recognition system launched in Astana administration building

ASTANA – The Astana city government recently launched a facial recognition system to identify people entering Astana’s government administration building and hopes to launch the technology in other public...