Articles by Dana Omirgazy

ASTANA — Lonely Planet, the world’s leading travel guide publisher, named Kazakhstan one of the best countries for travel in its annual Best in Travel 2025 ranking, which features 30 must-visit destinations worldwide. Lonely Planet chooses places based on suggestions from tourists, employees, writers, and other tourism professionals. “Kazakhstan is an immersive destination for travelers…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan tested Eutelsat-OneWeb broadband satellite internet services based at the Kokterek Space Communications Center in Almaty to enhance internet access in rural areas. Kazakh Minister of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry Zhaslan Madiyev attended the testing of a project aimed at providing stable and high-speed internet access for remote regions of the…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan gathered 23.3 million hectares of crops this year, including 16.7 million hectares cultivated with grain. The fieldwork is reported as 99.7% complete. A total of 26.5 million tons of grain were threshed, said Kazakh Minister of Agriculture Aidarbek Saparov at an Oct. 23 government meeting chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov. Bektenov…

ASTANA – Kazakh and Uzbek business leaders signed 76 documents worth more than $352 million during the fourth Uzbekistan – Kazakhstan interregional cooperation forum, chaired by  Prime Ministers of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov and Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov on Oct. 22 in Samarkand. The list of signed documents include the plan of practical actions to accelerate the…

ASTANA – Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavský reaffirmed both countries’ willingness to expand cooperation during an Oct. 21 meeting. The officials discussed bilateral cooperation, the regional and global agenda, and exchanged views on prospects for strengthening partnership, focusing on…

ASTANA – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev underscored Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic’s long-term and beneficial collaboration, based on friendship and mutual respect during his meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavský on Oct. 21. Tokayev said Kazakhstan is dedicated to close cooperation with the Czech Republic, one of the important partners…

ASTANA – Leading international futurists and experts discussed a synchronized vision of humanity’s future, based on principles of harmony and synergy given the rapid development of technology, at the CONNECTED-2024: Conceptualizing the Vision of the Future international conference, which took place on Oct. 18-19 in the Kazakh capital. According to the data following the event,…

ASTANA – Ministers of Economy and Trade of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) supported Kazakhstan’s initiatives to create a Turkic Green Finance Council, as well as a Central (National) Banks Council of the OTS member states during their 13th meeting on Oct. 18 in Bishkek. The event was attended by Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan has established the council for strategic partnership with foreign universities, said Deputy Prime Minister Tamara Duissenova at an Oct. 18 meeting with the heads of international universities. “This council will become a permanent platform for exchanging opinions and finding innovative solutions, taking into account the interests of all participants,” Duissenova noted. According…

ASTANA – In recent years, event tourism has grown in the Kazakh capital, as revealed by the country’s tour operators at the China Outbound Travel & Tourism Market (COTTM) and the Astana-Beijing 2024 Roadshow tourism exhibitions, which took place on Oct. 16-18 in Beijing. According to Meiramgul Balgozhina, general director of the Empire Travel Qazaqstan…

ASTANA – The Astana Times has selected articles from global media outlets covering Kazakhstan. This week’s foreign media digest covers the Astana Think Tank Forum, Almaty as a tourist destination and more. Kazakhstan making ‘significant progress in economic sector’ says President EU Reporter published an article on Oct. 17 about the Astana Think Tank Forum,…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan has begun implementing eight investment projects worth 30 billion tenge (US$61.5 million), as part of its asset recovery efforts. According to the Asset Recovery Committee of the Kazakh Prosecutor General’s Office, the construction of two trade and logistics centers worth more than 7 billion tenge (US$14.4 million) has commenced. These projects are…

ASTANA – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discussed the rise of middle powers and noted the role of the United Nations as the driving force of global cooperation and progress during the plenary session of the Astana Think Tank Forum on Oct. 17. Welcoming the participants, Tokayev noted that this dialogue platform, created under the auspices…

ASTANA – More than 250 books by Kazakhstan’s writers on display at the Frankfurter Buchmesse-2024 (the Frankfurt International Book Fair), which takes place on Oct. 16-20 in Germany. According to Kazinform, over 30 representatives from Kazakhstan, including public figures, publishers and translators, and large publishing houses such as Mektep, Almatykitap, Atamura, ARMAN PV, Steppe &…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry has officially endorsed the concept for the development of hydrogen energy in Kazakhstan until 2030 on Sept. 27. This document will become a key guideline for the development of the hydrogen energy sector in the country and will make a significant contribution to solving environmental challenges. The concept includes such…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan is Armenia’s friendly, important and reliable partner, said President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan, in an interview with Kazinform, focusing on the development of bilateral relations with Kazakhstan and promising opportunities for cooperation. Khachaturyan, who paid an official visit to Kazakhstan on Oct. 15-16, met with President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, toured the…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan plans to introduce amendments to law on financial market development and consumer protection in financial services to attract foreign financial institutions and increase competition in the banking sector, said Madina Abylkassymova, chairperson of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market during an Oct. 16 plenary session in the Mazhilis,…

ASTANA – Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov outlined key areas for strengthening cooperation between the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states during an Oct. 16 SCO Heads of Government Council meeting in Islamabad. According to the Prime Minister’s press service, the meeting participants discussed the implementation of the agreements reached at the SCO summit in…

ASTANA – The CONNECTED-2024, an international conference about rethinking the image of the future through the prism of the worldview of cultures and philosophies, technologies and innovations, will bring together nearly 1,500 delegates from more than 20 countries in the Kazakh capital on Oct. 18-19 Participants will discuss such topics as generating intellectual capital for…

ASTANA – Telegram, a cloud-based, cross-platform, social media and instant messaging service, is set to open an office in Kazakhstan, said Kazakh Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry Zhaslan Madiyev on Oct. 14, following a meeting with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and representatives of Meta and Apple. “We cooperate with Telegram to…

ASTANA – President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan discussed prospects for strengthening bilateral cooperation in the political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres during an Oct. 15 meeting. Welcoming Khachaturyan, Tokayev noted that Kazakhstan is interested in advancing the Kazakh-Armenian cooperation to a qualitatively new level, as reported by Akorda. …

ASTANA – Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu paid an official visit to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on Oct. 14 to attend the 21st meeting of the European Union-Kazakhstan Cooperation Council and enhance cooperation with EU companies. During the Cooperation Council, participants discussed the current state of relations between Kazakhstan and…

ASTANA – Central Asian states and South Korea held the second parliamentary meeting to promote cooperation and mutual trust on Oct. 14 in Ashgabat. During the Partnership for Peace, Prosperity and Mutual Trust plenary session, Chairman of Mazhilis, the lower house of the Kazakh Parliament Yerlan Koshanov emphasized the relevance of the proposed topic against…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan plans to harvest a record-breaking 1.2 million tons of sugar beet this year, said Agriculture Minister Aidarbek Saparov during an Oct. 14 meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The sides discussed the agricultural sector’s development results over the January-September period, reported Akorda.   According to Saparov, 98% of the area has been harvested, and…

ASTANA – The Kazakh film “Bauryna Salu” (Adoption) by Askhat Kuchincherekov secured high award at the Baku International Film Festival 2024, which took place on Oct. 4-8. According to the Kazakh Culture and Information Ministry, head of the jury, laureate of the Golden Globe award Siddik Bayram highly assessed the Kazakh movie. He described “Bauryna…