Civil service experts exchange best practices at Astana Civil Service Hub conference in Dubai
ASTANA – The public sector must keep up with private sector innovation, concluded speakers at the Feb. 10-12 Astana Civil Service Hub (ACSH) conference on Civil Service in the Post-Soviet Countries: Challenges, Prospects and Benchmarking during the seventh World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai. “The private sector strives to provide the best services to customers…
Inbound tourism to Kazakhstan increased 10 percent in 2018 over previous year
ASTANA – Approximately 8.49 million people visited Kazakhstan in 2018, which is 10.2 percent more than in the previous year, said Kazakh Tourism national company chairman Rashid Kuzembayev in a Feb. 22 interview with Primeminister.kz. The country experienced 50 percent growth in tourism from the United Arab Emirates, 49 percent growth in tourism from India,…
Kazakh President dismisses government over failure to improve living standards
ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev dismissed the country’s government Feb. 21 over what he termed its failure to improve living standards, reported Akorda.kz. In announcing his directive for the government to resign, the President said ministers and the National Bank were not able to prioritise income growth and raise people’s wellbeing, as well as…
Kazakh-language Notre Dame de Paris to be staged across Central Asia
ASTANA – Following its December debut in Kazakhstan, the Kazakh version of the French musical Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) will be performed in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the next three years, reports Kazakh-tv.kz. Upcoming performances across Central Asia will retain the musical’s original storyline and musical compositions and…
Construction to start in the second quarter on Astana’s first gastronomic market
ASTANA – The capital’s first gastronomic market will be built in the second quarter of 2019, reports the city akimat (administration). The Keruen Global gastronomic market will be located at the intersection of Shabal Beisekova Street and Shaimerden Kosshyghuly Street. The 7,900-square-metre building will be primarily devoted to the sale of fresh food and products…
Astana Opera, Astana Ballet and Bolshoi Theatre to exchange artists, performances
ASTANA – Performers from the Astana Opera and Astana Ballet companies will now be able to intern and perform at Russia’s historic Bolshoi Theatre, according to an agreement reached in Astana Feb. 9 between the three arts institutions. The agreement also includes performance and tour exchanges. “Kazakh ballet has its own style,” said Bolshoi Theatre…
Japanese chef treats Astana customers to his country’s home cuisine at Café Momo
ASTANA – Café Momo chef Daiske Kishigami has been giving Astana locals a taste of Japanese cuisine at reasonable prices for four years. Born in Kobe, Kishigami moved to join his wife in Kazakhstan in 2015. Living and working in Astana since then, he also hopes to open a Japanese café in Almaty. “My background…
Nazarbayev University to host Harvard University’s largest student-run conference in Asia
ASTANA – Nazarbayev University (NU) will host the 2019 Harvard College Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) Asia Conference in mid-August, reports the university’s press service. The HPAIR Asia Conference is a five-day annual conference established in 1991 as a platform for students and young professionals to discuss the economy, politics and society in…
Kazakh nonprofit coordinates the transportation of more than 3,000 Astana residents with disabilities per year
ASTANA – Kazakh nonprofit Invataxi coordinates the transportation of approximately 3,000 people with disabilities in Astana annually, including more than 1,000 children, reports the city akimat (administration) press service. Invataxi acts as a dispatcher to coordinate free transportation for people with disabilities in coordination with other nonprofits. The vehicles are provided by those nonprofits and…
Kazakh sustainable investing expert advocates for business-led societal change
ASTANA – Businesses are key to greater societal change, a young Kazakh expert drawing on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in investment analysis and decision-making says. Yelena Novikova’s article on pension funds appeared in the September edition of “Global Solutions Journal,” along with contributors German Chancellor Angela Merkel and American economist and 2006 Nobel…
Norwegian seed vault preserves seeds for global food security and diversity
ASTANA – Svalbard is home to approximately 2,500 people and one million types of seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a secure bank preserving copies of plant seeds held in gene banks in Central Asia and worldwide. In an interview with The Astana Times, seed vault coordinator Åsmund Asdal explained why a vault on…
Kazakh, international health experts present cutting-edge heart surgery technology in Astana
ASTANA – Leading Kazakh and international experts presented a fully implanted ventricular assist device (FiVAD) at a Feb. 6 press conference in Astana titled Groundbreaking System for Patients with Failing Heart. The first human use of a wireless coplanar energy transfer with a continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) was carried out in the capital’s…
British survivalist races through Altyn-Yemel National Park in new Discovery Channel series
