Kazakhstan, China Ink $14 billion in Cooperation Deals

ASTANA – Kazakhstan Prime Minister Karim Massimov and his Chinese counterpart, Premier of the State Council Li Keqiang approved and signed $14 billion worth of accords on...


Kazakh Language Now Part of Google Translate Services

ASTANA – The Kazakh language is now among the offerings of the Google Translate online global translating system, founder and director of theWikiBilim Public Foundation Rauan Kenzhekhanuly...


Astana Joins in Condemnation of Peshawar Attack

ASTANA – Kazakhstan “strongly condemns the act of terrorism committed in the Pakistani city of Peshawar on Dec. 16,” the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in...


Nuclear, Other Energy Sector Agreements Reached during Chinese Premier’s Visit

ASTANA – Several important memoranda, including a memorandum to deepen atomic cooperation, were signed Dec. 14 during the official meeting of the Kazakh-Chinese Council, where Kazakh Prime...


FM Idrissov’s Visit to Washington Solidifies Kazakhstan-U.S. Partnership

WASHINGTON, DC – Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov visited the United States on Dec. 10-11 to meet with top American officials to advance bilateral relations and discuss...


SCO Prime Ministers Discuss Increasing Economic Cooperation at Council in Astana

ASTANA – The heads of the governments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) states met in Astana’s Palace of Independence on Dec.15 to examine ways to deepen...


Kazakh Wins Women’s Mogul Freestyle World Cup in Finland

Yulia Galysheva of Kazakhstan won the gold medal in dual moguls at the freestyle skiing World Cup races Dec. 13 in Ruka, Finland. Galysheva finished ahead of...


Rixos Astana Celebrates International Tango Day with Party

ASTANA – Rixos President Astana held a Friend’s Party for partners and colleagues Dec. 11 as a way to show gratitude for their camaraderie and cooperation. The...


EBRD to Lend $30 Million in Tenge to Private Rail Company

The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will lend the equivalent of $30 million in the local currency, the tenge, to Kazakhstan’s Eastcomtrans rail company to...


Italy, Vatican Express Interest in Participating in EXPO 2017

Italian government and business leaders expressed interest in EXPO 2017 during a Dec. 9-10 visit to Rome by Kazakh First Deputy Foreign Minister Rapil Zhoshybayev. During the...


Major Almaty-Area Road Project Presented to Investors in London

The Big Almaty Ring Road (BAKAD) project concept was presented Dec. 9 to British investors at the headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)...


Increasing Efficiency in Kazakhstan’s Public Sector with a Shared Service Model

The Civil Service Reform Project, an EU-funded project with an overall budget of 4.6 million euros, has delivered seminars on best practices in civil service management in...


President Visits South Kazakhstan, Reviews Region’s Economic and Energy Development

President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited on Dec. 4 South Kazakhstan and its capital Shymkent, which is Kazakhstan’s third most populous city and is expected to become a national...


President Nazarbayev Calls on Youth to ‘Do Science’

ASTANA – Kazakh President NursultanNazarbayev highlighted the importance of government backing for innovative research Dec. 8 when he attended a conference on the issue in the TechGarden...


New Italian Ambassador Seeks to Diversify Long-Standing Ties

ASTANA – Stefano Ravagnan, Italy’s new ambassador in Astana, has plans to reinforce and formalise his country’s long-standing engagement with Kazakhstan, expanding the two countries’ traditional energy...


ALSTOM doubles its stake in Kazakh locomotive joint venture EKZ

ASTANA – Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) and ALSTOM signed an agreement Dec. 5 for the latter to purchase an additional 25 percent stake in EKZ, its Kazakh locomotive...


Hollande’s Visit to Kazakhstan: Education in Focus, Finally

French President François Hollande visited Astana and Almaty on Dec. 5-6. This is the third visit of a French president to Kazakhstan, after François Mitterrand in 1993...


French President Visits Astana, Commends Kazakhstan’s ‘Special Role’ in Eurasia

ASTANA – French President Francois Hollande commended Kazakhstan for “successfully pursuing its goals in economic development” and playing “an important political and diplomatic role” that allows Astana...


ESCAP, Kazakhstan to Promote Renewable Energy in Pacific Islands

BANGKOK – Kazakhstan and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) signed a new trust fund agreement Dec. 3 that provides...


OSCE FMs Discuss Ukraine, Other Challenges as Serbia Prepares to Accept Chairmanship

Foreign ministers from Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) participating states assembled in Basel on Dec. 4-5 for the annual Ministerial Council meeting to assess...


Young Kazakh Footballers Compete in Spain

ASTANA – Twelve young football players from Astana travelled to Soria, Spain, from Nov. 1 – 10 to play in the first Spanish-Kazakh youth football tournament. The...


Winter Sports Season Begins in Astana

ASTANA – Astana doesn’t lack for snow or cold weather, but with a paucity of slopes, one would be forgiven for thinking skating or cross-country skiing the...


Yurt Construction, Dombra Song Performance Added to UNESCO Heritage List

The ninth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage reviewed new strategies to implement its goals and report on the status of eight...


ISTC to be Headquartered at Nazarbayev University in 2015

GAITHERSBURG, MD – The International Science and Technology Centre (ISTC), a multigovernment nonproliferation programme established in 1992, is moving its headquarters from Moscow to Astana’s Nazarbayev University...


EBRD supports improving energy efficiency at cement plant in Shymkent

ASTANA – The London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting improving energy efficiency in Kazakhstan by facilitating foreign direct investment in the refurbishment of...


Publisher Hopes Literature in English Can Unite Europe, Central Asia

ASTANA – Publisher Marat Akmedjanov took his first steps in the industry with a magazine intended to draw tourists to his native Uzbekistan. Now he’s at the...


Prominent Poet Stresses Spirituality and Morality As Way Forward for Kazakhstan

President Nursultan Nazarbayev has said that the fate of peoples who don’t honour their own histories will always be in doubt. Olzhas Suleimenov, prominent poet, social and...


National news in brief

“Seventy-seven percent of children pre-school education in Kazakhstan,” Minister Aslan Sarinzhipov said at a Nov. 28 extended collegium of the Ministry of Education and...


External news in brief

Kairat Abdrakhmanov and Carlos Agostinho Filomeno das Nieves, the permanent representatives of Kazakhstan and Sao Tome and Principe, respectively, to the United Nations, signed a joint communiqué...


Economic news in brief

On Nov. 25, Prime Minister Karim Massimov took part in a Senate meeting. During discussion of the law On the National Budget for 2015-2017, Massimov answered a...