Articles by Jan Furst

ASTANA – Two Australian cyclists, Dan Rule, 26, a sports coach and sport developer from Creswick, Victoria, and Jess Mumford, 26, a science teacher from Murwillumbah, New South Wales, have embarked upon a type of journey that most people never will and that is a 23,000-kilometre bicycle trip across 23 countries, lasting over 15 months…

ASTANA – As Kazakhstan works to diversify its economy, the development of tourism has become a national priority. Chairman of the Tourism Industry Committee of the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies Marat Igali spoke about Kazakhstan’s efforts to ramp up tourism in an exclusive interview with The Astana Times. Which countries or regions should…

Ranked as one of the ‘50 most influential women in Romania’ by Forbes Romania magazine, Irina Socol is the President and CEO of SIVECO Romania, the leader of the Romanian IT market. She founded the company in 1992 and has led it to become one of the major European players in eLearning, eHealth, eAgriculture, eCustoms,…

ASTANA – Regulars and newcomers had a chance to test their salsa moves recently thanks to the expatriates organisation InterNations’ Salsa event at the RBG restaurant at the Park Inn Hotel. InterNations Astana ambassador Anara Zhabaginova recently told The Astana Times what InterNations stands for and why it is important to have such organisations in…

ASTANA – Belgium and Kazakhstan have been publicly matched a few times recently – at the Davis Cup world group match in February of this year, when Kazakhstan ousted Belgium in the first round only to be knocked out by Switzerland, and in the bidding for EXPO 2017 in 2012, when Astana won the honour…

ASTANA – The beginning of the month of May in Kazakhstan is, perhaps, some of the most anticipated period in the country as it brings together three celebrations, each being important and carrying special meaning in their own right. On May 1, Kazakhstan celebrates the Day of the Unity of the People. On May 7,…

ASTANA – High-level policymakers and market experts at the governor’s seminar, “Reducing Vulnerability: Learning From Past Crises,” during the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) 47th annual meeting in Astana’s Palace of Independence on May 3 addressed the importance of a fundamentally sound economy in a crisis. “Regardless of the level of development, a country risks being…

ASTANA – “Kazakhstan 2050: Toward a Modern Society for All,” a seminal 400-page book about the projected trajectory of development of Kazakhstan’s economy and society, was presented at the May 2-5 47th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank in Astana. Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov and a group…

ASTANA – More than 3,000 international finance ministers, central bank governors, business leaders, investors, journalists and civil society representatives are expected to gather in Astana May 2-5 for the 47th annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The meeting is being held under the heading, The Silk Road –…

ASTANA – A network of colleges featuring finely tuned specialisations, including tourism and hospitality, construction and housing, energy, engineering, design and information technology and communications is being developed with campuses under construction in the capital Astana and also in the country’s business heartland of Almaty. Under the banner World Class Colleges, the learning institutes are…

ASTANA – A seminar on automated human resource management systems in the public sector was held recently at the National Centre for Civil Service Personnel Management. The seminar was supported by the Agency for Civil Service Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the European Union-funded project “Civil Service Reform and Modernisation of the Government…

ASTANA – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) works in developing countries in Asia and the Pacific region to alleviate poverty and support sustainable growth. Country Director Matthew Westfall spoke with The Astana Times about what the ADB stands for and its role and objectives in Kazakhstan. “The ADB was founded in 1966, driven by a…

The prestigious rally race Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge took place in the United Arab Emirates Apr 3-10. Kazakhstan’s Astana Dakar racing teams took on the challenge by winning the fourth leg of the five-day race for the first time in club’s history and doing well overall. Three Kazakh teams participated in the Desert Challenge: Bauyrzhan…

ASTANA – Kazakh boxer Gennady Golovkin, also known as GGG, has joined Manny Pacquiao, Ruslan Provodnikov, Sergey Kovalev, Brandon Rios and others in being named one of today’s most entertaining boxers, according to the site sports.ru. The 32-year-old World Boxing Association and International Boxing Organisation champion from Karaganda, central Kazakhstan,is known for turning each bout…

ASTANA – The embassies of France, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium and Romania in collaboration with the Alliance Française in Kazakhstan organised a festival on March 29 at the Astana Mall to celebrate French culture and language. The festival included wine, cheese and pastry tastings and trivia contests sponsored by French companies. Belgian Ambassador Michel Peetermans noted…

ASTANA – Fifty-four representatives of national football associations and members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) voted during the March 27 XXXVIII UEFA Congress in Astana to establish a UEFA Nations League tournament. A four-point resolution establishing the new tournament called, “National men’s A-team competitions 2018-2022,” was unanimously adopted. The tournament will be held…

ASTANA – Hungary and Kazakhstan are geographically distant from each other. Hungary is in Central Europe and Kazakhstan is in Central Asia, but they share common traits, traditions and customs bestowed upon them by their nomadic ancestors, which bodes very well for the future development of multifaceted ties between the two nations, Hungary’s ambassador in…

Seventeen-year-old Lyubov Andreyeva is young, promising and fast enough to earn a seat in Formula Russia, the equivalent of Formula 3, which starts May 10 in Kazan, Russia. She will be the first Kazakh driver to represent Kazakhstan in a Formula Russia race. Andreyeva raced karts since her childhood and won numerous championships in Kazakhstan.…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan has attracted more than $180 billion in foreign investment since independence in 1991, mostly in oil and gas. The world’s ninth largest country by territory holds slightly more than 3 percent of the world’s recoverable oil reserves. However, Kazakhstan is also moving beyond fossil fuels and towards alternative energy. For example, a…

ASTANA – The Netherlands is Kazakhstan’s largest foreign investor and the third largest trading partner in Europe. Yet, the country’s new ambassador in Astana thinks there’s much more that can be done to expand trade and investment ties further, and to bring the two countries closer together. “First, I want to double the number of…

ASTANA – The Kazakh national football team faced Lithuania in an exhibition game in Turkey on March 5 and tied the game after letting the Lithuanians score first in the first half. Earlier, the national under-21 team (U-21) beat Iceland 3:2 in qualifications for Euro 2015 in their game in Astana. New national team head…

ASTANA – The Feb. 7 to Feb. 23 Olympic Games in Sochi once again were watched by people from every corner of the Earth and demonstrated the discipline, determination and sportsmanship that bonds nations and continents. The Kazakh national Olympic team included approximately 50 athletes who competed against the best in the world. Spectators around…

ASTANA – Thousands of kilometers, eight time zones and tens of degrees Celsius on a thermometer separate Brazil and Kazakhstan, but the newly appointed ambassador of Brazil in Astana in a recent interview noted numerous similarities between the two countries and a good number of reasons to be optimistic about the future of relations in…

ASTANA – The new French ambassador in Kazakhstan says he has a clear vision for improving bilateral ties during his tenure in Astana: “Densify, intensify, diversify and another D-word, discover.” “Densify means we want to make our political dialogue more dense and meaningful; intensify means we want to intensify our economic and trade partnership; diversify…

ASTANA – Another Fryday networking event was put on by Connecting Professionals on Feb. 7 at Sadaf, a new restaurant at King Hotel. More and more Astana residents and foreign visitors have been attending Fryday networking events. Each function attracts over a hundred professionals from different walks of life. With Astana being Kazakhstan’s administrative centre,…