Kazakhstan’s Government for Citizens to open new front offices in Nur-Sultan, Almaty
NUR-SULTAN – Government for Citizens state corporation will be opening new front offices in the capital and Almaty by the end of August to reduce the large queues for public services, said company head Assemgul Baltasheva in her Aug. 13 Facebook post. The cities’ existing public service centres (TsONs) provided more than 3.5 million services…
Aktobe Region exports more than 20 tonnes beef to China, for first time
NUR-SULTAN – The Aktobe Meat Cluster and AkTep meat processing complex shipped Aug. 13 their first batch of more than 20 tonnes of vacuum-packed frozen boneless beef worth 2.13 billion tenge (US$5.5 million) to China, reports the press service of the Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture. Aktobe Meat Cluster has an agreement on meat supply with…
Kazakh manufacturer makes premium halal leather shoes affordable
NUR-SULTAN – Z SHOES is a year-old Kazakh company that domestically produces premium quality, affordably priced halal natural leather shoes and accessories for men, women and children. The company envisions the Made in Kazakhstan label becoming synonymous with quality and is doing its best to contribute to the effort. Mining engineer and PhD Dastan Makhambetov…
Kazhgaliyev National Conductors Contest laureate is among Kazakhstan’s 100 New Faces
NUR-SULTAN – Yerlan Baktygerey, laureate of first Kazhgaliyev National Conductors Contest, is among Kazakhstan’s 100 New Faces. Among his accomplishments, he led the Astana Academic Philharmonic symphony orchestra. Born in the Zhambyl Region in 1978 to the family of an Afghan war participant and an accountant, no one could have anticipated Baktygerey’s musical inclinations and…
One-day, nationwide clean-up effort nets more than 15,000 tonnes of garbage across Kazakhstan
NUR-SULTAN – A one-day, nation-wide volunteer effort to clean parks, ponds, riverbanks and coastal regions on July 27 collected 15,044 tonnes of garbage across 4,071 hectares of land, Minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources Magzum Mirzagaliyev announced July 28 via Twitter. Approximately 197,000 people participated in the clean-up that rallied under the Twitter hashtags…
NU students utilise 3D printer in design of electric scooter, plan to commercialise it
NUR-SULTAN – Nazarbayev University (NU) students recently designed a new model of an electric kick scooter using a 3D printer to create some details at Nazarbayev University Research and Innovation System (NURIS). The team of NU sophomores with diverse engineering, natural and social sciences backgrounds worked on the project for four months. SteelG was created…
Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko finishes third in 18th stage of Tour de France
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh cyclist Alexey Lutsenko (+2:28) finished third at the July 25 18th stage of the Tour de France behind Colombian Nairo Quintana, who won the stage at 5:34:15, and the Frenchman Romain Bardet (+1:35). The 208-kilometre stage from Embrun to Valloire is considered among the race’s most difficult mountain stages. There were four…
New Kazakh-Uzbek international highway expected to boost freight traffic seven-fold from Central Asia to Caucasus, Russia
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin and his Uzbek counterpart Abdulla Aripov opened Beineu-Akzhigit international highway July 17 in the Mangystau Region on the border with Uzbekistan. The highway will boost freight traffic from 1,000 to 7,000 vehicles per day and their speed from 50 to 100 kilometres per hour. The route will provide…
Kazakh government adopts action plan to implement President’s directives on social welfare, wages and other key issues
NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh government adopted July 23 an action plan to complete the instructions given by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at a July 15 extended government meeting. The instructions reflect the promises made during Tokayev’s presidential campaign to improve social welfare, raise salaries and expand communication between the government and civil society, among other…
Almaty-based Nomad Stunts founder achieves long-held wish to work with Disney
NUR-SULTAN – Almaty-based Nomad Stunts worked with Disney’s live-action adaptation of the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, helping recreate the 1998 children’s favourite cartoon of the same name. Founder and leader Zhaidarbek Kunguzhinov shared his impressions from the movie shoot with The Astana Times. The plot features the heroic deeds of the young woman who…
Kazpost delivers cutting-edge services after five-year transformation
NUR-SULTAN – Kazpost, which began updating all of its services and processes five years ago, has seen a tremendous spurt in development. Kazpost Chair Saken Sarsenov spoke with The Astana Times about the company’s achievements in e-commerce, privatisation in 2020, using drones to reach remote villages and efforts to reduce the ecological impact of its…
Kazakh President establishes National Council to strengthen public’s engagement in reform agenda
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev established July 17 the National Council of Public Trust to make government more responsive to the people. The National Council is an advisory body to the President and will make public policy recommendations after broad discussion with representatives of the public, political parties and civil society. The council includes…
Kazakh food producers display samples at Minsk exhibition
