Kazakh Ministry of Education and Science, World Bank initiate project to improve secondary school quality and equity
ASTANA – The Ministry of Education and Science and the World Bank have launched a $75 million education modernisation project aimed at improving the quality and equity of the nation’s secondary education system, according to a report reviewed Nov. 20 at the Central Communications Service. World Bank education sector manager Harry Anthony Patrinos noted Kazakh…
Kazakhstan launches e-housing register, simplifies residence and work permit procedures
ASTANA – The Ministry of Internal Affairs launched an electronic housing register in October, the Central Communications Service reported Nov. 19. The listing now includes approximately nine million people. Kazakh citizens have been submitting entitling documents for residential premises since 2017. The information can be received online from the address registry using the individual identification…
Kazakh President opens AIX’s first trading session
ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev launched the first trading session on the Astana International Exchange (AIX) Nov. 14, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of tenge, the national currency, reported the press service of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). The Kazatomprom national atomic company, which produces 20 percent of the world’s uranium, became the…
Kazakhstan, Russia to develop bilateral tourism, make border-crossing procedures more comfortable
ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s five-year tourism development programme will attract up to 13 million visitors and create more than 60,000 jobs, said Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev Nov. 9 at the 15th forum on Kazakhstan-Russia interregional cooperation in Petropavlovsk. Approximately 70 bilateral documents were signed at the event. The countries agreed to strengthen tourism, transport and logistics…
Inspiring diary of climber Anatoli Boukreev released in Russian
ASTANA – “Above the Clouds,” a diary-based book about mountaineer Anatoli Boukreev edited and translated into Russian by Sergei Boiko, will be presented Nov. 17 in Moscow. Boukreev’s companion Linda Wylie initially released “Above the Clouds – Diaries of a High-Altitude Mountaineer” in the U.S. in 2001. “I am interested in history and peoples’ life…
Finnish Business Hub brings vibrant technologies to Kazakhstan, encourages local companies to go global
ASTANA – The Astana-based Finnish Business Hub provides practical help and strengthens beneficial agreements between Finland and Kazakhstan business communities. The Astana Times spoke exclusively with head Mukhtar Mankeyev to learn about its activities and projects. Founded in 2013, the hub is designed to boost commodity turnover between the countries, attract bilateral investment projects and…
Agreements worth $1.7 billion signed at Turkestan business forum
ASTANA – Seventeen business agreements worth $1.7 billion were signed at the recent Ancient Turkestan – New Opportunities forum in Turkestan, said Regional Akim (Governor) Zhanseit Tuimebayev at an Oct. 31 press conference. Among the agreements is a pledge by the Iranian company Ardabil Petrochemical to invest in the region’s $205 million oncology centre and…
Gender-based violence does not have national borders, says Kyrgyz official
ASTANA – More than 60 government, parliamentary and civil society representatives and experts from Central Asia and beyond gathered in Bishkek Nov. 5 for the United Nations (UN) conference on Turning Policies into Action: Eliminating Gender-based Violence against Women and Girls in Central Asia. “Gender-based violence is a phenomenon that does not have national borders.…
Film director brings domestic violence against women into spotlight
ASTANA – Kazakh independent film director Zhanna Issabayeva’s latest film, “Rejected,” was presented in late October and distributed nationwide on the Chaplin Cinema Network. The film is a portrayal of attitudes and beliefs about infringing on women’s rights and domestic violence among those residing in rural and remote areas. The movie focuses on 25-year-old Aiganym,…
Polish company invests in Turkestan greenhouse, more projects expected in West Kazakhstan
ASTANA – Poland’s Polcotton will invest more than 13 million euros (US$14 million) in an innovative greenhouse construction project in the Sairam district of the Turkestan region, according to the Kazakh Invest press service. The facility will create more than 150 jobs in the coming year. “More than 300 jobs will be created during the…
Kazakhstan, Russia agree to use telemedicine, work on digitising health care
ASTANA – The Kazakh and Russian Ministries of Healthcare agreed to develop joint systems to provide medical aid using telemedicine during the Global Conference on Primary Health Care held Oct. 25-26 in the capital, reported the Kazakh ministry press service. The two countries will create a road map for cooperation. They approved collaboration to digitise…
Zhambyl Region launches sacred sites website, multivolume encyclopaedia
ASTANA – The Zhambyl Region Department of Culture recently launched the Aulie-Ata sacred sites map as part of the Ruhani Zhangyru (Modernisation of Kazakhstan’s Identity) state programme. The 25-million tenge (US$67,781) project seeks to promote the region’s hallowed locations. “The project is being implemented. The list of sacred places is updated based on the materials…
Astana launches electronic architecture pilot project
