c 20 (158) kazakh president urges ... · officials, including president of serbia aleksandar vucic,...

+8° / -2°C No 20 (158) www.astanatimes.comWEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2018

INSIDE

While in Brussels, President Nursultan Nazarbayev met with (clockwise from top left) King of the Belgians Philippe, President Emmanuel Macron of France, President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, among other leaders.

NATIONGovernment approves draft National Action Plan to increase citizens’ welfare A2Highly qualified civil servants are driving force of economic growth, says academy rector A2

ECONOMY&BUSINESSWorld Bank to provide $500 million loan, consulting to develop agricultural industry A4AIFC opens centre to increase investor literacy A5

EDITORIALKazakh President sounds urgent call for international cooperation A6

OPINIONSJALMUKHANOV: Launch of Islamic Organisation for Food Security to bring results A7KUSPAN: Kazakhstan can be crucial link in ASEM connectivity endeavours A7

NATION&CAPITALGender equality trends are promising, society needs to engage more, say experts B1Kazakh Tourism promotes six travel directions in TV series B6

US$ 1 = 365.49 KZT € 1 = 420.35 KZT 1 = 5.6 KZT

Congress of religious leaders discusses role of religion in building peace

By Assel Satubaldina

ASTANA – The Sixth Con-gress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions kicked off Oct. 10 in Astana gathering more than 80 delegations, representa-tives of Buddhism, Christianity,

Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Tao-ism and Zoroastrianism, repre-sentatives of religious and pub-lic organisations and high-level officials, including President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, who was on his official visit to Ka-zakhstan.

The congress, convened for the

first time in 2003, is organised every three years and this year marks the 15th anniversary with the topic “Religious Leaders for a Safe World.”

Opening the third Council of Religious Leaders one day prior, Congress Secretariat Chair and Kazakh Senate Chair Kassym-

Jomart Tokayev noted the po-tential of the Astana meetings to address old problems and with the “new political era, with all its geopolitical, legal, interna-tional and ideological changes,” the need to bring new meaning to the council activities.

Continued on Page A8

Youth are key to enhancing national

competitiveness, note Mazhilis members

By Dilshat Zhussupova

ASTANA – Investing in youth is crucial for fostering an economi-cally dynamic, peaceful, inclu-sive and sustainable society for the future, concluded the Kazakh Mazhilis (lower house of Parlia-ment) members at the Oct. 19-20 conference “Investing in Youth: Leaving No One Behind” held in the capital.

The conference was organised by the Mazhilis, Ministry for Social Development and Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD). Partici-pants from more than 35 countries gathered to discuss current issues affecting the rights and interests of young people and exchange legis-lative experience on creating and implementing state programmes on youth development.

The Kazakh population cur-rently includes approximately four million people aged 14-29, 2.3 million of whom live in cities and 1.7 million in rural areas. Accord-ing to the 2016 Global Youth De-velopment Index, the nation ranks 61st among 183 countries.

“The most progressive and ac-tively developing countries rely on young people, recognising that their expenditure is an investment in the future,” said Mazhilis chairperson Nurlan Nigmatulin. “Kazakh youth are an important factor in enhanc-ing national competitiveness.”

In his state-of-the-nation address, “Growing welfare of Kazakh citi-zens: increase in income and quality of life,” President Nursultan Naz-arbayev singled out the comprehen-sive support of young people as a state policy priority and proposed 2019 as the Year of the Youth.


Kazakhstan retains position in WEF ranking

By Saltanat Boteu

ASTANA – Kazakhstan ranked 59th, maintaining last year’s po-sition, on the recently-published World Economic Forum (WEF) 2018 Global Competitiveness In-dex (GCI). The Centre for Strate-gic Initiatives (CSI) held a press conference Oct. 17 to elabo-rate on the report, with director Bakhytzhan Sarkeyev and senior partner Olzhas Khudaibergenov answering questions.

Kazakhstan has participated in the rating since 2006. From 2007-2011, its rating remained between 60-70 and improved to 42nd from 2012-2015.

“Kazakhstan took 57nd place last year according to the former methodology. The ranking im-proved from 53rd to 57th place. By

the new methodology, the ranking was reviewed to 59th last year and remained the same this year,” said Khudaibergenov.

The rating is composed of 98 indi-cators. Kazakhstan improved in 50, weakened in 34 and remained the same in 14. The country’s advantag-es are the labour market (30th place) and dynamic business (37th), while it is weaker in its financial system (100th), healthcare system (97th) and innovation potential (87th).

A significant improvement is noted in institutions, which rose by 12 positions to 61st place, and the goods market, which rose by ten positions to 57th place. The largest decline is noted in education and skills, falling five positions to 57th place, and the healthcare system, which fell three positions to 97th place.


Kazakh President urges dialogue at ASEM Summit to resolve global conflicts

By Elya Altynsarina and Ramazan Keleshek

BRUSSELS – Kazakh Presi-dent Nursultan Nazarbayev urged European and Asian leaders at the Oct. 18-19 Asia-Europe Meet-ing (ASEM) Summit in Brussels to avoid escalating current global conflicts.

“The number of conflicts is growing in different corners of the world. Due to sanctions and trade wars on the rise, international politics have become tense,” Naz-arbayev began his speech at the

plenary session on Oct. 19, urging ASEM “to effectively solve these issues.”

He compared the current con-frontations to the Cuban crisis in 1962 as NATO is now expanding its frontiers to the borders of Rus-sia.

The global community should call upon the United States, Rus-sia, China, and the European Un-ion “to realise their responsibility to humankind and look for the path to resolve international confronta-tions,” as a condition to promote inclusive sustainable productivity, Nazarbayev said. “Regretfully, the

international community is falling short of such dialogue and mutual understanding.”

The Kazakh President noted that unless major countries start a dia-logue, confrontations will escalate problems in places such as Syria, Ukraine, and international terror-ism will continue threatening the world as long as the proliferation of ballistic missiles remain possible.

“Everyone is aware that national leaders before us have managed to find understanding after World War II, at the time of bloody wars and in combating terrorism. This is also the demand of this time,”

he told the gathering, which was themed Global Partners for Global Challenges.

“I call upon leaders of the above mentioned countries (the U.S., Russia, China, and the EU) to get together to discuss these burning problems. Perhaps a UN special session should be called for this matter. If need be, we stand pre-pared to offer Astana as a platform for such a meeting,” he declared reaffirming Kazakhstan’s readi-ness to cooperate in countering the global challenges facing Europe and Asia.


