Kazakh greenhouse industry faces low demand, competition from Uzbekistan
ASTANA – Kazakh businesspeople establishing greenhouses in the country face competition from Uzbekistan producers and lack of retail availability. While healthy food is trending, the demand for fresh herbs and salad fixings is still low. Despite the odds, the Almaty region’s GreenEco greenhouse in Panfilovo village of Talgar district is making a go of it.…
Astana Ballet launches backstage tours
ASTANA – Astana Ballet has prepared a special gift for residents and guests of the city. The ballet has launched weekly backstage tours, showing patrons what mysteries are really behind the big scenes. Guests will be able to see what is usually hidden from viewers’ eyes and feel the atmosphere, experience the world of dance…
Kazakhstan introduces single entry electronic visa
ASTANA – Beginning Jan. 1, Kazakhstan has introduced a single-entry electronic visa for citizens of 117 countries. An electronic business or tourist visa or one for medical treatment will be issued using a valid invitation considered by the nation’s migration service. Foreigners wishing to benefit from the new arrangement can enter the country through checkpoints at…
AGF Group increases home textile exports
ASTANA – AGF Group, Kazakhstan’s first specialised home textile manufacturer, has supplied 4.4 billion tenge (US$11.9 million) in products to foreign markets in 2018, increasing export production sevenfold. In 2015, the company signed a contract with IKEA to supply bed linens using timely state support. Located in Shymkent, AGF Group was the first specialised garment…
Kazakhstan sets record for beef exports
ASTANA – Beef exports have reached 18,800 tonnes in 2018, 25 percent more than the 15,000 tonnes planned by the Ministry of Agriculture. Almost half was exported by the Turkestan region. By comparison, beef exports in 2017 totalled 5,500 tonnes. Large-scale implementation of a long-term programme to develop animal husbandry began in the second half…
Car sales in Kazakhstan jump 25 percent in 2018
ASTANA – Car sales in Kazakhstan increased 25.8 percent from January-November over the same time last year. Dealers sold 52,467 cars totalling $1.3 billion. Of those, 48.2 percent were cars produced in Kazakhstan. “In November, the Kazakh car market completed the seventh consecutive quarter of growth. The process of recovery in consumer demand continues at…
Ministry of Culture and Sport presents Notre Dame de Paris in Kazakh capital
ASTANA – Twenty years ago, the world saw the legendary Notre Dame de Paris musical for the very first time. As part of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Astana, the legendary Notre Dame de Paris musical was performed in Kazakhstan on the stage of the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, supported by the…
Air Astana adds new generation fuel-efficient aircraft to fleet
ASTANA – Air Astana recently added the Embraer E-Jet E2, one of the world’s most fuel-efficient planes, to its fleet. The aircraft also features an image on its nose of a snow leopard, which is an elusive animal that lives in the mountains of Kazakhstan and is considered a Kazakh symbol. “Today is more special…
Chinese investor buys major Kazakh automaker
ASTANA – China National Machinery, a transnational Chinese state company, has bought 51 percent of shares of SaryarkaAvtoProm, a major Kazakh automaker. The joint venture plans to produce up to 100,000 vehicles per year and increase the localisation level up to 50 percent at the company’s plant in Kostanai region. First Deputy Prime Minister of…
Kazakh agriculture ripe for international investment, says official
ASTANA – The international food and agriculture sector is valued at approximately $7.8 trillion. With the growth of the world’s population and its living standards, Kazakhstan’s agricultural success and strategic location in the heart of Eurasia can help the nation to meet people’s everyday needs. Similar in size to the whole of Western Europe, Kazakhstan…
World chess champion debuts how-to-play book in Kazakh language
ASTANA – World chess champion Dinara Saduakasova recently presented her debut book, “Learning to play chess,” in the capital. The volume, which shares her experience and skills, is the first on the topic written in Kazakh. “It was not easy for me to write a book, because there was no such book in Kazakh. Some…
Astana Opera adds Chopiniana and Scheherazade ballets to its repertoire
ASTANA – Astana Opera made a gift to capital residents and guests, presenting the premiere of the one-act ballets Chopiniana (Les Sylphides) and Scheherazade by choreographic art reformer Michel Fokine. The premiere, staged Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, was devoted to the Day of the First President and the capital’s 20th anniversary celebration and supported by the Ministry of…
Kazakhstan Temir Zholy places Eurobonds worth 170 million Swiss francs
ASTANA – Kazakhstan Temir Zholy recently placed five-year Eurobonds worth 170 million Swiss francs on the Swiss Stock Exchange and the Astana International Financial Centre’s (AIFC) Exchange. The Eurobonds were placed with yield to maturity and coupon of 3.25 percent per annum, the press service of the company reports. “Placing Eurobonds in Swiss francs corresponds…
