Kazakh National Business ‘Champions’ to Discuss Expanding Exports to Iran
ASTANA – A Kazakh-Iranian business forum will be held Feb. 7 in Tehran, Iran, according to the Baiterek National Holding press service. Organised by Baiterek, the meeting is supported by the Iranian Ministry of Industry, Trade and Mines, as well as the Kazakh Embassy in Iran. A memorandum of understanding between Baiterek and the National…
Nazarbayev, Business Leaders Visit UK, Ink $5 Billion in Agreements
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visit to London on Nov. 3-4, resulted in agreements worth more than $5 billion across fields such as energy, pharmaceuticals, aviation and financial consulting. During the visit, the President met with Her Majesty the Queen, Prime Minister David Cameron and business leaders. The Kazakh President was greeted by Prime Minister Cameron…
Kazakhstan Joins International Community to Mark UN’s 70th Anniversary
ASTANA – A range of international activities and events were organised Oct. 24 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the United Nations. More than 200 landmarks in 60 countries, including the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids in Egypt, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Empire State Building in New York, were lit in the…
Astana, Almaty ‘Go Blue’ as Part of Global Effort to Mark UN’s 70th Anniversary
ASTANA – A range of international activities and events were organised Oct. 24 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the United Nations. More than 200 landmarks in 60 countries, including the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids in Egypt, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Empire State Building in New York, were lit in the…
Putin’s State Visit Reconfirms Kazakh-Russian Strategic Partnership
ASTANA – Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a state visit to Kazakhstan Oct. 15 at the invitation of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The two leaders met in the Akorda Presidential Residence, participating in one-on-one and extended-format sessions. Nazarbayev noted that he and Putin regularly “coordinate positions” and try to quickly find solutions to issues of bilateral…
900 People Evacuated after Mudslide Hits Almaty Outskirts
More than 900 Almaty residents have been evacuated following a mudslide that hit the city early on July 23. No fatalities have been reported, however, homes in the mudslide area are reported to have been flooded. Experts believe the slide is a result of hot weather that melted portions of the Kargalinka Glacier near the…
Kazakhstan, UN Sign Partnership Framework for Development
ASTANA – On July 22, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan Ashikbayev and UN Resident Coordinator in the country Stephen Tull signed a Partnership Framework for Development for 2016-2020 (PFD), reported the press service of the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The document was also signed by representatives of 21 UN entities, including ILO, OHCHR, UNAIDS,…
Nazarbayev University Holds Training for African Healthcare Officials
ASTANA – A fortnight-long international seminar on public health for specialists from Africa began July 20 at Nazarbayev University (NU), reported the university’s press service. Scholars from the Centre for Life Sciences (CLS) National Laboratory Astana at NU will hold courses for 24 professionals from eight countries on issues of epidemiology, biomedicine and public health.…
Kazakh PM Treks to Kyrgyzstan, Discusses EAEU, Tourism
ASTANA – On Sunday, July 19, Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov paid a one-day visit to Kyrgyzstan where he discussed bilateral cooperation with his counterpart Temir Sariyev, as well as issues related to Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Massimov announced he walked to Cholpon Ata, a town on northern shore of the…
Poll Finds 71 Percent Approval Rating of Kazakh Judges
ASTANA – A new study by the UN Development Programme in Kazakhstan in cooperation with the Centre for Legal Policy Research and the Centre for Public Opinion Research found that 71.3 percent of those polled approve of Kazakhstan’s court judges, 80 percent trust them and 90 percent consider those judges competent, according to information released…
Indian PM Visits Kazakhstan, Meets President Nazarbayev, Addresses NU Graduates
ASTANA – On July 7-8, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi visited Kazakhstan, meeting the leadership of the country, delivering an address at Nazarbayev University, attending a business forum with leading CEOs from both sides and inaugurating the India-Kazakhstan Centre of Excellence in Information and Communication Technology at the Eurasian National University in Astana over…
Kazakh President Awards Diplomas to First Graduates of Nazarbayev University
ASTANA – Very few people have the pleasure of awarding diplomas to the graduates of the university named in their honour. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev had that opportunity June 15 as he participated in the presentation of sheepskins to the first 446 students to complete their bachelor studies at Nazarbayev University. The ceremony began with…
Kazakhstan Unveils 100 Concrete Steps to Implement Institutional Reforms
