King of Jordan awarded inaugural Nazarbayev Prize during visit to Kazakhstan

ASTANA – King Abdullah II of Jordan was awarded the Nazarbayev Prize for a Nuclear-Weapons-Free World and Global Security during his Nov. 1 official visit to Kazakhstan....


Kazakh scientist invents drug testing device in UK

ASTANA – Kazakh chemist Gabit Nurumbetov, the principal scientist for Medherant, the U.K.-based company that produces next-generation drug delivery patches, has invented a new device for testing...


826-km Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway launches operations

ASTANA – The 826-km Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway route launched operations Oct. 30 with an opening ceremony at the Baku International Sea Trade Port in Baku, Azerbaijan, according...


Kazakh investigators reopen case into banker’s death in 2004

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General’s Office has reopened the investigation into the death of prominent banker Yerzhan Tatishev, who was shot during a hunt in December 2004....


Astana Opera star to perform Carmen

ASTANA – Kazakh mezzo-soprano Dina Khamzina will perform the title role in “Carmen” at the Astana Opera. The premier of the George Bizet classic will be staged...


Kazakh government meeting addresses State Industrial and Innovative Development Programme, Astana development

ASTANA – Eighteen additional industrial projects worth 399 billion tenge (US$1.19 billion) are expected to be launched in a Dec. 6 teleconference involving President Nursultan Nazarbayev. They...


Kazakhstan drops one spot on Doing Business report, shows progress in separate areas

ASTANA – Kazakhstan was ranked 36th on the Doing Business 2018 report released Oct. 31, one point lower compared with last year’s ranking. In separate instances, however,...


Venture fund for financing start-ups to be based on AIFC

ASTANA – A venture fund providing early financing for start-ups will be created based on the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), said Ministry of Education and Science...


Kazakh President thanks UAE Crown Prince for support

ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev thanked the United Arab Emirates for its support during an Oct. 24 meeting in Abu Dhabi with the Crown Prince of...


Kazakhstan to switch to Latin alphabet by 2025

ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree Oct. 26 to change the existing Kazakh alphabet to Latin-based script. The corresponding document was published Oct. 27...


World Bank organised storytelling event to raise awareness and address poverty

ASTANA – The World Bank marked International Day for the Eradication of Poverty Oct. 27 with the storytelling event “Talking for Change.” A number of compassionate speakers...


Rule of Law in Kazakhstan

There is much to see and much to learn for legal tourists nowadays – when travelling in what Europeans use to designate as the East, but also...


Kazakhstan’s association of businesswomen presents gender budgeting project

ASTANA – The Association of Businesswomen of Kazakhstan presented a project to introduce gender budgeting in the nation at the Oct. 25 roundtable involving representatives of the...


Kazakh team prepares for ASBC women’s championship

ASTANA – The Kazakh national team is training for the Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) Women’s Boxing Championships, to be held Nov. 2-10 in Ho Chi Minh City,...


Eurasian Intergovernmental Council agrees on member state digitisation programme, transportation policy

ASTANA –The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council (EIC), bringing together the heads of government of EAEU member states, signed agreements Oct. 25 in Yerevan advancing Eurasian Economic Union efforts...


Yandex.Lyceum launches in Kazakhstan

ASTANA – Yandex, Russia’s largest technology company, launched its Yandex.Lyceum computer programming educational programme in early October in physics and mathematics schools in the capital and Almaty....


Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA): what’s in the name?

If the territory of all 26 member states was painted on the world map in one colour, it would cover the space from the Pacific Ocean to...


Astana launches design contest for 36-acre island in heart of city

ASTANA – The Astana city government recently announced a custom architectural town planning contest for the development of a sketch idea for the Oriental City facility. The...


A New Era of Cooperation for Central Asia

Central Asia is a dynamic and fast-changing region. Over the past couple of decades, it has shown that increased regional cooperation is indispensable to achieving development goals....


Kazakhstan and Germany: 25 years of cooperation

Before I came to Kazakhstan in 2011 as the Ambassador of Germany, I had been an ambassador to a big African country, which gained its independence in...


Kazakhstan’s efforts aimed at long-term stabilisation of Afghan situation

At the present time, issues of stabilisation of the situation in Afghanistan draw the attention of the entire international community. Long-term stability of the Central Asian region...


China Studies Centre opens in Astana

ASTANA – Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) recently opened a China Studies Centre in the Library of the First President of Kazakhstan. “This morning ...


Cryptocurrencies are natural evolution of payment systems, says expert

ASTANA – The popularity of cryptocurrencies, and the scepticism around them, are, paradoxically, on the rise. In an interview with The Astana Times, Nazarbayev University School of...


Kazakhstan opens representative office in Skolkovo

ASTANA – The Autonomous Cluster Fund “Park of Innovative Technologies” has opened a representative office in Russia’s Skolkovo Technopark to support cooperation between Kazakh and Russian high...


Digital Kazakhstan programme key to country’s development

The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) signed a memorandum of cooperation in October with EXANTE, a Maltese technology investment company, signalling their intention to cooperate on new...


OECD Eurasia Week in Almaty, first in region, focuses on openness and diversification

ASTANA – OECD Eurasia Week under the theme Openness for Shared Prosperity took place in Almaty Oct. 23-25 for the first time outside the organisation’s headquarters in...


One millionth tonne of cargo shipped from Kuryk port

ASTANA – The one millionth tonne of cargo left Kuryk port Oct. 19 for the Azerbaijani port of Baku. The Kuryk port, launched in December, is under...


Kazakhfilm starts filming Kazakh Khanate second season

ASTANA – Kazakhfilm has begun shooting the second season of its large-scale historical series about the Kazakh Khanate. The project, commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and...


Kazakhstan’s way to space: realities and prospects

ASTANA – The international forum “Kazakhstan’s Way to Space: Realities and Prospects-2017,” held Oct. 19 in the capital, commemorated 60 years since the launch of the first...


CIS to create common photobank

ASTANA – The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will be creating a common photobank available to member states. The idea was approved at the 23rd CIS Heads...