Astana Hub seeks to become regional innovation centre

By Aidana Yergaliyeva

ASTANA – Astana Hub envi-sions developing from a country-level support for start-up projects to a regional innovation centre for the entire global IT commu-nity, said Pavel Koktyshev, Zerde Holding Deputy Chairperson of National Information and Com-munication.

Many start-ups, even the most promising ones, must often termi-nate their work in the very early stages, as they have difficulty find-ing more experienced mentors and community and financial support. Thus, state support tools like Astana Hub are essential to create the right ecosystem and start-up culture.

“A startup is the beginning of entrepreneurial history. [It is] a stage when a business model is only groped, when an entrepreneur explores the relevance of the idea and the reaction of the client,” said Koktyshev.

One of the hub’s main achieve-ments together with the state is the law on venture financing, which entered into force July 21. With the new law, Astana Hub is gain-ing more popularity among foreign participants, as it eased visa proce-dures and employment regimes for them in the fledgling technopark. In addition, the government is working on a new draft law that should exempt foreign participants from certain taxes.

The hub has been actively pro-moted at international IT confer-ences, forums and exhibitions. This year, its start-ups visited the TIBO exhibition in Minsk and were invited to the Echelon Asia Summit in Singapore.

“This is how the guys get ac-quainted with the international ecosystem, assess the reaction of the external market, establish net-working and present their business model.


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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2018

NATIONNATIONAL

NEWS IN BRIEFGovernment approves draft National Action Plan to increase citizens’ welfare


ASTANA – The approved draft of the National Action Plan in-cludes approximately 100 events in the six key state development areas highlighted in Kazakh Presi-dent Nursultan Nazarbayev’s re-cent address, reported Minister of National Economy Timur Sulei-menov at the Oct. 9 governmental meeting.

“In general, the timely imple-mentation of the National Plan will ensure the effective imple-mentation of the instructions given by the head of state in the state-of-the-nation address, [which is] aimed at improving the welfare of the people and laying the foundation for ensur-

ing socio-economic stability in the country,” he said.

As the title of the address “Grow-ing Welfare of Kazakh citizens: Increase in Income and Quality of Life” suggested, the foremost goal is improving the welfare and average income of the population. The government is considering action on 24 new measures that should push for improvements to increase incomes and create new employment opportunities. One of those measures is the gradual hike in the minimum wage starting Jan. 1, 2019.

“In order to protect people’s in-comes, changes will be made to the legislation to ensure transpar-ency of the tariff setting mecha-nism and the use of public utility services. In order to effectively

support business, the Business Road Map programme will be ex-tended until 2025,” he added.

The ministry noted additional 24 events will focus on education and healthcare. The government identified the shortage of student places that resulted in three-shift schools in the regions as the main impediment in the former area. By the end of the year, the govern-ment will begin constructing new schools to eliminate the inconven-ience.

The healthcare sector will have three fundamental changes. Be-ginning Jan. 1, fully digitised medical records should improve the quality of medical services in clinics and hospitals and a com-mittee will be created to control the quality and safety of medical

goods and services. The respec-tive ministry also plans to con-struct a national scientific oncol-ogy centre in the capital equipped with the most advanced technol-ogy.

A programme to develop the regions through 2025 will be in-troduced next year with a detailed plan to manage the allocated funds and organise events and projects. The programme should control urbanisation and over-all territorial organisation, said Suleimenov.

The Nurly Zhol and Nurly Zher state programmes will continue functioning as outlined and should improve transport system and housing construction.

Regarding social security, he spoke about plans for a new road-

map to modernise internal affairs bodies. It entails introducing a new format for working with the public and providing safety monitoring systems. The roadmap should, as he noted, “reduce re-dundant judicial procedures” and ensure citizens’ safety.

Nineteen events will be directed towards establishing improved understanding between the state and civil society. The new pro-gramme, Leader of the New For-mation, will work to explain the concrete measures and results of state policies.

Next year will be designated as the Year of Youth and the Ruhani Zhangyru (Modernisation of Ka-zakhstan’s Identity) programme will add projects to support the nation’s younger citizens.

Astana to host first forum encouraging leadership among rural women


ASTANA – The capital will mark the International Day of Rural Women by organising the first forum Nov. 8-9 gathering successful businesswomen who are contributing to the sustain-able development of Kazakh vil-lages.

Just like in many other coun-tries, the progress in overall gender equality in Kazakhstan is sound in bigger cities such as the capital and Almaty, while region-al villages and towns are left out of the conversation.

“We tried to collect some ana-lytical material ourselves and found out that in all regions there are only 985 rural districts, 171 of them are headed by women – this is 17.3 percent,” said EXPO & WOMEN Executive Director Lyazzat Askarova.

The UN General Assembly des-ignated Oct. 15 as the Internation-al Day of Rural Women to raise awareness. In response, the social organisation EXPO & WOMEN and G-Global, a coalition for a green economy and development, have joined efforts in organising the forum to better integrate rural women into the Kazakh economy. The event will support women’s leadership through various tools

such as active discussions, con-tests and workshops.

“[It will] show achievements and contributions of women in the state agro-industrial programme, as well as motivate women and their involvement in a green econ-omy; the introduction of organic agriculture and various forms of rural employment,” said Mayra Aysina, a Mazhilis (lower house of Parliament) deputy and chair-person of the forum, at the Oct. 12 Central Communications Service briefing.

The Kazakh government has made developing the agro-indus-trial sector one of the main pri-orities on its state agenda. Those living in rural areas comprise 42.5 percent of the population, more than half of which are women. Thus, the forum is a tool to en-gage a significant number of peo-ple and achieve its aim of making the agro-industry the next indus-trial revolution.

Women delegations of ten in-dividuals from each region will attend the forum. They will rep-resent a range of fields and sec-tors such as district akims (may-ors) and heads of private and public entities in farming and education.

“One of the important results will be the development of rec-ommendations for the National

Action Strategy for Rural Wom-en. This task is not an easy one, but it corresponds to world trends, including the UN programmes,” said Askarova.

The delegates will discuss the biggest challenges for women in the countryside such as partici-pating in elections, employment, introducing sustainable mecha-nisms of governance and using green technologies in agribusi-nesses.

The forum will also showcase success stories of rural women. They are creating multidiscipli-nary farms, engaged in charity, run public associations and main-tain houses for lonely elderly peo-ple and crisis centres for women and families in difficult life situ-ations.

