Articles by Assel Satubaldina

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh airlines carried 5.6 million passengers in the first eight months of 2019, showing a 1.8 percent increase over 2018, said Kazakh Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Beibit Atamkulov at an Oct. 7 government session, reported primeminister.kz. The growth is attributed to the launch of new routes and of the FlyArystan low-cost…

NUR-SULTAN – A business delegation of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council visited Shymkent, Kazakhstan’s third largest city, Sept. 18-19 to set up partnerships and expand bilateral ties. The companies are leading producers of electronic goods, household appliances, interior design, cosmetics, health products, food and chemical goods. Hong Kong is ranked among the top three…

NUR-SULTAN – As the Asian Development Bank (ADB) celebrates 25 years of its partnership with Kazakhstan, the bank has invested more than $5 billion in sovereign loans, non-sovereign loans and guarantees to support the country’s development since its independence. These include nearly 30 projects in sovereign loans, ten projects in the private sector and nearly…

NUR-SULTAN – More than 77,000 individuals have graduated from the Bastau Business (Start Business) and Zhas Kasipker (Young Entrepreneur) programmes since their launch in 2017, said Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs Chair Ablai Myrzakhmetov at a Sept. 23 government meeting. The chamber runs the programmes, which provide one-month training to future entrepreneurs across different areas…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s First President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, urged the national parliaments of Eurasia to be more involved in shaping their nations’ policies and in strengthening international cooperation during the opening session of the Sept. 23-24 Fourth Meeting of Speakers of the Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments. Parliamentary delegations from 65 countries, including 41 led by the speakers…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh wrestlers secured eight Olympic licenses for the country’s team at the senior World Wrestling Championship that ended Sept. 22 in the capital. The competition, organised in the city for the first time, gathered approximately 1,000 athletes from 105 countries. The championship was an opportunity for the top six finishers – gold, silver,…

NUR-SULTAN – The Fitch credit rating agency affirmed Kazakhstan’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating (IDR) at BBB with a Stable Outlook, according to the Fitch ratings published Sept. 6. Fitch noted Kazakhstan’s outlook features strong public and external balance sheets supported by large government savings and a substantial net foreign asset position. The outlook,…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s Olympic cycling champion and Astana Pro Team General Manager Alexander Vinokurov won the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in the 45-49-year division in Nice. The triathlon competition was held Sept. 7-8 on the French Riviera, bringing nearly 6,000 athletes from all corners of the globe. The athletes tackled the 1.9-kilometre swim in the…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh government will prepare by Sept. 7 a plan to implement the initiatives presented by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in his Sept. 2 state-of-the-nation address. It was Tokayev’s first state-of-the-nation address since being elected June 9. In his address, Tokayev pledged to improve public administration, better protect citizens rights, diversify the economy, support…

NUR-SULTAN – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which has an extensive portfolio of 262 projects in Kazakhstan, has invested nearly $9.1 billion since the country’s independence in 1991. The bank now seeks to grow its assistance in banking sector reforms, said EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti in a recent interview with a…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s First President Nursultan Nazarbayev presented Aug. 29 the Nazarbayev Prize for a Nuclear-Free-World and Global Security to the relatives of former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano, who passed away in July, and to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo in Nur-Sultan. Established in 2016,…

NUR-SULTAN – Nazarbayev University hosted Aug. 16-Aug. 20 the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations Conference (HPAIR), gathering 500 students from the world’s top universities to address emerging challenges in the Asian region. Organised since 1991, HPAIR provides a platform to students to discuss political, social and economic issues facing the Asia Pacific Region. HPAIR…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s Economy of Simple Things programme will create 16,000 jobs by 2025. The programme, launched in March, received 600 billion tenge (US$1.55 billion) to develop domestic production of daily consumed goods and services.  Twenty billion tenge (US$516.3 million) will be devoted to agriculture and 400 billion tenge (US$1.03 billion) to support the processing industry…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh schools are moving closer to digitisation, as schoolchildren will have the opportunity to study with electronic books starting Sept. 1, the beginning of the school year. “Parents and children can download the books at the website of the ministry,” said Minister of Education and Science Askhat Aitmagambetov at an Aug. 13 government…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan has attracted $250 billion foreign direct investments (FDI) in the last ten years, according to FinReview’s recent analytical review of the country’s investment policy. Overall, nearly $320 billion in FDI has been injected in the Kazakh economy over the years of its independence. The largest volume of foreign investments came in 2012…

NUR-SULTAN – The Nur-Sultan Akimat (city administration) recently cut $350 million from the budget to build a new light rail train system, Nur-Sultan Mayor Altai Kulginov announced recently. The city reduced the allocation for the project from $1.8 billion to $1.45 billion. Kulginov also said the reduction cut the number of stations from 18 to…

NUR-SULTAN – Investment in Kazakhstan’s housing sector through the Nurly Zher housing programme increased 15.5 percent in the first six months of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, Kazakh Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Roman Sklyar announced recently. Total investment through the programme through the end of June was 605.7 billion tenge…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh farming sector grew 10.5 percent in its gross output in the first six months of 2019 and produced 1.063 trillion tenge (US$2.76 billion) worth of products, Kazakh Minister of Agriculture Saparkhan Omarov announced recently. Beef production totalled 477,000 tonnes meeting 98 percent of the country’s demand. Lamb production reached 150,000 tonnes…

NUR-SULTAN – Thirty billion tenge (US$78.3 million) will be invested in the next four years in infrastructure projects at Alakol Lake, a popular beach vacation destination between the East Kazakhstan Region and Almaty. A working group was created to plan and monitor the projects. The lake, among the national tourism priorities, receives significant support from…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan agreed to bring their trade to $1 billion in 2020 during the recent visit of Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin to Bishkek and his meeting with Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov. In 2018, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan traded approximately $850 million, a 13 percent year-on-year increase.   In Bishkek, Mamin also addressed the…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s Jusan operation, which returned nearly 600 citizens from Syria, is an excellent example for other countries to follow, said United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child Chair Renate Winter in an exclusive interview with The Astana Times. During several stages of the humanitarian operation, conducted from January through June, a…

NUR-SULTAN – The North Kazakhstan Region will allocate 200 million tenge (US$525,240) next year to develop youth entrepreneurship. One in five Kazakh citizens is a member of the younger generation and supporting them is among the nation’s priorities. Approximately 2.3 million live in cities, 1.7 million in rural areas.  North Kazakhstan Region Akim (Governor) Kumar…

NUR-SULTAN – Climate change may reduce the Kazakh grain harvest by 37 percent by 2030 and 48 percent by 2050, said the World Bank in its recent statement. The phenomenon presents enormous challenges for development, including its impact on agricultural supply chains.  Sixty-six percent of Kazakh land is vulnerable to drought. The numbers can be…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh government recently adopted an action plan to implement the election platform of recently elected President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The platform focuses on continuing to have existing policies, ensuring justice and progress. Tokayev stressed during his campaign that if elected he would continue the political course of the country’s founding President Nursultan Nazarbayev. …

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh IT startups have attracted nearly 29 billion tenge (US$76.3 million) since 2018.  Astana Hub, the capital’s international technopark of IT startups, contributes to the country’s Digital Kazakhstan programme designed to build secure digital infrastructure, incorporate digital technologies into the country’s economy, digitise government services and train Kazakh specialists,  noted Minister of Digital…