Articles by zhanna Shayakhmetova

ASTANA – Morocco sees the potential for cooperation in the Kazakh tourism market, said the country’s first Ambassador to Kazakhstan Abdeljalil Saubry at the Dec. 5 inaugural Moroccan tourism day in the capital. The event gathered approximately 50 local tour agencies, five Moroccan tour operators and representatives of the Moroccan National Tourist Office and Royal…

ASTANA – The East Kazakhstan region took first place in the fourth WorldSkills Kazakhstan Championship Dec. 3-7 in the capital. The 27 participants who won seven gold medals will participate in the 45th international championship Aug. 22-27 in Kazan, Russia. Beginning next year, business representatives will collaborate with WorldSkills Kazakhstan to train qualified personnel, said…

ASTANA – Fourteen-year-old Sultan Ibragimov will take part in the 2019 Formula 4 South East Asia Championship after completing the first test on the Sepang International Circuit Nov. 26-28 in Malaysia. He ran with the MERITUS.GP team during three days of testing. The test races became the first stage to prepare for the new season…

ASTANA – The inaugural stage of Alfarukh, the first wholesale distribution and logistics centre, has been completed in the Karaganda region as part of the Plan of the Nation, said Akim (Governor) Yerlan Koshanov at a Nov. 29 press conference in the capital. “It is a completely different approach to trade and logistics. The cluster…

ASTANA – Seven agreements worth $480 million were signed as part of the sixth Almaty Invest Fоrum. A favourable investment climate, highly developed human capital and tourism make the city attractive for investors. Trade and services contributed 86 percent and small and medium-sized enterprises 40 percent to Almaty’s economy, said Akim (Mayor) Baurzhan Baibek during…

ASTANA – The West Kazakhstan region ranks third in the country with a 40-percent share of the medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the gross regional product. This indicator was achieved by increasing the number of operating SMEs to 40,000 enterprises with more than 115,000 people working in this sector, the region’s Akim (Governor) Altay Kulginov said…

ASTANA – The state programme on language development and functioning is in full swing throughout the country. More than 42,000 people have attended language courses at the training centres and 52,245, including 20,057 civil servants, passed the KazTest examination of their proficiency of the Kazakh language in a seven-month period, said Vice Minister of Culture…

ASTANA – Local pharmaceutical plants will provide 1,144 essential medicines for free in 2019, according to a Nov. 23 report by the Central Communications Service. The list includes drugs to treat arterial hypertension, diabetes, oncology, haemophilia, multiple sclerosis, heart failure, pneumonia, bronchial asthma and other diseases. “We concluded the contracts with domestic producers and held…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s PhD Association in the U.K. will organise the second Central Asian Research Forum on Sustainable Development and Innovation March 18 in Loughborough and April 4 in the Kazakh capital. Loughborough University and Nazarbayev University will host the student-led initiative. As a preview, The Astana Times spoke with association founder and president Aliya…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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,…

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…

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…

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 – 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…

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.…

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…

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…