The forum will close with a ceremonial announcement of the results of the Coca-Cola Belesteri national contest. The ten rural women with the most innovative, profitable and environmentally friendly business ideas will re-ceive grants of $4,000 to realise them.

Rural women aspire to partici-pate in Australia’s annual World Rural Women’s Forum in April 2019.

“We think that for women it will be a good motivation for suc-cessful activity,” said Askarova.

Continued from Page A1

Kazakhstan’s youth policy is designed to create the condi-tions for the younger generation’s comprehensive development, participation in the decision-making process and socialisation. Its priorities include addressing the 3.9 percent youth unemploy-ment rate.

Additional issues include sui-cide rates and early motherhood. More than 5,000 girls aged 15-18 become pregnant each year, with every fourth opting for an abor-tion, according to Minister of So-cial Development Darkhan Kale-tayev.

“In Kazakhstan, there is an ob-served decrease in the suicide rate of people aged 14-28, from 970 in 2015 to 818 in 2017. Still, the rates are very high,” he said.

Socio-economic programmes, projects and initiatives include the Bolashak International Scholar-ship, Yenbek programme, Serpin project, Green Country project, With a Degree to the Village! pro-ject, 210 youth resource centres and various youth research cen-tres.

Panel discussions at the confer-

ence included “Expanding Op-portunities for Education and Em-ployment of Youth and Improving Linkages and Transitions,” “Im-proving the Health and Wellbeing of Youth through Universal Ac-cess to Health Information, Edu-cation and Services,” “Promoting the Full Participation of Youth in Civil, Political and Social Affairs” and “Opportunities and Risks for Youth in the Context of Globalisa-tion.”

Conference attendees included Kazakh Mazhilis deputy chair-person Gulmira Issimbayeva, former Japanese Prime Minister and AFPPD chairperson Yasuo Fukuda, Kyrgyz Jogorku Kenesh deputy speaker Boriy Alikhanov, United Nations (UN) Population Fund deputy regional director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Ian McFarlane, Japanese Ambas-sador to Kazakhstan Ichiro Kawa-bata and UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pa-cific’s Social Development Divi-sion Social Affairs officer Marco Roncarati.

An outcome document, includ-ing the contributions of all partici-pants, was presented for adoption at the conclusion.

Youth are key to enhancing national competitiveness...

Highly qualified civil servants are driving force of economic growth, says academy rector

By Zhanna Shayakhmetova

ASTANA – Professor Fatima Zhakypova, rector of the Public Administration Academy under the Kazakh President, says her academy is working to adapt the education it offers to a fast-chang-ing world as it also introduces new approaches to civil service train-ing.

“Transformations in education reflect changes in society and show the sustainable trends of its development. Transformations in education are subject to the ac-celerating course of history as the first of ten global challenges of the 21st century, said [Kazakh President] Nursultan Nazarbayev in the Kazakhstan 2050 strategy. The role of universities, conditions of their sustainable development and degree of their academic and managerial independence are the inevitable issues that require un-derstanding of the process of cre-ating a stable society,” she said in an interview for this story.

The recent amendments and changes to some legislative acts as part of the Step 78 of the 100 Con-crete Steps Plan of the Nation pro-vide unique opportunities for the universities. The time has come for

real university transformation, for pragmatic and systemic manage-ment by professional and cohesive teams of like-minded people.

A career orientation programme is one of the main expectations of today’s education. These expecta-tions are in demand when break-through technologies change soci-etal life dramatically and in a short time. A personalised programme is about a whole range of innovations and not just about a change in the names of disciplines in the curric-ulum or signing of memorandums with partners.

Today’s requirements for civil service competence and the neces-sity to create a professional and

innovative civil state apparatus be-came the starting point at the acad-emy in developing new approach-es to prepare civil servants. The training focuses on current prob-lems in forming an effective state apparatus. The academy’s special status made it possible to compre-hensively transform its activities in light of current trends and develop its own approaches to training and retraining civil servants.

“We developed new master’s and doctoral programmes in pub-lic policy, public administration, public management, digital public administration, public administra-tion and law, economics, regional development, international rela-tions and anti-corruption policy. They are designed to meet the competences provided in the Com-mon Framework of Competences. Courses are conducted in Kazakh, Russian and English,” said Zhaky-pova.

Each educational programme is closely related to a certain official position. Their targeted improve-ment is relevant, because highly qualified personnel are drivers of economic growth.

The academy introduced a sys-tem of interactive discussion and training instead of traditional lec-tures and seminars.

“We do not use the formal as-sessment of knowledge and prefer the assessment of learning out-comes and competencies based on individual and group presenta-tions, project development, case studies, essays and analytical re-ports,” she added.

Graduate students develop focus projects on specific topics, which can be used in the activities of state bodies. As a result, the master’s graduation project aims to solve a complex problem in public admin-istration and differs significantly from a thesis.

“We also changed the applica-tion process and introduced a new three-step procedure for admission in 2017. At the first stage, appli-cants are required to provide an international foreign language test (APTIS, IELTS, TOEFL). This, in turn, increased the motivation to learn English by government of-ficials,” she said.

Motivational essays and a per-sonal statement are necessary at the second stage and rather than a test, the final stage includes an interview and case decision. This approach allows identifying in-dividual learning abilities, future career opportunities and further contribution.

“We organise a development

day on Fridays. It features lectures on topical issues of state develop-ment, seminars on professional growth, intellectual games and even sports events. Also, we hold the Kyzmet-talk, a talk show in a TED format, dedicated to the problems of statehood and man-agement. We invite public figures and scientists to deliver lectures. We noticed that our team became inspired to create and implement new initiatives,” she said.

The Centre for Development of Project Management in Public Ad-ministration is designed to become a methodological and educational project management hub. The academy will provide support in introducing project management in state bodies.

Last year, the institution devel-oped the Digital Academy pro-ject to promote technological and managerial solutions and online training using digital educational resources. The project, now part of the Digital Kazakhstan state programme, will be the basis for transforming the academy into an IT competency centre for civil servants and will contribute to suc-cessfully implementing priorities for digitising public service aimed at improving the welfare of soci-ety.

