Singapore investors to build international schools in Kazakhstan

ASTANA – Singapore-based Pegasus Education Group will invest in educational institutions based on the Singapore continuing education system in Astana, Almaty and Shymkent, reported Jan. 19 the...


Astana Ballet to stage Karaganda performances in February

ASTANA – Astana Ballet will swap out its usual stage in the capital for Karaganda’s Konstantin Stanislavsky Russian Drama Theatre stage Feb. 23-24, reports its press service....


Kazakhstan launches pilot programme using biometric data to deliver public services

ASTANA – Kazakh citizens will soon be able to receive public services using biometric data by scanning their faces and fingerprints. The programme will be launched in...


Kazakhstan, Zimbabwe to identify economic cooperation areas

ASTANA – Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa visited Kazakhstan for the first time Jan. 20-21. The delegation toured sights in the capital and met with the local business...


Astana Pro Team leader Sanchez finishes fourth at Tour Down Under

ASTANA – Astana Pro Team leader Luis Leon Sanchez finished fourth in the general classification of the Tour Down Under road cycling stage race in and around...


Kazakh President kicks off Year of Youth in Astana

ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev launched the Year of Youth in Kazakhstan during a Jan. 23 ceremony on the EXPO 2017 grounds at the Nur Alem...


National Bank of Kazakhstan keeps base rate at 9.25 percent

ASTANA – National Bank of Kazakhstan announced plans to keep the base rate at 9.25 percent with an interest rate band of +/- 1 percent, reported the...


Kazakhstan’s 7-20-25 affordable housing programme grants $137 million in loans

ASTANA – The Kazakh 7-20-25 affordable housing programme has approved 4,350 applications for 52 billion tenge (US137.2 million) since its launch in July, said Kazakh National Bank...


Astana-Schuchinsk toll road revenues reached $4 million in 2018

ASTANA – New charging systems and more stringent enforcement of vehicle control helped increase 2018 revenue from the Astana-Schuchinsk toll road to 1.54 billion tenge (US$4.06 million),...


Nomad culture, ethno-sports key to drawing tourists to Central Asia, says Nomad Games organiser

ASTANA – Central Asian countries are paying ever more attention to controlling their own national brands. The Astana Times spoke with Maksat Chaki, former Kyrgyz vice minister...


Ridder – place of extreme sports and untouched nature

ASTANA – Ridder is a city in the East Kazakhstan region with untouched nature suitable for ecological and sports tourism. Visitors can go camping, do winter sports,...


Aqkol becomes first smart city in Kazakhstan

ASTANA – The SmartAqkol project has entirely digitised all consumer and public services in Aqkol, making the small city 100 kilometres north of Astana Kazakhstan’s first smart...


Kazakh IT start-ups enter global market

ASTANA – SmartLab was named one of the top 10 best start-ups at the Startupbootcamp international competition last month in Australia. The Kazakh company presented its new...


Electronic sports academy to launch in the capital

ASTANA – The Digital Kazakhstan state programme will launch an electronic sports academy in the capital. The academy will offer master classes, tournaments and trainings on Counter-Strike:...


Kazakhstan’s National Bank identifies microfinance, insurance organisations’ 2018 violations

ASTANA – The Kazakh National Bank recently identified microfinance and insurance organisations’ violations of consumer rights and interests committed in 2018. The bank applied 17 sanctions and...


Kazakh poetry and prose tradition and culture centrism challenges experts to properly translate them

ASTANA – Translators, writers and representatives of publishing organisations in China, France, Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom discussed the difficulties they encountered when translating samples of...


Silk Roads are central to understanding global history and modern world, says Oxford historian

ASTANA – Historically, the Silk Roads featured overlooked but central networks of ideas, goods, languages, religions and diseases, an observation that still holds importance, said Oxford University...


Using early hip dislocation diagnostics is vital, says Kazakh paediatric orthopaedist

ASTANA – Kazakh paediatric orthopaedist Roza Karabekova has invented panties for newborn babies (up to three months) to prevent hip joint dislocation. She emphasises early diagnosis of...


Kaiyndy Lake attracts thousands of tourists with unique underwater forests

ASTANA – Kaiyndy Lake near Almaty is artwork created by nature. Formed in 1911 as a result of the 7.7-magnitude Kebin earthquake (also known as Chon-Kemin earthquake), the...


Anthologies of modern Kazakh prose and poetry to be distributed in 70 countries

ASTANA – Work is nearly complete to translate anthologies of modern Kazakh prose and poetry into Arabic, English, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish for distribution in 70...


Kazakhstan doubles number of licenses for geological exploration

ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development has issued 26 licenses for geological exploration since mid-September in accordance with the new Code for Natural...


First ice sculpture competition takes place in Astana

ASTANA – The Yessil District akimat (administration) organised Kazakhstan’s first ice sculpture competition in the capital Jan. 16 for professional international participants. The sculptures will decorate the...


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...


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...


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,...


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...


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...


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...


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...


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....