ASTANA – The electronic (e-) architecture pilot project was recently presented in the capital, reported the Astana Invest (City Development Centre of Investments) press service. The system will be implemented in all major cities in the future. “The main mission of the system is to create a tool for the automated process of providing online…
Highly qualified civil servants are driving force of economic growth, says academy rector
ASTANA – Professor Fatima Zhakypova, rector of the Public Administration Academy under the Kazakh President, says her academy is working to adapt the education it offers to a fast-changing world as it also introduces new approaches to civil service training. “Transformations in education reflect changes in society and show the sustainable trends of its development.…
Cairo University launches Kazakh language programme
ASTANA – Cairo University recently launched a Kazakh language programme, reported Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Egypt Arman Issagaliyev at an Oct. 12 briefing here. “This is an important event. The programme will start at the faculty of literature from the 2018-2019 school year. This is a result of the growing number of Kazakh tourists visiting…
Kostanai industrial zone signs 19 agreements worth $680 million, attracts agriculture projects
ASTANA – Nineteen agreements worth 251 billion tenge (US$680 million) were inked at the Kostanai Invest Forum 2018, the regional press service reported Oct. 12. Kostanai Region Akim (Governor) Arkhimed Mukhambetov noted the volume of foreign investments has almost doubled. Last year, 28 agreements worth more than 200 billion tenge (US$542 million) were signed. “Now…
Rock beats, steppe strings: Layla-qobyz creates new pop flavour with Kazakh instruments
ASTANA – Kazakh musician Layla Tazhibayeva and her group Layla-qobyz, known for playing rock music using the traditional Kazakh string instrument, the kobyz (also sometimes spelled qobyz), have announced plans to perform in early December in Astana and Almaty. “This time we want to perform music from famous films and cartoons. For example, we…
Ontustik SEZ wins Editor’s Choice award from fDi Intelligence’s Global Free Zones of the Year 2018
ASTANA – The Shymkent-based Ontustik Special Economic Zone (SEZ) received an Editor’s Choice award in the Ones to Watch category of fDi Magazine’s Global Free Zones of the Year 2018, released Oct. 8. “The zone’s proximities to a supply of raw cotton, as well to a motorway that allows the movement of raw material and…
Astana Opera to premiere ‘The Barber of Seville’ opera with 4D effects
ASTANA – Gioachino Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” opera staged by Italian director Alfonso Antoniozzi will premiere Oct. 12-14 at the Astana Opera House, reported the theatre’s press service. Sundet Baigozhin and Emil Sakavov will perform the part of Figaro, Yevgeniy Chainikov and Alexander Krassikov will play Bartolo and Saltanat Akhmetova, Alfiya Karimova and Aizada…
Atameken launches contract designer service for SME protection
ASTANA – The Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs (NCE), in cooperation with BestProfi, launched a contract designer online service on Oct. 1, reported the organisation’s press service. The business protection initiative, which provides well-written business contracts for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), contains 100 legal contract templates to create documents according to entrepreneurs’ needs. “The…
Korgalzhyn Nature Reserve plans to attract more tourists, launches biodiversity conservation school programme
ASTANA – More than 453 excursions and 2,500 tourists have visited the Korgalzhyn Nature Reserve in the first nine months of the year, said Akmola Region tourism department head Daniyar Idiyatov at the Oct. 3 regional communications service briefing. The six hotels in Korgalzhyn village can accommodate up to 100 people and a visitor centre…
Independent creative company stages play to raise awareness about mental health
ASTANA – ORTA Centre for Universal Arts will present the techno-performance “Svetoprestavleniye Sergey Kalmykov” on Oct. 6, 7, 9 and 10 in Almaty. The play was the headliner this year at the New Drama Festival in Moscow’s Meyerhold Centre. The Astana Times spoke with centre founder Rustem Begenov to learn about the production and its…
Hilton brings new affordable hotel brand, plans to expand business in Kazakhstan
ASTANA – Hilton, one of the world’s largest hotel chains, opened the first Hampton by Hilton Aug. 15 in the Kazakh capital. The Astana Times spoke with Astana Triumphal Arch General Manager Maria Temerova to learn about the hotel’s amenities and why the company is attracted to the Kazakh market. “We are proud to announce…
Turkish companies to invest $1.7 billion in Kazakhstan’s non-primary sectors
ASTANA – Turkish companies will invest $1.7 billion in Kazakhstan based on 22 trade and economic cooperation agreements reached between the countries Aug. 12 as part of the Kazakh-Turkish investment forum in Ankara, reported the Kazakh Invest press service. The projects will develop the non-primary sectors and create in excess of 3,000 jobs. The event,…
Qazaq Geography expedition highlights Kazakh attractions, raises awareness of environmental concerns
ASTANA – Travelling from sea to sea, the Kazakh National Geographic Society’s (Qazaq Geography) fifth expedition started Sept. 10 from Almaty. The participants will travel more than 3,000 kilometres in 12 days, finishing Sept. 21 in Aktau. The team, composed of 25 individuals including local and foreign travel bloggers, reporters, photographers and a Kazakh TV…