Professor Fatima Zhakypova

The fourth annual meeting of the Astana Club will be held Nov. 12 and 13 at the Nazarbayev Centre. The discussion platform and politi-cal forum will bring together more than 50 experts, politicians and diplomats from 30 countries to ex-plore this year’s theme, Building a Global Future for a Greater Eura-sia. “The choice of topic is guided by trends like increasing isolation-ism, trade and sanctions wars and new safety threats that can be seen in Eurasia and around the world. Experts will pay special attention to the potential of the new strate-gic architecture arising in Eurasia as the world shifts to a multi-po-lar power balance and medium-sized powers are strengthened – no longer objects, but subjects in a new geopolitical reality. The club’s panel sessions will consider various scenarios for the future of Greater Eurasia, prospects for the development of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the Eurasian Eco-nomic Union and actual transfor-mation processes in Central Asia,” a press release from the Astana Club explains. Many sessions are held according to Chatham House rules that maintain anonymity of expert opinions.

South Africa-based global de-fence and aerospace business Para-mount Group will invest in the land, maritime and aerospace technolo-gy production lines of Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering (KPE), according to a Paramount Group press release. With this expansion, the company plans to achieve the vision of President Nursultan Naz-arbayev to establish Kazakhstan as a serious global player in the defence industry. “Our partner-ship in Kazakhstan represents one of our most successful ventures to date. We have for some time looked forward to the opportunity to further invest in KPE capabili-ties, building on the tremendous successes of our armoured land ve-hicle manufacturing in-country and KPE’s recent graduation to the role of global supply chain provider of land solutions,” said Ivor Ichikow-itz, founder and executive chair of Paramount Group.

A new high-speed train connect-ing Almaty and Turkestan will be launched in November, reports Khabar 24. The train will depart on Friday from Almaty and return on Sunday. “Passengers have the opportunity to take a walk around Turkestan, to see the unique ar-chitecture and major sights of the ancient city in two days. They can also spend the night on the train without booking a hotel. The pro-ject initiators plan to open a daily route between Almaty and Turke-stan,” reads the release.

The Salamatty Kazakhstan and Densaulyk medical train teams have provided free medical exami-nations for more than 17,000 resi-dents of Kazakhstan and conducted more than 16,000 diagnostic proce-dures in four regions since Septem-ber, according to the Samruk Ka-zyna press service. The campaign covered 52 stations in the Kostanai, Pavlodar, Atyrau and Mangystau regions. “Most importantly, special-ists examined residents of remote stations. Small outpatient surger-ies and dental services were pro-vided. Some 2,764 children were among those examined. Doctors will examine approximately 40,000 people by the end of December,” said Samruk Kazyna Trust Social Projects Development Fund repre-sentative Miras Irgebayev.

Forbes reports that the Kazakh Ministry of Defence developed a Unified Bank of Geospatial Infor-mation Oct. 18. It is based on the integration of digital map data and aerospace survey data converted into a single format. “The project will include cartographic and other geospatial data and infrastructure information and serve as the basic platform of information decision support systems for the Armed Forces, other troops and military formations. It provides geospatial information to increase the effi-ciency of decisions made and to reduce the time needed to collect information about terrain under battle conditions,” said a ministry representative.

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EURASIA&WORLDEXTERNAL

NEWS IN BRIEF

Serbian president visits Kazakhstan, attends business forum and religious congress

By Malika Orazgaliyeva

ASTANA – While visiting Ka-zakhstan Oct. 9-10, President of Serbia Alexander Vucic met with President Nursultan Nazarbayev, took part in the Kazakhstan-Serbia Business Forum and addressed the Sixth Congress of Leaders of the World and Traditional religions.

According to Nazarbayev, Ka-zakhstan and Serbia have dynami-cally developing relations.

“Our meetings demonstrate that the two countries are interested in deepening mutual cooperation. First of all, we need to focus on deepening trade and economic co-operation. Our economies comple-ment each other, we are ready to expand the range of products sup-plied,” he said.

Nazarbayev named priority ar-eas for cooperation between Ka-zakhstan and Serbia.

“We have set new tasks for the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation. The priority areas for cooperation include agriculture, industry, con-struction, transport, and energy. We are interested in creating infra-

structure for accelerated delivery of goods between Asia and Eu-rope,” he noted.

The President of Kazakhstan added that negotiations on the cre-ation of a free trade zone between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Serbia are underway.

The sides discussed regional and international issues. Nazarbayev thanked Vucic for taking part in the Sixth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions held in Astana on Oct. 10-11.

“I hope we will strengthen our

cooperation in the future and in-crease our commodity turnover because there is a good foundation of unused potential. We would like you to open the Kazakh Embassy in Belgrade. It is our big request,” Vucic told Nazarbayev.

“I would like to express my grat-itude for your solid position in the protection of vital and national in-terests of Serbia, especially those concerning Kosovo issues. Thank you very much for your support of our territorial integrity, independ-ence and sovereignty,” he added.

In Vucic’s view, Astana is the most modern city in Central Asia.

“I am delighted with the success achieved by Kazakhstan thanks to President Nazarbayev, his clear vi-sion, energy and dedication. I sin-cerely hope that you will achieve your goal, defined in the Strategy Kazakhstan 2050, for Kazakhstan to join the 30 most developed eco-nomic of the world,” Vucic said, as he addressed the joint press con-ference together with Nazarbayev.

The Kazakh President awarded Vucic the prestigious Order of Dostyk (Friendship) of the 1st degree and the Serbian President awarded the Kazakh leader with the Order of the Republic of Serbia of the 1st degree.

Following the meeting with Nazarbayev, Vucic took part in the Kazakhstan-Serbia Business Forum, which gathered approxi-mately 200 officials and business people from the two countries. The largest Serbian companies, such as Algotech, Chemical Agrosava, Akomed, Adanko, Meat ING Bel-grade, Veterinary institute and Belgrade Airport took part in the event.

A number of documents were

signed following the forum be-tween the two countries’ ministries and companies.

At the religious forum, Vucic pointed out that it was necessary for believers of traditional reli-gions to understand that “everyone has one God, believes in similar things and has the same values.”

“This is a good opportunity for people from different parts of the world to come and try to exchange attitudes that influence having more rational relationships in the world, simply for peace to be the one that will prevail. I am hon-oured to be able to attend the gath-ering on behalf of Serbia and say a few words,” Vucic said.

In 2017, the volume of Kazakh-stan-Serbia mutual trade reached $41.9 million, whereas in 2016 it was $26.4 million.

In the period between Janu-ary and July 2018, the turnover reached $16.8 million.

Kazakhstan exports copper to Serbia and imports wooden, glass items and chemical products.

There are 33 Kazakh-Serbian joint enterprises functioning in Ka-zakhstan’s construction and trade sectors.

