Articles by Nurdana Adylkhanova

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh Ministry of Culture and Sports announced plans to develop budget programs to fund infrastructure projects in tourist areas, said Chairman of Kazakh Tourism National Company Talgat Amanbayev at the ministry’s meeting on Feb.22.  “We are already receiving feedback from the regions and the market on improving the mechanisms of support measures,”…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh capital will host the Olympic men’s and women’s water polo Asian pre-Qualification Tournament Feb. 12-16, reported the National Olympic Committee. The participants will be vying for two licenses for the Tokyo Games. Four men’s teams from China, Iran, Kazakhstan and South Korea and six women’s teams from China, Japan, Kazakhstan, North…

NUR-SULTAN – Henry Liu came to Nur-Sultan in July 2019 for a six-month stint as a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) volunteer. Prior to coming to Kazakhstan, he had worked as a UNICEF volunteer in Hong Kong. “I did not know anything about Kazakhstan before arrival and did not think that there were skyscrapers and…

NUR-SULTAN – TSE Art Destination served as double host Jan. 24 for the opening ceremony of the capital’s first public art library and the SPACES.nur-sultan festival. “We are glad to be part of this festival; we are glad for the idea that the festival introduces people to spaces… people should not spend their leisure time…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh national boxing team began a joint training camp with teams from Belarus, England, Germany Jan. 21 in Nur-Sultan, the National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan reports. The athletes have been preparing for the Asian Boxing Qualification Tournament, which was scheduled for Feb. 3 to 15 in Wuhan, China, but which will now…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh activist Zhaslan Suleimenov launched the Equal Access project last year to improve accessibility to the nation’s public spaces. The operation received a four-month, $6,000 grant in June from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Central Asia Media Programme. The main goal is to draw public attention to the problems faced…

NUR-SULTAN – KELT, the country’s first English language theatre, was founded in 2001 in Almaty by the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economic and Strategic Research (KIMEP) University. It provides an opportunity for non-professional actors to receive professional-level stage training and experience and teaches discipline, integrity, time management and leadership skills, said artistic director Jessica Lewis…

NUR-SULTAN – Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United States Yerzhan Kazykhanov paid a working visit to Utah Jan. 15-17, where he met with Utah Governor Gary Herbert, President of Brigham Young University (BYU) Kevin Worthen, Director of the World Trade Centre Utah Miles Hansen as well as representatives of local American companies, reports Kazakhstan’s Ministry…

NUR-SULTAN – The practice of volunteering in Kazakhstan is developing rapidly, Chair of the Civil Society Affairs Committee of the Ministry of Information and Social Development Aliya Galimova said in an interview with primeminister.kz. To date, there are more than 200 volunteer organisations, twice as many as existed in 2017. Currently, more than 50,000 people…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakhstan-Japan co-production “The Horse Thieves. Roads of Time” was released in Japanese cinemas Jan.18. Japanese director Lisa Takeba and actor Mirai Moriyama attended the first screening at Shinjuku Cinema Qualite in Tokyo. The movie premiered Oct. 3-12 at Asia’s largest film festival, the 24th Busan International Film Festival in Korea held at…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh travel blogger Kuat Bolatov has produced short documentaries about the lives of self-made Kazakhs living in Austria, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as well as China. The aim is to motivate others and convey the message that everything is possible. “The project has a social character; no one earns…

NUR-SULTAN – Social networking has led to rising interest in tourism among the population, says Kazakh travel blogger Ulan Alimbek. He popularises travel by introducing people to interesting sightseeing spots and providing information about routes and trip planning costs.  “I tell my subscribers daily what places to visit in Kazakhstan, give advice on what kind…

NUR-SULTAN – Approximately 367,000 families have been assigned social assistance and more than 250,000 have received the social allowance, said Deputy Director of the Department for Development of Social Assistance Policy of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population Ayazhan Zhangabylova in a recent interview with primeminister.kz. The government has spent approximately 17…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh para taekwondo athlete Nurlan Dombay, the world ranking leader in the K43 category (up to 75 kg) in accordance with Paralympic Games 2020 qualifications, has received his license for Tokyo. Dombay is a two-time world, three-time Asian and two-time European champion. In 2019, he won gold medals at the World Championships in…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh anti-nuclear protest song “Zaman-ai” has been inspiring activists for decades. Most recently, it was recorded and released by Japanese singer Michida Ryoko in Japanese and English last year. “Zaman-ai” was translated into Japanese and English in 2003 at the initiative of leaders of the Hiroshima Semipalatinsk Project (HiroSemi), a Japanese civil…

NUR-SULTAN – Burabay National Park and Zerenda recreation area are among the most popular and accessible destinations for weekend tours from the capital, said Kompas Asia co-founder Assiya Seitaliyeva. The two locations offer a variety of activities for visitors including hiking, skiing and skating on the frozen lakes. Tourists can visit Santa Claus’ residence in…

NUR-SULTAN – Minister of Healthcare Yelzhan Birtanov and Health Insurance Fund Chair Aibatyr Zhumagulov recently assessed the work of Nur-Sultan’s hospitals and their practical implementation of the new compulsory social health insurance system. Among medical institutions the minister visited were the Central Railway Hospital, Perinatal Centre No. 3, the Dermatovenerologic Dispensary and City Polyclinic No.…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development, the Zhambyl region akimat (administration) and the EuroChem Mineral and Chemical company recently signed an investment agreement to build and operate a new $1 billion fertiliser plant. Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin attended the signing ceremony in Zhanatas city of the Sarysu District.  EuroChem will produce…

NUR-SULTAN – Young Kazakh businesspeople have launched a medical tourism company in South Korea which provides free consultation services for patients from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and strengthens cooperation between Kazakh and South Korean medical centres. “Two years ago, we became the first foreign startup in Hanyang University… There is no such tandem…

NUR-SULTAN – Renat Gabdullin, associate professor of economics and one of Kazakhstan’s 100 New Faces, recently discussed the country’s positive economic trends and called on youngsters to work hard to succeed in today’s highly competitive world. The national project is aimed at highlighting the inspirational stories of a variety of successful professionals. Gabdullin is a…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s men’s sitting volleyball team participated in a joint training camp Dec. 16-22 in Riga, Latvia. The athletes also plan to participate in training camps in Egypt, Germany and Kazakhstan to prepare for the Tokyo Paralympic Games qualifiers, said national team coach Bauyrzhan Takhauov in an exclusive interview with The Astana Times. The…

NUR-SULTAN – All taxpayers who use traditional cash registers were to switch to online machines by the end of 2019, for beginning in 2020 all cash payments are to be made using online cash registers, said the Ministry of Finance State Revenue Committee’s Department of Digitisation and Public Services Acting Director Zangar Shyndali in an…

NUR-SULTAN – The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for mutual cooperation and technical assistance, reported the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) press service. The agreement was inked by AFSA Acting Chief Executive Officer Mukhtar Bubeyev and SEBI Chairperson Ajay Tyagi.…

NUR-SULTAN – The Yevgeny Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre will perform for the first time on the Astana Opera Grand Hall stage in 2020, reported Astana Opera press centre. The theatre will present scenes from Alexander Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” Jan. 8-9 and Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” Jan. 10-11.  The world tour, which started in the fall…