Articles by Assel Satubaldina

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan and the Netherlands concluded five trade deals in The Hague during the Oct. 30 Kazakh-Dutch Business Council meeting. Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and other officials attended the meeting. The Netherlands is Kazakhstan’s largest foreign investor, injecting more than $92 billion in Kazakhstan since 1991. Investments from…

NUR-SULTAN – Shymkent will host the ninth Central Asia Trade Forum Nov. 12-13. Kazakhstan’s third largest city will welcome more than 450 business executives, government officials, small and medium-sized enterprises, international organisations and civil society leaders to explore horticulture innovation and investment, make trade deals and forge new partnerships.  The two-day forum, organised by the…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh Ministry of Culture and Sports presented amendments to the law on tourism Oct. 10 at the plenary session of the Kazakh Mazhilis (lower house of Parliament). The bill includes 60 amendments, including the introduction of a tax-free system and bed tax for foreign tourists.  The introduction of a tax-free system is…

NUR-SULTAN – QazTrade, established in September under the recently created Ministry of Trade and Integration, seeks to unify all support measures for Kazakh exporters, said QazTrade Director Arman Abenov in an interview with The Astana Times. Formerly the Centre for Trade Policy Development, QazTrade, will tackle fragmented state support, one of the main challenges faced…

NUR-SULTAN – Nur-Sultan hosted Oct. 9-10 the United National World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Summit on Urban Tourism. More than 700 delegates from 30 countries gathered to explore the definition of smart cities and smart destinations and the role of tourism in the development of cities. The two-day event, which also included the adoption of the…

NUR-SULTAN – One million trees will be planted in Kazakhstan as part of the nationwide environment campaign #Birge #JasylQazaqstan (which means Together and GreenKazakhstan).  The campaign started Oct. 12 and was initiated by the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources and personally Minister Magzum Mirzagaliyev.  “We launch #Birge #JasylQazaqstan campaign. We organise a mass…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan moved up four spots to 55th out of 141 countries in the Global Competitiveness Index published Oct. 9 by the World Economic Forum. The report assesses drivers of productivity and long-term economic growth.  Kazakhstan, with a score of 63 points, is positioned between Uruguay and Brunei Darussalam.  The report, in its 40th…

NUR-SULTAN – Valley Irrigation, the U.S.-based world leader in irrigation technologies, is seeking to help Kazakhstan ensure the efficient use of water resources, share advanced technologies with local farmers and maximise yields for the country’s agricultural sector, said Valmont Industries Regional Head for Europe and Eurasia Ruediger Claas.  Valmont Industries, which owns Valley Irrigation, has…

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…