Nazarbayev meets with Finnish President, business leaders in Helsinki

By Malika Orazgaliyeva and Karlygash Akhatova

HELSINKI – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed energy, education, green science and other areas of cooperation with Finnish President Sauli Ni-inistö and Finnish business leaders during an Oct.16-17 official visit to Helsinki.

The two leaders witnessed the signing of a memorandum of un-derstanding on strategic partner-ship in energy and green econo-my between the Kazakh Ministry of Energy and the Finnish Min-istry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry Environment. They also oversaw the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Min-istry of Investment and Devel-opment of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Transport and Com-munications of Finland regarding air traffic between the two coun-tries.

“Both of our countries have sig-nificant potential for deepening of collaboration. Therefore, it is necessary to accelerate the work of the intergovernmental commis-sion’s working groups in the fields of energy, transport, agriculture and education. We need to start

discussing specific projects,” Naz-arbayev said. “We have agreed to launch completely new projects, which will strengthen our coop-eration. I propose to instruct our governments to take control over the implementation of our agree-ments.”

Nazarbayev added that the two countries share common positions on many international issues and maintain positive relations with their neighbours.

Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Finland Murat Nurtleuov charac-terised Nazarbayev’s visit as “the beginning of a new stage of deep-ening bilateral cooperation.”

Niinistö expressed a similar sen-timent, saying “I hope that your visit will contribute to further deepening of our relations. I am al-ways very interested in your views on the events taking place in the world. Today, smart opinions and deep assessments are very much needed.”

Finland is a key trade, economic and investment partner of Kazakh-stan in Northern Europe. Ninety percent of Finnish trade in Central Asia is with Kazakhstan.

The two presidents had last met during Astana’s hosting of EXPO 2017.

Nazarbayev noted the impor-tance of the documents signed dur-

ing his meeting with the Finnish business community.

In the meeting with Finnish busi-ness leaders, Nazarbayev noted that since Kazakhstan’s independ-ence Finland has invested more than $300 million in the country. Approximately 100 enterprises with Finnish capital participation are registered in Kazakhstan.

“In order to effectively interact with investors and businesses, we launched national companies, such as Kazakh Invest and Kazakh Ex-port. We have a Council of Foreign Investors under the President. We offer our investors exemptions

from corporate, land and property taxes in such priority sectors as metallurgy, oil refining, engineer-ing, chemistry, food production. The attraction of foreign labour is also carried out without quotas and permits,” Nazarbayev said at a joint press briefing with Niinistö.

The President spoke about the state support provided to farmers and invited Finnish companies to participate actively in develop-ment of Kazakhstan’s agro-indus-trial complex.

In addition, Nazarbayev men-tioned the benefits of the Astana International Financial Centre

(AIFC) and its high-tech stock ex-change. He noted that the Shang-hai Stock Exchange and the US NASDAQ are the partners of the project.

Nazarbayev expressed confi-dence that Finnish business people will use all the conditions created in Kazakhstan to develop business and cooperation.

Separately, Nazarbayev met with the management of the Finn-ish telecommunications company Nokia to discuss the introduction of new communication technolo-gies while implementing projects on the digitisation of economic sectors and the development of the innovation ecosystem.

“Since 2007, Nokia has been co-operating with our country. Today, the company’s turnover is $20 bil-lion,” Nazarbayev said.

Nazarbayev told Risto Siilas-maa, the company’s chair of the board of directors, that Kazakh-stan aims to increase labour pro-ductivity through the introduction of automation, robotisation and artificial intelligence in the pro-duction process. He also focused on the implementation of the state programme Digital Kazakhstan.

Siilasmaa expressed support to Kazakhstan’s orientation to tech-nological development and transi-tion to digital technologies.

Kazakh President urges dialogue at ASEM Summit...Continued from Page A1

The two-day summit included 51 high-level officials, such as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, President Emmanuel Ma-cron of France and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, who discussed trade, digitisation, secu-rity, climate change and non-pro-liferation as well as ways to cope with protectionism and tensions between superpowers.

President Nazarbayev also met separately on the sidelines of the gathering with European and Asian political and business lead-ers.

He discussed Kazakh-Belgian political, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation with King Philip of the Belgians.

Macron and Nazarbayev also met for the first time since Ma-cron took office. This year marks the 26th anniversary of Kazakh-French diplomatic relations, the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership agreement. Dozens of

French companies are working in Kazakhstan, and bilateral trade can reach $5 billion, Nazarbayev told his French counterpart at the start of the meeting.

“I am confident this meeting will bring Kazakh-French ties to a new level,” he said.

The Kazakh President also met with the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker to discuss Eurasian Economic Un-ion – European Union relations, among other issues. Nazarbayev invited Juncker to the December meeting of the Eurasian Economic Council in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Nazarbayev has also held talks with Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe and President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-In, Chairman of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang, the Prime Ministers of Russia and Italy, Dmitry Med-vedev and Giuseppe Conte. He also talked with leaders such as Chancellor Angela Merkel of Ger-many, Prime Minister Mark Rutte

of the Netherlands, President Da-lia Grybauskaitė of Lithuania and others.

At a meeting with 25 major Eu-ropean companies held earlier on Oct. 18 at the Palace of the Acad-emies, Nazarbayev met Deputy Chairman of the Board of the As-sociation of World Trade Centres (WTCA) Rolf Draak and Director of Corporate Services & Finance at Nest Investments Holdings Ltd Mehran Eftekhar to discuss coop-eration with the Astana Interna-tional Financial Centre.

Speaking to the European busi-ness leaders, Nazarbayev elabo-rated on existing business rela-tions. “The most important trade, economic and investment partners of Kazakhstan,” said the Presi-dent, describing European states, “have invested about $180 bil-lion in Kazakhstan; The European Bank for Reconstruction and De-velopment has financed projects totalling more than $8 billion.”

Trade between Kazakh and Eu-ropean countries has been growing

steadily with approximately 3,000 businesses operating in the coun-try now. Alstom, Linde Group, Air Liquide, Danon, Vicat, Heidelberg Cement are some of them.

“Five railways and six inter-national highways that connect China and other Asian countries with Europe through Russia, the Caspian and Black Seas, as well as Iran and Turkey, pass through Kazakhstan. Now, cargo delivery to Europe from China via Kazakh-stan, and back, takes four times less time than delivery by sea,” Nazarbayev said adding that al-most 5,000 kilometres of motor-ways have been built and another 20,000 kilometres will be built by 2021.

