Articles by Aida Haidar

ASTANA — President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev welcomed the Chief Justice of Palestine and Presidential Advisor on Religious Affairs Mahmoud al-Habbash on Dec. 2 in a meeting that highlighted the deepening cooperation between the two nations, reported Akorda.  Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Kazakhstan and Palestine have fostered a partnership grounded in friendship, mutual support, and…

ASTANA — There’s something deeply poetic about the way certain lives seem to echo the land they come from. Malik Gabdullin’s story begins on Nov. 15, 1915. He was a soldier, a scholar, a folklorist, and, above all, a humanist. The kind of man whose story doesn’t just belong to history books, it belongs to…

ASTANA — Freedom Bank Kazakhstan has unveiled a new digital service to make business management easier for local entrepreneurs. The voice-based Freedom AI Assistant, now available in the bank’s application, was officially presented to journalists on Nov. 11. The AI assistant can perform 119 commands in both Kazakh and Russian, helping users with tasks such…

ASTANA — This year marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of Yevgeny Brusilovsky, the composer behind Kazakhstan’s first operas and orchestral works.  His legacy includes nine operas, four ballets, nine symphonies, and around 500 songs and romances. Brusilovsky also co-authored the music of the national anthem of Kazakhstan, used from 1945 to 1992 and…

ASTANA — The panel Central Asia: Influence, Autocracy and Balancing Russia, organized by the Royal Society for Asian Affairs in London on Nov. 6, explored the shifting dynamics of the United States policy toward Central Asia under Donald Trump’s second term  Moderated by Sophie Ibbotson, consultant, writer, and researcher, the discussion delved into the implications…

November marks the 190th anniversary of Shokan Ualikhanov’s birth. The exact day is lost to history, but we know he was born in 1835, in Amankaragai village in the Kostanai Region, into Kazakh nobility. His father Shyngys was a grandson of Ablai Khan. Later, his family moved to the Kusmuryn fort, but young Ualikhanov spent…

ASTANA — The governments of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the United States, collectively known as the C5+1 countries, have reaffirmed their commitment to deepening economic cooperation within the C5+1 diplomatic platform. The understanding was formalized in a statement of intent released by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Nov. 8, marking…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan and Germany have strong numbers to boast of when it comes to bilateral cooperation. The partnership spans a wide range of areas, including trade, hydrogen, renewables, oil, and gas, each of which has grown significantly in recent years. In a conversation with The Astana Times, Stephan Mayer, a member of the Bundestag’s…

ASTANA — The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) has unveiled its strategic vision for advancing warehousing infrastructure across Central Asia and initiated the creation of the Central Asia Warehousing Association with IBC Global, during the Central Asia Warehouse Summit (CAWS) held on Oct. 16 in Almaty, the EDB’s press service reported on Oct. 21. During the…

ASTANA — For years, Central Asia was known mostly as a landlocked region, often discussed in terms of its limitations. But according to the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), the region has proven that being landlocked is not a sentence. It is now transforming into a key transit hub of Eurasia, thanks to its strategic position…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan has introduced the Samruk-Kazyna Artificial Intelligence Neural Network (SKAI), the first AI-powered independent member of a Board of Directors in the region with voting rights on Oct. 2. The system was presented by the Samruk-Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the Digital Bridge Forum in Astana. According to the…

ASTANA — Kazakhstan and Germany have signed a joint agreement extending the Partnering in Business with Germany program for 2026–2028. The signing, held on Sept. 30 in Astana during the Extended Conference on cooperation projects, marks a new stage in bilateral cooperation to support small and medium-sized enterprises, strengthen partnerships, and expand knowledge exchange between…

ALMATY – For the first time, the World Forum of Central Securities Depositories (WFC 2025) convened in Kazakhstan, bringing together more than 200 participants from 80 countries to tackle challenges and opportunities in post-trade markets on Sept. 23-26. Hosted by the Kazakhstan Central Securities Depository (KCSD), the forum united the regional associations representing nearly 135…

BAKU — “Start-ups born in Baku can scale to Almaty or Tashkent. Ideas tested in Istanbul can reach Tbilisi or Samarkand. Innovation knows no borders, so should we,” with these words, Jalal Gasimov, CEO of PASHA Holding, set the tone for this year’s INMerge conference in Baku on Sept. 29.  Organized by PASHA Holding, the…

ASTANA – International financial institutions (IFIs) have reduced their real-term investments in Eurasia by 17% over the past 17 years, according to a new report from the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) on non-sovereign financing, released on Sept. 18.  The report draws on the EDB’s proprietary database of more than 2,000 approved projects by 16 IFIs…

ASTANA – Celebrating a decade of storytelling about Kazakhstan, the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced the winners of its 10th-anniversary Kazakhstan Through the Eyes of Foreign Media contest, honoring international journalists whose work brings the nation’s culture, economy, and innovations to readers around the world on Sept. 19.  According to the ministry’s press…

ASTANA — Fresh from presenting her credentials to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev this August, the new UN Resident Coordinator in Kazakhstan Sarangoo Radnaaragchaa has quickly immersed herself in the country’s dynamic capital. In an exclusive interview with The Astana Times, she shared her first impressions, outlined her priorities, and reflected on the milestones UN agencies have…

ASTANA — President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev underscored the importance of foreign policy as a driver of Kazakhstan’s future progress in his annual state-of-the-nation address on Sept. 8 during a joint session of the parliament’s chambers. At the opening of his speech, President Tokayev noted that the world has entered a new era marked by growing contradictions…

ASTANA — The second day of Astana Finance Days 2025 opened with a plenary session titled The Role of Portfolio Investments in Strengthening Central Asia’s Financial Markets at the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) on Sept. 5. This strategic session focused on the contribution of portfolio investments to accelerating the development of Kazakhstan’s financial market…

ASTANA — The first day of Astana Finance Days 2025 opened on Sept. 4 with a ceremonial program that immersed guests in the spirit and cultural identity of Kazakhstan, setting the tone for the entire event by highlighting the enduring national values of hospitality, fairness, and trust — the very principles at the heart of…

ASTANA — KazMunayGas (KMG) Chairman Askhat Khasenov underscored the company’s growing partnership with China, announcing plans for new joint projects in oil, gas, and petrochemicals during the eighth Kazakhstan–China Business Council in Beijing on Sept. 2, KMG’s press service reported.  With a market capitalization of $22.7 billion, KMG plans to launch a Dim Sum bond…

ASTANA — President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev described China as Kazakhstan’s destined neighbor, close friend, and long-term strategic partner during the Sept. 2 Eighth Meeting of the Kazakhstan–China Business Council in Beijing, Akorda press service reported.  He noted that bilateral trade reached a record $44 billion last year, and emphasized the two countries’ intention to push this…

Editor’s Note: In the run-up to the eighth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, scheduled for Sept. 17–18 in Astana, The Astana Times has launched a special series exploring the diversity of spiritual life in Kazakhstan. The first articles highlighted the Jewish and Bahá’í communities. This edition turns to the Russian Orthodox Church…

ASTANA — When people voted in the 1995 national referendum (Aug. 30) to adopt a new Constitution, they laid the cornerstone of modern statehood. More than just a legal charter, the Constitution of Kazakhstan is marked by its humanist focus. Article 1 declares the country a democratic, secular, legal, and social state, in which the…

ASTANA — When Dave Miley first set foot in Kazakhstan in 1993, tennis was still a niche sport confined mostly to Almaty. Fast-forward to 2020, when he returned as Executive Director at the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation (KTF), he found a country that had reinvented its approach to the game. In an interview with The Astana…