ASTANA – A survivalist’s risks are well worth taking if people are encouraged to seek their own adventures, said survival expert Ed Stafford in an interview with The Astana Times. Bitten by the adventure bug as a child in the British countryside, Stafford has since pursued extreme tests of endurance and isolation to prove he…
Residents, experts seek citizen dialogue to shape Astana’s environment
ASTANA – Baikonur district Akim (Mayor) Yerlan Kanalimov, Astana Urban Centre and Astana Innovations recently kicked off the second stage of the City on Request project, reports the capital’s akimat (city administration). The project promotes dialogue among citizens as a tool to improve Astana’s urban environment. The first stage of the project involved the distribution…
Kazakhstan to present its first report to UN on SDG progress
ASTANA – Kazakhstan will report to the United Nations (UN) in New York this year on its implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the first time, said Kazakh Vice Minister of National Economy Madina Zhunisbekova at a January meeting in the capital. In September 2015, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a document on…
International Paralympic Committee President makes first visit to Kazakhstan
ASTANA – International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons visited Kazakhstan for the first time Jan. 30-31, reports the Astana Akimat (city administration) press service. He began his visit at the capital’s Paralympic Training Centre, which was opened in July as part of the Tugan Zher (Motherland) state programme and is furnished with special sports…
First virtual museum of Kazakh women’s history educates and empowers
ASTANA – Kazakh women’s history museums educate and empower women, providing an awareness-raising platform and tools for overcoming discrimination, said Women of Kazakhstan founder Dinara Assanova in an interview with The Astana Times. Assanova’s family provided her with a keen awareness of women’s contributions to society from a young age. “Motivation to study Kazakh women’s…
Kazakh ski jumper wins bronze at 2019 Nordic Junior World Ski Championships
ASTANA – Kazakh ski jumper Sergey Tkachenko won a bronze medal at the recent 2019 Nordic Junior World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland, reports the Kazakh National Olympic Committee. On Jan. 19-27, athletes competed in 23 events at what were the 42nd Junior World Championships and the 14th Under-23 World Championships in Nordic skiing. In…
Brazilian chef wants to expand restaurant business in Kazakh capital
ASTANA – Brazilian restaurant Rio Chef Roberto Santos recently shared his perspective on living and working in the capital in an interview with The Astana Times. Santos grew up in and worked on a farm in São Paulo, Brazil until 1995. “I wanted to do something new and was told to try work in a…
Astana Ballet to stage Karaganda performances in February
ASTANA – Astana Ballet will swap out its usual stage in the capital for Karaganda’s Konstantin Stanislavsky Russian Drama Theatre stage Feb. 23-24, reports its press service. In his October address, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev called for “special attention to be paid to the development of inbound and domestic tourism by drawing on the country’s…
Electronic sports academy to launch in the capital
ASTANA – The Digital Kazakhstan state programme will launch an electronic sports academy in the capital. The academy will offer master classes, tournaments and trainings on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive for 12 to 20 year olds. Parents will also learn about e-sports and how to best support their children, reports the programme’s press service. E-sports are…
Silk Roads are central to understanding global history and modern world, says Oxford historian
ASTANA – Historically, the Silk Roads featured overlooked but central networks of ideas, goods, languages, religions and diseases, an observation that still holds importance, said Oxford University Professor of Global History Peter Frankopan in an interview with The Astana Times. The British historian authored the 2015 international bestseller “The Silk Roads: A New History of…
Kazakh-Slovak cooperation in 2019 to centre on trade, OSCE chairmanship and Central Asia, says Slovak envoy
ASTANA – In the year ahead, Slovakia and Kazakhstan are aiming to boost trade turnover and tourism, share international organisation leadership experiences and address problems faced by Central Asian countries, said Slovak Ambassador to Kazakhstan Milan Kollár in an interview with The Astana Times. “Throughout these years of bilateral relations, we were fortunate enough to…
Czech Bílek appointed head coach of Kazakh national football team
ASTANA – Czech football manager and former player Michal Bílek was appointed Jan. 17 head coach of the Kazakh national football team, a post formerly occupied by Bulgarian football manager Stanimir Stoilov, reports the Kazakhstan Football Federation. Playing as right midfielder, Bílek represented Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic and played 35 matches, scoring 11 goals…
Kazakh capital’s Paralympic Training Centre offers free facilities to those with disabilities
ASTANA – The capital’s Paralympic Training Centre began allowing Jan. 1 free access to its facilities for people with disabilities, reports the city akimat (administration) press service. The Paralympic Training Centre opened in July as part of the Tugan Zher (Motherland) state programme and is located at 2 Akshoky Lane in the Karaotkel Microdistrict. “The…