The Kazakh leader further noted that citizens of 62 countries, in-cluding 33 European states, do not now need a visa to visit Kazakh-stan.

He invited companies to in-vest in projects under the Digi-tal Kazakhstan state programme, explore opportunities at the in-

novation clusters of Nazarbayev University, the Almaty-based Park of Innovative Technologies, as well as the Astana International IT Start-up Hub scheduled to launch Nov. 5. Potential investors can benefit from special visa, labour and tax regimes, he noted.

He also explained the benefits of the planned initial public offerings (IPOs) of large Kazakh companies working in industries from oil and gas to national air and railways carriers. He said the state will seek to maintain no more than 10-15 percent of the economy in its hands, and will move with IPOs within the next few years.

President Nazarbayev also touched on efforts to use technol-ogy to increase the productivity of the agro industry and promote Ka-zakhstan’s history and landscape as tourist attractions. He noted the experience of European busi-nesses in these fields as serving as good foundations for mutually profitable cooperation going for-ward.

“Thinking Collections: Telling Tales,” an exhibition displaying the works of famous Kazakh art group Kyzyl Traktor, opened Oct. 14 in New York and will run through Nov. 30. Kyzyl Traktor, founded by Vitaliy Simakov, has been mak-ing trans-avantgarde art since the 1990s. The group recreated its legendary shaman performance, “Purification,” during the open-ing ceremony. Approximately 300 items are featured in the exhibition, among them graphic works, monu-ments and sculptures, installations, archival photos and videos. The ex-hibition is part of Ruhani Zhangyru (Modernisation of Kazakhstan’s Identity) programme, which seeks to promote Kazakh culture world-wide. It is also part of the special programme of Asia Contemporary Art Week.

Kazakhstan and Austria have agreed to strengthen cooperation in mutual legal assistance and extra-diting criminals, the countries an-nounced in a joint statement during the recent meeting of Prosecutor General Kairat Kozhamzharov with Austrian Federal Minister of Justice Josef Moser in Vienna. The agree-ment, said Moser, is an “important step for Kazakhstan towards the Council of Europe and a starting point for the development of bilat-eral cooperation in the legal sphere, particularly given the current presi-dency of Austria at the European Union.” The sides also stressed the need to boost cooperation in fight-ing transnational organised crime and terrorism.

The Kazakh Centre of Economic Research opened its doors in the Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics in Shanghai. The new centre seeks to acquaint Chinese people with the social and econom-ic development, history, culture and traditions of Kazakhstan as well as to facilitate contacts between the Astana International Financial Centre and Chinese companies and conduct joint research in economics and finance. The centre in Shanghai is the fifth Kazakh centre in China and is the first focusing on econom-ics. Kazakhstan and China plan to use the potential of Hangzhou as a big Chinese metropolis and techno-logical centre to form partnerships in digital technologies, block chain and innovative start ups.

Almaty will host a Kazakh-Egyp-tian pharmaceutical park manufac-turing medicines, Kazakh Ambas-sador to Egypt Arman Issagaliyev announced. The project cost is esti-mated at $25 million and Egyptian company MUP is currently looking for a partner in Kazakhstan. “They are ready to invest a lot of money. They were ready for this project in 2016, but then Egyptian currency lost half of its value and they had to search for another source of fund-ing,” Issagaliyev said. At present, the Kazakh embassy is working on setting up the project with the Kazakh Ministry of Investments and Development and the Kazakh Invest company. He said more than 40 Egypt-made medicines are reg-istered in Kazakhstan and believes there is sufficient demand for the pharmaceutical park to be success-ful. “After establishing this phar-maceutical park, we could reach out to other markets of the region and the Eurasian Economic Union with these products,” he added.

Cairo University recently launched a Kazakh language pro-gramme, reported Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Egypt Arman Is-sagaliyev at an Oct. 12 briefing. “This is an important event. The programme will start at the fac-ulty of literature from the 2018-2019 school year. This is a result of the growing number of Kazakh tourists visiting Egypt. It is ex-pected that the Kazakh language programme will be introduced in other Egyptian universities includ-ing Al-Azhar University in the fu-ture,” said Issagaliyev adding that Egypt supports all international and regional initiatives of President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the field of nuclear non-proliferation, inter-religious dialogue, fight against terrorism and other international initiatives. Kazakhstan and Egypt have also intensified cooperation in education and science.

A4


ECONOMYNEWS IN BRIEF

ECONOMY

World Bank to provide $500 million loan, consulting to develop agricultural industry


ASTANA – The World Bank agreed at an Oct. 4 agricultural roundtable to provide a long-term $500 million loan and consulting to develop Kazakhstan’s agricul-tural sector.

“We are ready to finance the construction of modern farming stations and provide technical sup-port. The final terms of the loan and its purpose will be determined after discussing proposals from the government,” said Permanent Representative of the World Bank in Kazakhstan Ato Brown at the event.

At the roundtable, Brown pre-sented the 2017 World Bank re-view on Kazakhstan’s private sector. He noted the importance of developing traditional live-stock industries, such as beef and sheep farming, given the substan-tial meat consumption potential in Russia and China.

Experts also shared their experi-ence in creating a food traceabil-ity system for livestock products, which could contribute to the devel-opment of Kazakhstan’s meat sector and export potential. Such systems have been developed with the sup-port of the international financial in-stitution in Uruguay and Brazil.

Uruguay owns approximately

ten percent of the world market for beef exports. The World Bank sen-ior agriculture consultant and for-mer Uruguayan Minister of Agri-culture Tabaré Aguerre drew upon the South American country’s experience in developing its meat sector and export potential at the roundtable discussions, emphasis-ing the importance of supporting small family farms.

Kazakhstan’s state programme on beef farming development until 2027 was held in high regard by the institution. Brown commended the governmental support allo-cated towards the modernisation and efficient use of agricultural resources.

“We discussed [the beef farm-ing programme] at length with businesses, regions and interna-tional organisations such as the World Bank and Asian banks, after which it was developed and submitted to the government. In addition, we have a programme on intensive animal husbandry, which includes dairy cattle breed-ing, poultry farming and pig breeding. We have additionally prepared a programme related to irrigated agriculture and are now preparing programmes for sugar, fish farming and natural parks,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Umirzak Shukeyev.

The government’s primary pro-gramme, said Shukeyev, remains the development of beef farming. According to the minister, Ka-zakhstan has the appropriate con-ditions, pastures and human capi-tal for the programme’s effective implementation.

