President Tokayev Visits Geneva to Boost Ties with Switzerland, Discuss Pressing Issues with International Organizations
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was welcomed in Geneva by Swiss President Guy Parmelin in the evening on Monday, Nov. 29 as Tokayev continued his visit to Europe, reports the Akorda press service. Switzerland is an important political and economic partner in Europe for Kazakhstan, said Tokayev. During their meeting, Tokayev and Parmelin focused…
President Tokayev Pays Official Visit to Brussels, Meets European Leaders to Discuss Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation
NUR-SULTAN – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is now in Brussels where he has met with President of the European Council Charles Michel, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, and Belgium’s King Philippe on Nov. 25, reports the Akorda press service. This is Tokayev’s first visit to Europe since the pandemic began. Tokayev and Michel discussed the…
Upcoming Birthday Anniversaries of Kazakhstan’s Ahmet Baitursynov, Roza Baglanova Included in UNESCO List of Anniversaries
NUR-SULTAN – The upcoming 150th anniversary of prominent Kazakh scholar, statesman, linguist, and poet Akhmet Baitursynov and the 100th anniversary of pop and opera singer Roza Baglanova were included in the UNESCO list of anniversaries for 2022-2023 during the 41st session of UNESCO’s General Conference, reports the Kazakh Embassy in France. Kazakhstan’s two major anniversaries…
Kazakhstan to Introduce Institute of the Ombudsperson to Protect Consumer Rights
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan will introduce the institute of the ombudsperson for the protection of consumer rights as part of the updated draft law package for the protection of consumer rights, reports the Kazakh Prime Minister’s press service. The ombudsperson will directly report systemic violations of the rights of citizens to top government officials. Along with…
National Payment System to Foster Easier Access to Financial Markets, Pave Way For Digital Tenge
NUR-SULTAN – The National Bank of Kazakhstan is currently developing a national payment system that is part of an effort to ensure the equally accessible digital infrastructure of the financial market and make financial services and transfers faster and cheaper, said National Bank Chair Yerbolat Dossayev. The pilot project is expected to be launched in…
PACE President Rik Daems Calls for Greater Cooperation During His Visit to Kazakhstan
NUR-SULTAN – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) President Rik Daems called for strengthening the cooperation between the Parliamentary Assembly and Kazakhstan to implement human rights reforms as he concluded his three-day official visit to Kazakhstan on Nov. 18, reports PACE press service. Daems met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to discuss the…
Kazakhstan Leading in FDI Stock Value from Eurasian Economic Union Countries
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan boasts the highest foreign direct investments stock value from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries – $11.2 billion by 2020, an increase of $3 billion over the past four years, according to the latest Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) analytical report that monitors mutual direct investments by twelve states in the CIS and…
Tokayev Stresses Kazakhstan’s Special Role in Central Asia, Plans to Create Unified Foreign Policy Strategy Going Forward
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh diplomacy is known for its unique approach to seeking solutions to many international problems, said President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during the expanded meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, reports the Akorda press service. “Our country has put forward peacemaking initiatives and undertaken mediation efforts aimed at resolving interstate…
Kazakh Schoolchildren Join Environmental Campaign to Collect Plastic and Waste Paper
NUR-SULTAN – Educating children at a young age about the importance of protecting our environment in any possible way will eventually lead to the behavior becoming part of their second nature once they are adults. That is the essence of the Eco Asar (eco impact from Kazakh) environmental campaign that brought nearly 300,000 schoolchildren from…
First Batch of Pfizer Vaccine Delivered to Kazakhstan
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan received the first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech (COMIRNATY) vaccine on Nov. 10, the Kazakh Ministry of Healthcare confirmed on Thursday. “Delivered doses will enable the country to move toward completing mass vaccination of the population. This is already the sixth vaccine registered in Kazakhstan,” said the ministry, noting that Kazakhstan’s single distributor…
Kazakhstan’s Huge Renewable Energy Resources to Form Basis for Its Low-Carbon Future, Says World Bank Regional Director
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan has huge renewable energy potential that will form the basis for a low-carbon future, World Bank Infrastructure Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Charles Cormier told The Astana Times. Cormier is in Kazakhstan to hold discussions on the green growth transition. Do you think humanity is on the right track in…
Kazakhstan Attracts $1.8 Billion in Renewable Energy Development Investment Since 2014
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan has attracted 780 billion tenge (US$$1.8 billion) for the development of renewable energy since 2014, said Kazakh Energy Minister Magzum Mirzagaliyev at a Nov. 9 meeting of the country’s investment office chaired by Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin. The meeting of the investment office, a new mechanism to attract and support investors,…
Qaz Startup Battle Promotes Kazakh Language IT Solutions
NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry and the Astana Hub organized the Qaz Startup Battle on Nov. 5 aimed at the development of the Kazakh language and content, reports the ministry’s press service. The competition was held as part of the fifth QazForum of Kazakh-language online content creators in…
Twenty-Seven Kazakh Enterprises Present Their Products at China International Import Exhibition in Shanghai
NUR-SULTAN – Twenty-seven Kazakh enterprises put their products on display at the fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE) that is taking place in Shanghai from Nov. 5 until Nov. 10. This year Kazakhstan expanded the range of products in the meat and flour industry, bakery and confectionery, as well as oil, dairy, wine and liquor…
Kazakh Healthcare Ministry, AstraZeneca Sign Memorandum of Understanding
NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh Ministry of Healthcare and the representative office of AstraZeneca in Kazakhstan signed a memorandum of understanding during the plenary session of the eighth Intergovernmental Commission of the United Kingdom and Kazakhstan on Nov. 4, reports the ministry’s press service. This document envisions measures to develop quality and affordable health care, increasing…
Kazakhstan’s Monotowns Account for Nearly 40 Percent of Industrial Production, But Problems Still Remain
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s monotowns produce nearly 40 percent of the country’s total industrial output, said President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during his working visit to the city of Ekibastuz in the Pavlodar Region that began with a national meeting on the development of single-industry towns. There are 89 cities in Kazakhstan, and 27 of them are monotowns,…
Bolashak Presidential Scholarship to Empower Young People: Twenty-Eight Years of Success and Progress
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s Bolashak Presidential Scholarship is a program that gives a chance to talented young people to study abroad and it celebrates its 28th year of work on Nov. 5. In 1993, Kazakhstan’s First President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree launching the program, the first in Central Asia, paving a way for more than…
Kazakhstan Resumes Air Travel with India, Azerbaijan
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan will resume air travel with India from Nov. 15, in accordance with the decision of Kazakhstan’s Interdepartmental Commission on preventing the spread of coronavirus infection, reports the Civil Aviation Committee. From Nov. 15, Kazakhstan’s Air Astana will start operating the flights on the route Almaty – Delhi – Almaty with a frequency of…
President Tokayev Pledges to Better Protect Caspian Sea Biodiversity by Signing Caspian Sea Protection Protocol
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan seeks to ensure better protection of the biodiversity of the Caspian Sea. To that effect, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the Protocol for the Protection of the Caspian Sea against Pollution from Land-based Sources and Activities on Oct. 23, reports the Akorda press service. The ratification comes on the heels of the agreement…
Mohamed bin Zayed Receives Nazarbayev Prize for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World and Global Security
NUR-SULTAN – Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Mohamed bin Zayed received the Nazarbayev Prize for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World and Global Security on Oct. 28 for his contribution to peace, regional stability, and sustainable economic development during the meeting with First President Nursultan Nazarbayev, reports the press…
Kazakhstan Needs to Invest $650 Billion to Achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2060, Says Minister
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan will have to invest nearly US$650 billion in low carbon technologies to achieve its ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2060, said Kazakh Minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources Serikkali Brekeshev at a press briefing on Oct. 27. The sectors requiring the most investment over the next 40 years are the…
Kazakhstan’s Majilis Adopts Draft Law on Human Rights to Strengthen Role of Ombudsperson
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s Majilis, the lower house of the country’s Parliament, adopted a draft law on the Ombudsperson for Human Rights in Kazakhstan, as well as legislative amendments to define at the legislative level the legal status of the Ombudsperson, and the principles and guarantees of their activities, reports the Majilis press service. “The draft…
Digital Bridge Forum in Nur-Sultan Connects Entrepreneurs, Promotes Greater Digitization
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan is hosting Digital Bridge Forum on Oct. 28-29 to promote digitization in the country and provide businesses and startups with more access to resources, including learning opportunities. Nearly 4,000 participants registered for the two-day event. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited the forum a day earlier, where he was briefed on the…
Hungarian Deputy PM Mihály Varga Visits Kazakhstan to Boost Trade and Investment
NUR-SULTAN – Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Finance Mihály Varga is on an official visit to Kazakhstan, where he took part in the fifth meeting of the Kazakh-Hungarian Strategic Council that gathered 50 Hungarian business leaders. As part of his visit, he also met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Prime Minister Askar Mamin.…
Child Well-Being Index to Expand and Protect Children’s Rights More Effectively in Kazakhstan
NUR-SULTAN – The Child Well-Being Index will help Kazakhstan’s decision-makers to increase the effectiveness of national policies in the protection of children’s rights, experts from the Economic Research Institute told The Astana Times. The index is developed by the Economic Research Institute with the support of Kazakhstan’s Committee on the Protection of Children’s Rights, and…
