Articles by ASSEL SATUBALDINA

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…

NUR-SULTAN – Tin One Mining, the mineral exploration and development company co-owned by Lancaster Group and Samruk Kazyna Invest, has started exploration at Central Asia’s largest and Kazakhstan’s only tin field in Syrymbet village in the North Kazakhstan Region. Syrymbet is the world’s largest undeveloped tin and complex rare earth polymetal deposit. It was discovered…

NUR-SULTAN – Penal Reform International (PRI) is seeking to assist Kazakhstan in reforming its penal system, step up efforts to prevent torture and update detention facilities in line with international standards, said PRI Central Asia Director Azamat Shambilov. The organisation has been working for 30 years across 90 countries worldwide.   “There was one person,…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh GDP growth, calculated at 4 percent from January-May, is maintaining positive dynamics, noted Minister of National Economy Ruslan Dalenov. “The dynamics in investments outpace GDP growth rate. The growth advanced from 7.8 percent against 6.7 percent within four months. Investments in agriculture and construction rose one and a half percent. Investments in…

NUR-SULTAN – SCAT, Kazakhstan’s second largest airline, launched direct flights to Prague and Ulaanbaatar from the nation’s capital June 2 in an effort to boost tourist flow and make use of the country’s strategic location. The Nur-Sultan – Prague and Nur-Sultan – Ulaanbaatar flights will be operated Thursdays and Sundays on Boeing 737s. The airline…

NUR-SULTAN – More than 30,000 people took the opportunity to learn more about the cultural heritage and traditions of the Kazakh people during Nur-Sultan’s open-air ethnofest May 31 to June 2. The festival was organised by the Nur-Sultan Akimat (city administration) and the Kazakh Ethno Sport Association. The festival also coincided with the city’s June…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh government adopted the latest package of amendments May 28 to the programme supporting domestic production of daily consumed goods and services, known as the Economy of Simple Things. The proposed measures include cutting the interest rate for end borrowers with a fixed state-subsidised share, introducing a preferential period for a maximum…

NUR-SULTAN – Amirzhan Kossanov, 55, considers himself the opposition candidate in the upcoming June 9 presidential elections in Kazakhstan, he told The Astana Times in an exclusive interview. This year’s election ballot will feature seven candidates and for the first time in the history of Kazakhstan, founding President Nursultan Nazarbayev is not a candidate. Kossanov…

NUR-SULTAN – Astana Motors, Kazakhstan’s leading car distributor, will build a Hyundai car assembly plant in Almaty, with the first cars slated to roll off its production line in 2020. The Hyundai Trans Plant will stretch across 25 hectares in the city’s special economic zone. Founded in 1992, Astana Motors is Kazakhstan’s first company in…

NUR-SULTAN – Amirzhan Kossanov, 55, is among the seven candidates running in Kazakhstan’s June 9 presidential election. In his platform, Kosanov, who positions himself as an opposition candidate, promises political freedoms, protecting the country’s and people’s interests, tougher measures to curb corruption and a course towards European standards. A Kyzylorda native, he was nominated April…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) generated more than 28 trillion tenge (US$73.8 billion) in 2018, said Vice Minister of National Economy Yermek Alpysov at a May 22 press briefing. The number of SMEs also grew 8.3 percent to 1,241,328 compared to 2017, with the most in Almaty, the capital and the…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh officials say e-commerce friendly legislation and increased agricultural sales have the potential to push e-commerce sales in Kazakhstan to 15 million buyers annually by 2025. E-commerce sales in Kazakhstan increased 1.5 times in 2018 over 2017 to $707.4 million and the number of buyers doubled over 2017 to 2.3 million people. The…

NUR-SULTAN – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Green Climate Fund (GCF) will loan $16.7 million to China’s Universal Energy to build a 30 MW solar power plant in Zhangiztobe in the East Kazakhstan region. The agreement was signed during the recent Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh ruling Nur Otan party congress unanimously nominated April 23 Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as the party’s candidate for Kazakhstan’s June 9 presidential election. The nomination was supported by 600 delegates at the congress and was announced by former President and current party Chair Nursultan Nazarbayev. Nazarbayev has described Tokayev as a “close…