In particular, Kazakhstan’s com-parative advantage is its low cost for meat production. The Interna-tional Finance Corporation repre-sentative Rolf Berndt suggested that when the country evolves into a more mature and competi-tive beef exporter, Kazakhstan may progress in the world market by competing with Australian and Brazilian suppliers.

At the end of the discussions, the representatives expressed their readiness to finance the develop-ment of Kazakhstan’s agricultural sector and agreed to implement joint measures to promote the country’s agricultural products in China’s markets.

Government introduces alternative tax on subsoil useBy Yerbolat Uatkhanov

ASTANA – The Kazakh govern-ment has introduced an alternative tax on subsoil use that gives sub-soil users an additional opportu-nity to fulfil their tax obligations. Tax burden is transferred immedi-ately at the time of income receipt.

“In order to stimulate the devel-opment of offshore and ultra-deep hydrocarbon deposits, an alterna-tive subsoil use tax has been intro-duced,” Shafkat Kudabayev, head

of specialised division of State Revenues Committee under the Ministry of Finance said at brief-ing on subsoil users’ taxation.

According to him, this tax is not additional, but represents an op-portunity for subsoil users to alter-natively fulfil own tax obligations to pay: mineral extraction tax, pay-ment on reimbursement of histori-cal costs, excess profit tax and rent tax on oil exports.

“The alternative tax on subsoil use is similar to corporate income tax, except for remuneration and ex-

change difference. Such amounts, in contrast to the corporate income tax, are not put on deductions. That is why by introducing the alterna-tive tax on subsoil use, the empha-sis of the tax burden is transferred immediately at the time of income receipt,” Kudabayev explained.

He also said that one of the key conditions for the application of the new tax is that a choice is made by the subsoil user once and before the end of the contract without the right to change.

“If a taxpayer makes such choice,

it is also obliged to notify the tax au-thorities,” Kudabayev highlighted.

At the same time, the alternative tax on subsoil use works only for each individual contract for sub-soil use and only for the volumes of oil produced and sold under such a contract. The calculation of the alternative tax on subsoil use is made using the world price for oil,” he said.

A new code on subsoil use was introduced July 1, which simpli-fied the operation of companies investing in the development of

the Kazakh fields. Since July 1, the companies have added the op-portunity to receive all permitting documents in 15 days. Also, the companies can conduct explora-tion works at the new sites without going through the auction proce-dure. Experts called this law revo-lutionary as it favourably affects the investment environment of the country. The Kazakh government also intends to attract investments to the fields, including extraction of mineral resources and geologi-cal exploration.


Among post-Soviet countries, Kazakhstan took second place after Russia, which ranked 43rd. Bela-rus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan did not participate. In comparison to the top 30 countries, Kazakhstan fell behind in life expectancy, GDP per capita and average remunera-tion and income per capita.

“Kazakhstan took first place ac-cording to three indicators, which are rights of stakeholders, electric-ity access and regulatory system on bankruptcy. The country ranks sev-enth according to the cost of starting businesses. According to the follow-ing three indicators, we are in a low position,” said Khudaibergenov.

The GCI Report methodology was significantly altered this year in

light of the effects of the 2008 glob-al financial crisis and the develop-ment of the so-called fourth indus-trial revolution. Two years ago, 70 percent of the data was retrieved from surveys and the rest came from existing statistical data. In the new methodology, it is reversed.

“The statistical data is retrieved from different sources such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, United Nations committees and the World Health Organisation,” said Sarkeyev.

Khudaibergenov added WEF works in partnership with govern-mental institutions based on the indicator, such as education indi-cators requested from the Kazakh Ministry of Education and Science. Otherwise, it uses data from the Kazakh Committee on Statistics.

The number of indicators was also reduced from 114 to 98, 64 of which are new. The stage of the country’s development was formerly considered, but the dis-tinction between developing and developed countries is no longer applicable.

“Until last year, 70 percent of the data came from surveys. Because of that, the Kazakh government and other countries’ governments raised the issue of the objectivity of the results,” he added.

This year’s rating is more objec-tive due to the changes, accord-ing to Khudaibergenov, and they underlined its importance for Ka-zakhstan.

“Kazakhstan does not just moni-tor its position in the CSI rating. The competitiveness committee was opened in the government. Accord-ing to the rating’s results, the gov-ernment takes actions every year,” said Sarkeyev. “For example, finan-cial support for scientific research needs to be improved. In order to develop innovations, we need to set the conditions for that. Another

indicator related to innovations is patents. We have a small number of people applying for patents.”

The GCI Report is also impor-tant for attracting foreign inves-tors.

“Foreign investors will pay atten-tion to the development of institu-tions such as the independent court system, level of corruption and ensuring of property rights. Infra-structure, access to labour resourc-es and anti-monopoly policies also would be considered. All these are covered in the report,” he added.

The number of countries as-sessed increased from 130 to 140 and the report covers 94 percent of the world’s population and 98 per-cent of the global GDP. This year, the ranking was headed by the United States, which was among the top three countries for the past five years. The leaders in the top five remain Singapore, Germany, Switzerland and Japan.

Kazakhstan, Nordic Investment Bank sign agreement to fund projects in country

By Saltanat Boteu

ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visit to Finland Oct. 16-17 resulted in 23 agreements worth $545 million, including the Framework Agree-ment between Kazakhstan and the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) that has been in discussions since last year, reported Primeminister.kz.

The Framework Agreement was signed by NIB President Henrik Normann, General Counsel Heikki Cantell and Kazakh Minister of National Economy Timur Sulei-menov.

The agreement aims to finance projects in Kazakhstan in the form of public-private partnerships, en-gage in investments such as cor-porate and sovereign loans and bank guarantees and create the conditions for technology transfer.

According to NIB chairman of the board Sven Hegelund, NIB could play an important role in assist-ing Kazakhstan in accelerating the modernisation of its economy.

NIB can fund projects outside its membership region only if the country that signs an agreement recognises the bank’s status as an international financial institu-tion. According to the Framework Agreement, Kazakhstan ensures the application of a non-discrimi-

natory regime of taxation, customs and other issues related to NIB projects and contracts. The bank is to enjoy the full status of a legal entity in Kazakhstan, including the right to make contracts, acquire and dispose movable and immov-able property and act as a party to legal proceedings. Its bonds, securities and other comparable financial instruments will operate under the regime of international financial institutions.

