Articles by Assel Satubaldina

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev chaired an expanded government meeting July 10, during which Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin reported on the country’s social and economic development in the first half of 2020 and the government measures to help the economy rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic consequences.  The Kazakh economy shrank by 1.8 percent,…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh agriculture sector attracted $1.1 billion in investments in 2019, according to the participants of the “Kazakhstan – Agriculture Projects and De-Risking Investment” session organized as part of the Astana Finance Days conference hosted this year online.  This was a 41 percent increase compared to 2018 and with the country’s vast natural…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev addressed the nation July 9 on the nation’s fight against the pandemic and announced July 13 as the national day of mourning to honor the memory of citizens who died of coronavirus, which will be the ninth national mourning day in the history of independent Kazakhstan.  As of July…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh film “Over Barriers” directed by Banu Ramazanova will compete at the 16th Kazan International Muslim Film Festival scheduled for early September. Ramazanova’s film has been shortlisted in the documentary feature category. The organizers of the festival, which this year will be held in a closed format due to the pandemic, received…

NUR-SULTAN – The World Bank Executive Board has approved a $500 million loan to Kazakhstan to develop farming as part of the Sustainable Livestock Development Program meant to support sustainable, inclusive and competitive beef production in Kazakhstan. The funds, which will be disbursed based on the achievement of specific program results, will be used to…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s First President Nursultan Nazarbayev is ringing in his 80th birthday on July 6th, as the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan also celebrated its birthday the same day, reported Nazarbayev’s press service.  The founding father of the Central Asian nation received congratulations over the phone from Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Kyrgyzstan…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pointed out the important role of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) in helping the country fix the adverse economic impact from the COVID-19 pandemic during a meeting with the AIFC management, reported Akorda press service.  Launched in 2018, in the Kazakh capital’s brand new futuristic district, the AIFC…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan will introduce a two-week lockdown from July 5 onwards in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection that has surged rapidly in numbers over the last month. The Kazakh government commission adopted the decision on July 2, a few days after Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev reprimanded state officials for…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s First President Nursultan Nazarbayev recovered from the coronavirus infection, said his spokesperson Aidos Ukibay.  “I have good news. Today’s coronavirus test of the Elbasy (Leader of Nation in Kazakh) showed a negative result. According to the recommendations of doctors, Nursultan Nazarbayev will continue to maintain a self-isolation regime, work remotely and devote…

NUR-SULTAN – The National Bank can take additional measures to stabilize the exchange rate if it is necessary, said Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during a meeting with Yerbolat Dossayev, chair of the country’s financial regulator, who also briefed the president on the monetary policy results of 2019, the asset quality review of second-tier banks as…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan has a plan not to be left behind with global digitization efforts. Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin chaired the meeting of the national commission on digitization on June 25 that explored the country’s digitization potential and reviewed its achievements.   The meeting was also attended by Kazakh Minister of Digital Development, Innovations, and…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan marked the 28th of June as the official Day of Mass Media Workers. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulated the media workers on their professional holiday and awarded the most distinguished media workers in the country for their hard work. There are currently 3,669 media outlets in Kazakhstan as of January 2020, according…

The fourth wave of financial assistance initiated by Biz Birgemiz (We are Together in Kazakh language) Fund will now reach 80,000 low-income families in the country’s rural areas.  The fund was created by Kazakhstan’s First President Nursultan Nazarbayev in March. Nazarbayev made the purpose of the fund quite clear: the fund will be used “to…

“Til Kazyna” (Language is Treasure in Kazakh) Kazakh cultural center opened its doors in Brussels on June 19th with a mission to promote the diverse culture and rich history of Kazakhstan.  The center will offer Kazakh language and literature classes, organize seminars about the Kazakh history and culture as well as workshops in Kazakh craft…

NUR-SULTAN – Young and prominent Kazakh figure skater and world’s silver medalist Elizabet Tursynbaeva, 20, participated in the world’s biggest 24-hour online workout June 23 organized by the International Olympic Committee to mark Olympic Day – a holiday that commemorates the rebirth of the modern Olympic Games on June 23, 1894, and seeks to promote…

United States President Donald Trump sent a telegram to Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulating him on his first year in the presidential office, reported Akorda.kz.  Tokayev was sworn into the office in June of 2019, after he won a landslide 71 percent of the votes in the elections, stressing his plans to continue the strategies…

Kazakh Energy Minister Nurlan Nogayev participated in the 19th Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meeting which was held via videoconference, during which the world’s oil producers agreed to extend production cuts through July, based on their original agreement in April.   In April, the 23-member group and non-OPEC oil-producing nations,…

Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi addressed the high-level Belt and Road meeting titled “Belt and Road International Cooperation: Combating COVID-19 with Solidarity.” The online event was attended by foreign ministers and officials at the ministerial level from 25 countries as well as the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and United…

One hundred and forty-one passengers flew out of Almaty on June 20th en route to Antalya on the country’s first regular international flight since the lockdown began.  The flight was operated by Kazakhstan’s flagship airline Air Astana on its Airbus A321LR. The same day, Air Astana began operating its first international flight from the Kazakh…

In an interview with Kazakhstan’s InBusiness website, ABA (Advanced Bank of Asia) Bank Executive Director Madi Akmambet and CEO Askhat Azhikhanov shared their success story of turning a one-branch bank in Cambodia into a progressive and fast-growing commercial bank with more than 75 branches, 200 self-banking machines, 350 ATMs and 6,500 workers, who are almost…

The Kazakh government has announced the toughening of lockdown restrictions scheduled to take effect the upcoming weekend of June 20-21, as the nation witnessed a hike in coronavirus cases after it eased the restrictions in May.  As of today, the nation has reported 16,351 cases of which 10,195 have recovered. The death toll amounts to…

“Kieli Bi” (Sacred Dance in Kazakh) is a dance film produced by Dana Mussa and Alexander Murphy, which has made it into the official selection of the 48th annual Dance on Camera Festival in New York. The festival will take place online on July 17-20, while Mussa’s film is scheduled to be screened on July…

Kazakhstan’s digitization efforts have generated 800 billion tenge (US$1.97 billion) for the country’s economy in two years, said Kazakh Minister of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Development Askar Zhumagaliyev. It also created 120,000 jobs and attracted 32.8 billion tenge (US$80.7 million) of investment into the country. “Investments attracted to the innovative ecosystem and companies involved…

Kazakh Minister of Foreign Affairs Mukhtar Tileuberdi participated in the June 12th Central Asia – European Union (EU) ministerial video conference attended by High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell, as well as the Foreign Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.…

Starting from June 20, Kazakhstan will resume international flights to China, Georgia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Turkey. This easing of restrictions is to be done in accordance with the decision of a governmental commission tasked with analyzing the risks and benefits of opening up Kazakhstan’s borders. The decisions are made taking into account the…