NUR-SULTAN – The largest Kazakh producers of flour and pasta, sauces and oil, fat products, canned meat, natural drinks and confectionery presented their products in Minsk, July 3-5, as part of the fourth Belarusian-Kazakh business council meeting. “Kazakhstan and Belarus have long been linked by strong economic and cultural ties. Today is the next step…
Kazakh President reviews 2019 socio-economic development efforts, seeks more jobs, aid to most vulnerable, better conditions for business and investment
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev reviewed July 15 Kazakhstan’s 2019 socio-economic development efforts as he chaired the expanded session of the Government, the first under his presidency. He directed government agencies to increase incomes, create jobs, improve land use, and work on better investment climate, among other actions. “Increasing the income of the population…
Kazakh government adopts roadmap to double foreign direct investment by 2025
NUR-SULTAN – The Coordination Council adopted a roadmap to attract investment to Kazakhstan at the July 10 council meeting chaired by Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin. The task for the Ministry of National Economy is to increase the annual gross inflow of foreign direct investment from $24 billion in 2018 to $34 billion by 2025.…
Disney concert raises more than $18,000 to support Kazakh inclusive education
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh singers performed well-known Disney movie soundtracks in their native language July 6 at the Zhuldyzdar Sherui (Stars Parade) charity cinema concert in Almaty. The event raised approximately seven million tenge (US$18,226) to support inclusive education for children with autism. Almaty is now on the list of cities with an official Disney Concert…
Top female boxer, promoter of the sport is among Kazakhstan’s 100 New Faces
NUR-SULTAN – World boxing champion and Kazakh Honourary Master of Sports Dina Zholaman is among Kazakhstan’s 100 New Faces. She promotes women’s boxing and brings boxing victories to Kazakhstan as a result of her dedication and two-three times per day trainings year round. The 100 new faces programme is a national project to highlight the…
Kazakh government develops economy of simple things in regions
NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh government discussed progress in developing the economy of simple things in the regions at a July 9 government meeting. As of July 4, the project office for the development of the economy of simple things and concessional lending programme runs more than 1,500 projects worth more than 1 trillion tenge (US$2.60…
High-altitude Assy-Turgen Observatory offers visitors steppe plus stars
NUR-SULTAN – Built in 1981, the Assy-Turgen Observatory (ATO) conducts astronomical observations for the Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute. The observatory is located on the picturesque Assy-Turgen plateau, 85 kilometres east of Almaty and 2,750 metres above sea level. The high transparency of the atmosphere in the Assy-Turgen plateau, plus a lack of light pollution and turbulence…
Kazakh PM, EU ambassadors discuss developing investment and trade
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin met with European Union (EU) diplomatic mission heads July 1 to discuss investment cooperation. The parties addressed trade and economic cooperation and ways to increase agricultural product trade, as well as promoting the export of Kazakh products to the EU. The EU is one of Kazakhstan’s largest trade…
Kaskasu Science School prepares young scientists to commercialise their projects
NUR-SULTAN – Kaskasu Science School, an interdisciplinary summer school, held a five-day educational programme June 24-28 for young scientists and researchers to help them commercialise their projects and technological developments. The programme selected only 27 individuals from more than 100 applicants. Student organisation heads, chairs of Young Scientists’ Councils and scientific research institutes, teachers and…
Akmola Region expects alternative energy to cover up to 45 percent of all energy resources by 2023
NUR-SULTAN – The Akmola Region will be launching six alternative energy projects totalling 153 billion tenge (US$404.16 million). As a result, local authorities expect the share of alternative energy to increase up to 45 percent by 2023, said Ivan Yurchenko, head of the regional energy and utilities department, at a June 18 press briefing. Two…
Kazakh authorities work to resolve conflict at Tengiz oilfield
NUR-SULTAN – More than 40 people received minor injuries after a conflict, 11 a.m., June 29, among Consolidated Contracting Engineering & Procurement S.A.L Offshore (CCEP) workers at the Tengiz oil and gas field in the Zhylyoi district of the Atyrau Region. The Kazakh government and law enforcement agencies promptly reached the site to ensure the…
Kazakhstan, UN to cooperate in space exploration to manage disasters
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry signed a memorandum of understanding on the use of space information and technology to manage disaster relief and development with the United Nations during the recent session of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) in Vienna, Austria. The parties…
Korean chopsticks exhibition marks strategic partnership decade with Kazakhstan
NUR-SULTAN – K-Chopsticks opened June 11 with a unique collection of Korean tableware featuring approximately 400 works by 46 renowned applied art masters from Jeonju. The exhibit, on display at the Library of the Elbasy (Leader of the Nation, the constitutional title accorded to former President Nursultan Nazarbayev), will continue through Aug. 11. The collection…