Aktobe Football Club board member calls for change in limit on foreign football players
ASTANA – More than 16 years have passed since Kazakhstan entered the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) family. In that time, the level of the country’s game should have noticeably progressed, but it hasn’t. Aktobe Football Club board member and well-known Aktobe football expert Nikolai Ivanov feels there is a need to work on…
IAEA purchases low-enriched uranium for LEU Bank in Kazakhstan
ASTANA – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has signed contracts to purchase low-enriched uranium (LEU) to start operation of a Low-Enriched Uranium Bank in Kazakhstan in 2019. The purchase will be the IAEA’s largest procurement since its foundation in 1957. The acquisition contracts were signed with two suppliers, Kazatomprom National Atomic Company from Kazakhstan…
Transparency International notes Kazakh progress in countering corruption, official says
ASTANA – Kazakhstan has cut corruption in the form of bribes by one third and the percentage of citizens focused on stopping corruption has doubled in the last three years, according to the recent International Barometer of World Corruption study Transparency International. The Head of the Department of the Agency for Civil Service Affairs and…
EBRD: Kazakhstan has decade of preparation for economic diversification
ASTANA – According to the new report of Eurasian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) published Nov. 22, Kazakhstan has 20 years to diversify its economy away from oil and other hydrocarbons and reform public finances as the world starts green economic transition. EBRD published a report on vulnerabilities of major fossil fuel exporters like…
Kazakh National Bank issues new gold and silver coins
ASTANA – The National Bank issued a new collection of gold and silver coins Nov. 19 in denominations of 500 tenge (US$1.40). The production is devoted to the 25th anniversary of establishing the national currency. The Year of the Boar coins are the ninth pair of gold and silver coins that continue the Oriental Calendar…
Young people from low-income families study in-demand professions
ASTANA – We Art, a creative centre designed to help young people from socially vulnerable families train for modern, in-demand professions free of charge, recently opened at Narxoz University in Almaty. The project is supported by the Bulat Utemuratov Foundation. “At We Art, our foundation allocated a 21 million tenge (US$56,200) grant. This centre will…
Almaty and Astana hold events dedicated to Denis Ten’s memory
ASTANA – Almaty and the capital recently honoured the memory of figure skater Denis Ten, the 2014 Olympic bronze medalist and first Kazakh to stand on the podium at multiple world championships, who was murdered this summer during a carjacking attempt. The former city installed a memorial plaque on the house where he was born…
Astana plant produces innovative street light stanchions
ASTANA – Maxvidl, which manufactures industrial fibreglass items, has begun making street light stanchions. The company, which outfitted its capital plant with up-to-date equipment, will be investing more than 1 billion tenge (US$2.7 million) in production. “Our company’s products have several advantages in comparison with iron and reinforced concrete street lighting stanchions. They are durable,…
AIFC Academic Council develops broad pool of professionals
ASTANA – The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) Academic Council is developing a broad pool of financial, legal and HR professionals to help to shape the centre’s success and the sustainable economic development of Kazakhstan and the region. Plans are also afoot to educate experts in governance and ICT. “First of all, let me talk…
Astana International Exchange to launch post-trade infrastructure
ASTANA – Astana International Exchange (AIX) is preparing to launch post-trade market services provided by Avenir Technology Limited. The technology, used worldwide, will ensure a safe and reliable post-trading infrastructure for the exchange. “The Astana International Exchange will be an efficient, globally supported exchange platform for both Kazakhstan and the neighbouring countries. To ensure safe…
KAZGUU introduces more flexible educational process
ASTANA – KAZGUU is the first Kazakh university to introduce Canvas, an LMS (learning management system) that makes the educational process flexible, secure and scalable. It can be adapted to users’ needs and releases teachers and students from paperwork. “After the business trip of the university’s President Talgat Narikbayev to a foreign university in…
AIFC Academic Council helps to develop Kazakhstan’s human capital
ASTANA – The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) Academic Council, as one of the driving forces of the country’s economy, is actively developing human capital and attracting the best foreign experts. The council, which helps individuals to improve themselves and determine necessary qualifications and opportunities, aims to train 5,000 people in the next few years.…
