Articles by Dana Omirgazy

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s IT services exports increased to $306 million between January and June last year. According to Finprom financial and business analytical service, in 2020, the figure was only $34.9 million, in 2021 – $76.1 million, and in 2022, the export of IT services increased by 4.5 times to $339 million. In 2023, the…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan transported by rail 10.6 million tons of grain, of which 8.1 million tons were exported in 2024. The country resumed grain supplies to Iran and Azerbaijan. According to the Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) national railway company, last year, grain transportation increased by 20% to Tajikistan, by 92% to the Kyrgyz Republic and…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Yerzhan Maksim won the grand prix at the Sanremo Best Song 2025 contest on Jan. 4-11 in Dubai. The 17-year-old singer from Uralsk in western Kazakhstan shared the good news on his Instagram. “It was an honor for me to win the international singing competition. With a special feeling, I bow my…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan is ranked 57th out of 145 nations in the 2025 Global Firepower Ranking, with a score of 1.1016. In 2024 index, it rated 58th. Other Central Asian countries include Uzbekistan on the 58th line. Turkmenistan is placed 77th, followed by the Kyrgyz Republic – 105th and Tajikistan – 108th. The rating utilizes…

ASTANA – The Kazakh government allocated over 1.1 billion tenge (US$2 million) from recovered illegally acquired assets to construct a new sports complex in the village of Zhalagash, the Almaty Region’s Kegen district. The sports facility is intended to host instructional and training activities on general physical fitness and competitions. The project includes venues for…

ASTANA – The volume of water in the Northern Aral Sea increased by 42%, reaching 27 billion cubic meters, following the results of the first phase of the project to preserve the Northern Aral Sea, said Kazakh Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Nurzhan Nurzhigitov during the meeting with the public in the Aral district…

ASTANA – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the law on the Keleshek voluntary education savings system on Jan. 10. The Keleshek system provides state-funded start-up educational capital, an annual state incentive payment, and investment income, covering children from the age of five, reported the Akorda press service. “A one-time start-up educational capital will be accrued…

ASTANA – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Zheenbek Kulubaev, who paid first official visit to Kazakhstan on Jan. 10. During the talks, the President expressed satisfaction with the dynamic development of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz relations of strategic partnership and alliance based on strong ties of friendship and good-neighborliness. According to the Akorda,…

ASTANA – The Astana Times has curated a selection of articles from global media outlets covering Kazakhstan. This week’s foreign media digest includes topics such as Kazakhstan’s relations with Europe, the country’s economic gains in 2024, exports of electric freight locomotives and more. ‘Connecting East and West’ Kazakhstan’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Roman Vassilenko, discussed the…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s airline Qazaq Air has launched subsidized flights on the Kostanai – Turkistan route on Jan. 4. Also, the airline will introduce Karagandy – Turkistan subsidized flights starting Jan. 13. According to the Kazakh Transport Ministry, flights from Astana to Turkistan are planned to start on Jan. 13. Flights between Kostanai and Turkistan…

ASTANA – KazTransOil, Kazakhstan’s national oil transporter, shipped 44.887 million tons of Kazakh oil in 2024, which is 2% more compared to the previous year. “The volume of oil supplies to domestic oil refineries, including Atyrau Oil Refinery LLP, PetroKazakhstan Oil Products LLP and Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant LLP in 2024 totaled 16.712 million tons, which…

ASTANA – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the law to ratify an agreement between the Kazakh and French governments on Jan. 8, enabling the French Development Agency (AFD) Group to begin operations in Kazakhstan. This agreement was reached following French President Emmanuel Macron’s official visit to Kazakhstan in November 2023. It outlines the legal, tax,…

ASTANA — This year, Kazakhstan plans to construct new airports in resort areas, invest over nine trillion tenge (US$17.1 billion) in new highways, and increase freight traffic along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), or the Middle Corridor. Aviation projects Kazakhstan has begun implementing the most important infrastructure projects in aviation. New airports will be…

ASTANA – China and Kazakhstan are good neighbors bound together by mountains and rivers, good friends sharing a high degree of mutual trust and good partners enabling each other’s success, said China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun’s during a Jan. 7 press conference in Beijing. Commenting on Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s extensive interview on Jan.…

ASTANA — Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Yermukhambet Konuspayev met with Askhat Orazbay, chair of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) executive committee, on Jan. 6 to discuss the cooperation plan. During the meeting, the officials addressed the outcomes of the country’s first year as chair, the work of the executive committee, and…

ASTANA — President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited the Project Office, which will develop solutions to ensure the high-quality implementation of the main tasks outlined in the President’s annual state-of-the-nation addresses and Kazakhstan’s National Development Plan on Jan. 8, reported Akorda press service. Similar structures established by the highest authorities exist in several nations. For example, in…

ASTANA — Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulated the country’s Orthodox Christians on Christmas on Jan. 7. “This bright holiday is the embodiment of goodness and hope. It unites believers in pursuing humanism’s high ideals. At Christmas, human hearts are filled with special joy. Orthodox people seek to demonstrate care and attention to their loved ones…

ASTANA – The Jibek Joly (Silk Road in Kazakh) tourist train began its second voyage on Jan. 2, expanding the geography of the railway tour to include two new cities: Shymkent in Kazakhstan and Samarkand in Uzbekistan. According to Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), the Jibek Joly tourist train departed on the Almaty-Turkistan-Tashkent-Samarkand-Shymkent-Almaty route on Jan.…

ASTANA – A new railway connecting Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will open in 2027, increasing the volume of export transportation, reported the Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) press service on Jan. 3. According to the KTZ, constructing a new railway line would allow freight to be redirected from the existing Saryagash-Tashkent section to the new branch, relieving…

ASTANA – Almaty has been named among the top 25 destinations worth visiting in 2025, according to CNN Travel. “Central Asia’s dramatic landscapes and unique urban centers are proving to be particularly alluring. Leading the way is Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, which as we recently reported has become the region’s new ‘Capital of Cool’,” reads…

ASTANA – Black boxes of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed near Aktau on Dec. 25 will be sent to Brazil for decoding. According to the standards of Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, the state conducting the investigation ensures the reading of the flight recorders and decides which country will read…

ASTANA – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expressed condolences after the tragic crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane on Dec. 25 in Aktau and called for a thorough, impartial and transparent investigation. Such an investigation must be conducted following the provisions of Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention, which requires the publication of an…

ASTANA — Kazakhstan’s State Counselor Erlan Karin commented on the law signed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on amendments concerning state awards, education and the protection of the child’s rights in a Dec. 30 Telegram post. According to Karin, the President methodically promotes the notion that it is necessary to cultivate the values ​​of hard work…

ASTANA – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev awarded Kazakh citizens for bravery, professionalism and civic responsibility in rescuing passengers from an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane that crashed in the Mangystau Region on Dec. 25. The awardees include staff of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, doctors, police officers, employees of the Mangystau Regional Electric Grid Company and personnel…

ASTANA – The Astana Times has selected articles from global media outlets covering Kazakhstan. This week’s foreign media digest covers the Middle Corridor, Kazakhstan’s tourism sector and more. Officials report 29 survivors and 38 killed as plane crashes in Kazakhstan This week, the world mourns the 38 killed in an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash near…