Articles by Dana Omirgazy 

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Passenger Transportation company has organized the operation of a special musical train for the Voice Beyond Horizon international project. Seven passenger carriages and one restaurant carriage were allocated for filming, accommodating around 150 artists and international guests. On Sept. 8, the train embarked on an 18-day journey along the Turkistan – Aktau…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan has issued its first 10-year residence permit under the Digital Nomad Residency program. The recipient is Pavel Filatov, a senior analytics & BI engineer with international experience, who chose Kazakhstan as his home and place of professional growth. Launched in January at the instruction of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the program has established…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan and Pakistan have agreed to advance cooperation across key sectors, setting a goal of increasing bilateral trade turnover to $1 billion in the coming years. The commitment was confirmed during the meeting between Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu and his Pakistani counterpart, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, on Sept. 9…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s pavilion at the World Expo 2025 in Osaka celebrated a milestone as it welcomed its one millionth visitor, Kosuke Hasegawa from Amagasaki city, Japan. To mark the occasion, Hasegawa received a special prize package, including a business-class ticket on Air Astana’s upcoming direct flight between Japan and Kazakhstan, set to launch in…

ASTANA – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has proposed holding a national referendum in 2027 on transitioning Kazakhstan to a unicameral parliament, which would abolish the Senate, the legislature’s upper chamber.  He stressed that such a reform would mark a new stage in the country’s political transformation and must be carried out only with the full consent…

ASTANA – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that Kazakhstan will significantly expand the use of artificial intelligence in satellite monitoring of agricultural land, stressing that digital technologies must play a central role in managing the country’s most strategic resource. Speaking in his state-of-the-nation address on Sept. 8, Tokayev said that space monitoring and geoanalytics are already…

ASTANA — The Mazhilis, lower house of the Kazakh Parliament, has ratified an agreement between Kazakhstan and Armenia that abolishes the mutual visa regime and allows citizens to travel using national ID cards. The document, signed last year in Yerevan, also regulates cooperation in the field of migration. Kazakh citizens may now enter Armenia with…

ASTANA – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part in the opening ceremony of the Cultural Center of Kazakhstan in Beijing on Sept. 2, describing the event as a milestone in the spiritual life of both Kazakh and Chinese peoples. “This is a historic event reflecting the genuine respect of the Kazakh people for the Chinese people…

ASTANA — Almaty expects up to 5,000 tourists for the historic football match between Kazakhstan’s FC Kairat and Spain’s Real Madrid, scheduled for Sept. 30 at the Central Stadium. The event is set to become one of the largest in the country’s sporting calendar. According to Minister of Tourism and Sports Yerbol Myrzabossynov, Kazakhstan’s infrastructure…

ASTANA — China Daily, a leading English-language Chinese newspaper, published an article by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Aug. 30 titled Strong Kazakh-Sino ties key to successful cooperation.  In his article, President Tokayev emphasizes that Kazakhstan-China relations are “deeply rooted in centuries of neighborly ties, consistently marked by mutual trust, support, and understanding.” He highlights that…

ASTANA — President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein of Jordan held talks on Aug. 27 in the Kazakh capital, reaffirming their commitment to deepening bilateral relations and expanding cooperation. During the meeting, President Tokayev expressed gratitude to King Abdullah II for accepting the invitation to visit Kazakhstan and highlighted…

ASTANA — The first meeting of special representatives of the Central Asian countries on Afghanistan was held with the participation of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on Aug. 26 in Tashkent.  The officials noted the relevance and timeliness of establishing a contact group of special representatives on Afghanistan as an independent regional platform…

ASTANA – Students from the Polytechnic College in Balkhash have brought their award-winning eco-initiative to life by installing benches and solar-powered street lamps made from recycled plastic on their campus grounds. The eco-project was developed by students Aida Mukhanova and Tolganai Zholdybai, under the guidance of their history teacher, Gulzada Shaizhanova. Their innovative idea combines…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have officially commenced the active phase of a telecommunications project to lay the first-ever underwater fiber optic cable along the bottom of the Caspian Sea. The initiative will link the Kazakh port city of Aktau with the Azerbaijani city of Sumqayit via an underwater cable system, enhancing digital connectivity between…

ASTANA – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called for enhanced international partnerships, regional connectivity, and inclusive development to overcome the challenges faced by landlocked nations during his address at the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries on Aug. 5 in Awaza, Turkmenistan. Tokayev thanked the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov for the initiative to convene…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan has reported positive trends in maternal and child health in 2024, with maternal mortality decreasing by 12% and infant mortality by 11%. In January-June, maternal mortality dropped by 10% and infant mortality by 26%, said Health Minister Akmaral Alnazarova during an Aug. 5 government meeting. To improve access and quality of care…

ASTANA –  Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company KazMunayGas (KMG) has exported its first oil batch worth 85,000 tons to a Hungarian refinery as part of the strategic expansion of cooperation between KMG and Hungary’s MOL Group. The shipment was transported by sea from the Russian port of Novorossiysk to the Croatian port of Omišalj…

ASTANA — The New York Film Academy (NYFA) Kazakhstan campus is offering 100% and 50% grants for programs in 3D Animation and Visual Effects and Game Design.  The competition, launched by Dala.edge Creative Technologies Park at Energo University, is open to young creatives across Kazakhstan, reported Kazakh Ministry of Science and Higher Education on July…

ASTANA — Kazakh scientists from the Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence (ISSAI) at Nazarbayev University have presented five innovative artificial intelligence systems that function without an internet connection. These technologies are designed to support the Kazakh language and national context. Among the new developments is Oylan 2.5, a multilingual smart assistant that works…

ASTANA – The Astana Times has selected articles from global media outlets covering Kazakhstan. This week’s foreign media digest covers President Donald Trump’s tariff on Kazakhstan, water management, the country’s natural beauty and more. The mystery of Trump’s 25% tariff threat on Kazakhstan The New York Times published an article on July 11 discussing the…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan has seen a sharp rise in digital banking and non-cash transactions, with the number of online users surpassing the population and monthly cashless turnover exceeding average incomes, wrote economist Ruslan Sultanov on his Tengenomika Telegram channel on July 12. As of June 1, the National Bank of Kazakhstan reported 81.2 million registered…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan has launched the construction of two new airports from the ground up in the East Kazakhstan Region – in the Katon-Karagay and Zaisan districts. According to the Ministry of Transport, the projects are aimed at enhancing territorial connectivity, promoting regional economic development and fostering sustainable tourism, reported Kazinform on July 13. The…

ASTANA — Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev sent a response letter to U.S. President Donald Trump on July 10 regarding the introduction of duties on imports of Kazakh goods. Tokayev emphasized that Kazakhstan, as a long-standing trade and investment partner of the U.S., is committed to developing fair, predictable, mutually beneficial trade relations. He confirmed the…

ASTANA – The first freight train from Shanxi Province to Azerbaijan via the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, known as the Middle Corridor, departed from China’s Jinzhong city on July 9, marking a significant milestone in the region’s international logistics development. According to Huayuan International Land Port, the train, operated by Zhongding Logistics Center, is loaded…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s new national supercomputer can perform in just one second as many calculations as the entire world’s population – all 8 billion people – could do in over four days if each person solved one equation every second, said Minister of Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry Zhaslan Madiyev in an interview with…