ASTANA – Kazakhstan is embarking on some of the most ambitious reforms in its independent history as President Nursultan Nazarbayev moves to implement his election campaign platform of five institutional reforms. On May 20, three weeks after Nazarbayev announced in his inaugural speech that a “Plan of the Nation” would be developed to radically change…
Kazakhstan Allocates 1 Million Euros for Chernobyl Shelter
ASTANA – The sum of Kazakhstan’s allocation for the Shelter project at the former Chernobyl nuclear power station will be 1 million euros, according to a Kazakh Foreign Ministry’s press release. The Central Asian nation’s Minister of Economic Integration Zhanar Aitzhanova made the announcement following President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s commitment from 2011, when she spoke at…
In First Speech since Lausanne Deal, Iran’s Zarif Says No Imposed Solution Can Be Sustainable
ASTANA – On April 13, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif started his official two-day visit to Astana, beginning with a lecture in English at the Kazakh State University of Humanities and Law, where he dwelt extensively on the recent results of the multilateral talks on Iran’s nuclear programme in Lausanne. In fact, students and…
Nazarbayev, Putin and Lukashenko Discuss Economic Union Cooperation, Ukraine in Astana
ASTANA – Presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus met in Astana on March 20 to discuss prospects for closer cooperation within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as well as the situation in Ukraine. During the tri-party meeting in Akorda presidential residence, the President of Kazakhstan said that…
Intergovernmental Agreement Seeks to Improve Diplomatic Staff Training
ASTANA – Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov, Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Regional Hub of Civil Service Alikhan Baimenov and Rector of the Academy of Public Administration Bolatbek Abdrasilov signed an agreement on March 19 to ensure the training of foreign diplomats at Kazakhstan’s academies. During the signing ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign…
UNESCO Director General Invited to Fifth Int’l Religious Congress in Astana
On March 13, Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to France Nurlan Danenov, who also is serving as Kazakhstan’s permanent representative to UNESCO, handed an official invitation to the 5th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions to UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova at a meeting in Paris. The two officials discussed issues to be addressed during the congress,…
EXPO 2017 Promoted in Germany, Norway and Netherlands
ASTANA – From March 4 to 9, a Kazakh delegation headed by EXPO 2017 Commissioner and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Rapil Zhoshybayev visited Germany to participate in the 49th International Tourism Exhibition, better known as ITB-2015. He also visited Norway and the Netherlands where he had a number of bilateral meetings. As one…
Senate Supports Proposal to Hold Early Presidential Election
ASTANA – Forty-one out of 42 Kazakh Senators present during a Feb. 19 session voted to call on President Nursultan Nazarbayev to support the initiative of the council of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan to hold an early presidential election. The vote follows a similar measure approved the day before by the Mazhilis…
Mazhilis Calls on President to Set Early Presidential Election
ASTANA – The Mazhilis (lower chamber of Parliament) unanimously passed a resolution on Feb. 18 calling for an early presidential election, joining a growing chorus of calls from across Kazakhstan’s political spectrum for such a step. “We have to make our decision on this issue. I suggest appealing in two points. The first is to…
Advisory Body to Continue with Focus on People’s Rights and Needs
ASTANA – Kazakh Minister of Foreign Affairs Erlan Idrissov chaired the first meeting of the year of a two-year old Dialogue Platform on Humanitarian Dimension, a consultative advisory body (CAB) under the auspices of the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Feb. 11. In his speech, Idrissov talked about the expanded government meeting with the…
President Discusses Efforts to Preserve Economic Growth
ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev chaired an expanded government meeting Feb.11 to discuss the current state of the domestic economy and measures for its development as it faces numerous challenges from the outside. Opening the meeting, the head of state said there is no economic recession in the country, however, there are a number…
Common Kazakh, Hungarian Cultural Roots Inform Modern Relations, Says Hungarian Foreign Minister
ASTANA – Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó is set to visit Astana later in February. Ahead of his visit, in an exclusive interview with The Astana Times, the minister spoke about the historical closeness between the two nations and the modern status and future of bilateral cooperation in politics, economy, culture,…
Taraz Airport being Renovated Ahead of Kazakh Khanate’s 550th Anniversary Events in Autumn
ASTANA – The Auliye-Ata International Airport in Taraz will be ready to commission a new terminal in the third quarter of this year, the Liter newspaper reported on Feb. 6, citing the Zhambyl Oblast Akimat (governor’s office). The issue of the airport’s reconstruction has been around since the late 1990s, when the airport was awarded…