NIB is one of the biggest finan-cial institutions of Scandinavia and the Baltics. It has 43 active agree-ments with countries around the world, of which 39 are framework agreements and four are memoran-dums of understanding. The bank has the right to guarantee and allo-cate long-term financial resources exceeding its share capital up to 250 percent. NIB mostly invests in the environment, energy, transport, communications and innovation.

Kazakhstan retains position in WEF ranking

Olzhas Khudaibergenov

The average subsistence mini-mum in Kazakhstan was 28,700 tenge (US$78.70) at the end of September 2018, a sum 14.1 per-cent higher than a year earlier. September data on the subsist-ence minimum show systematic though not sharp growth over recent years, with an average increase year on year of 8.1 per-cent. The highest subsistence minimum rates are in the oil-producing regions (it is 36,100 tenge or US$99.10 in the Man-gistau region, for example), Astana and Almaty and the East Kazakhstan region. The low-est are in the densely populated southern regions, the Zhambyl region (where it is 25,300 tenge or US$69.40) and the Turkestan region.

Small enterprises’ revenues from sales of products and ser-vices hit the record high of 7.9 trillion tenge (US$21.68 billion) in first half of 2018, which is 37.9 percent higher than revenues in the same period last year, when they reached 5.8 trillion tenge (US$15.91 billion). Along with income from primary and sec-ondary activities, small business received income from financing and other sources totaling 656.9 billion tenge (US$1.80 billion) this year, a figure that was 530.9 billion tenge (US$1.45 billion) in 2017. Kazakhstan’s two big-gest cities lead in profitability, with 1.4 trillion tenge (US$3.84 billion) in Astana and 2.6 tril-lion tenge (US$7.13 billion) in Almaty.

The number of microloan or-ganisations in Kazakhstan had fallen by 9.9 percent by the end of the second quarter of 2018, decreasing by 26 organisations to a total of 236. The number of microloan organisations began to decline starting in 2014 when there were 661 such enterprises in the country. The number of these organisations is dropping by 16.3 percent per year. Almaty has the most microcredit organi-sations, with 50 companies oper-ating in the sector, 21.2 percent of the whole market. The total number of loans issued at the end of the second quarter of the cur-rent year was 192,500, totalling 70.8 billion tenge (US$194.27 million). Despite the decrease in the number of microcredit organ-isations, the number of loans is-sued has grown steadily over the last two years.

The total volume of trading on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) in September was 12.2 trillion tenge (US$33.47 billion), which is 20 percent more than a year earlier. The main contribu-tor to the growth of traded vol-ume was the money market, which increased by 10 percent (877.4 billion tenge or US$2.41 billion) and now comprises 79.1 percent of all trading. In the securities market there was an almost tenfold increase to 1.1 trillion tenge (US$3.12 bil-lion). Foreign currency trading amounted to 1.4 trillion tenge (US$3.84 billion), an increase of 10.4 percent compared with last year. Overall, trading volume is growing, though since the be-ginning of 2018, trade volumes have decreased by 1.8 percent or 218.7 billion tenge (US$600.09 million).

Astana and Almaty registered 40 percent of all country’s small businesses at the end of September – 425,000 legal en-tities. The number of active small enterprises was 153,500, however, which is 12.8 per-cent more than in 2017. Most small enterprises are involved in sectors like wholesale, re-tail trade and car repair works (36,900 companies or 24 per-cent of all industries). Con-struction and education are the next most popular industries for small businesses, at 15,000 and 14,900 respectively. The total market share of the three listed sectors is 43.5 percent or 66,700 active small companies.


Three start-ups from Astana Hub entered the top 100 best start-ups in Southeast Asia,” he noted.

The hub also signed a memo-randum with Techstars, the largest American seed accelerator, and has worked with the European Busi-ness Angels Association since the beginning of the year. The tech-nopark has established connec-tions with other innovation eco-systems in Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Koktyshev sees the amount of investment received as the hub’s key performance indicator, adding

the centre expects to attract 67 bil-lion tenge (US$182.8 million) by 2022. The scale of performance, however, is still rather uncertain.

“We will be able to evaluate the extent of the achievable result a lit-tle later, when we understand how effective the current tools of the hub are,” he said.

The first graduates attracted 28 million tenge (US$76,413) in three months of acceleration, while the second class drew approximately 60 million tenge (US$163,742).

Astana Hub will summarise the results of its first year’s activity in February.

“We were faced with starting tasks [such as] to launch pro-grammes for the development of IT start-ups, form a platform for the IT community, improve the

legislative framework, start work-ing with international projects, launch infrastructure and launch at least 33 start-ups. I can say that now we have already closed many tasks and some have surpassed them,” said Koktyshev.

The third and the final accelera-tion programme for this year will be launched on November. To date, the hub has approved 146 start-ups, five times more than the expected.

Several projects developed at the hub, such as Kompra and Moi Uchet (My Account), have had outstanding results. The former is a service that allows three minutes

to find all the information about counterparties using 40 param-eters and thus check for reliability. During the acceleration, the team increased sales by 300 percent, almost doubled the price for the service and is rapidly gaining cus-tomers.

My Account is a tax account-ing system for entrepreneurs who use a special tax regime based on a simplified declaration. During acceleration, the project increased the price of services by 2.5 times, attracted 133 new customers and added end-to-end analytics. As a re-sult, the influx of new registrations increased by 26 percent, he noted.

Pavel Koktyshev

Astana Hub seeks to become regional innovation centre

A5


BUSINESSNEWS IN BRIEF

BUSINESS

AIFC opens centre to increase investor literacyBy Aidana Yergaliyeva

ASTANA – Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), in con-junction with educational business circles focusing on investment basics, held a ceremonial opening Oct. 6 for its new examination cen-tre to certify high-quality investors during the Investor’s Day confer-ence in the capital.

The speakers noted the world has seen many bubbles, with the U.S. housing bubble the most dra-matic. Such a crisis could have been prevented if investors were more literate about the way the stock market operates.

“The main factor that influ-ences the investment market is trust; that is investor protection, investor confidence and inves-tor trust. Thus, IOSCO (Interna-tional Organisation of Securities Commissions) does this world-wide campaign to show how the system works. In fact, even the retail investors and even when you put money into a bank de-posit, you do not realise that there are a lot of mechanisms and processes that are undergo-ing behind the scenes to protect you from fraud,” said Yernur Rysmagambetov, AIFC admin-

istration managing director and board member.

The conference, organised by the AIFC Bureau for Continuing Professional Development (CPD),

was one of many events, activities and workshops presented globally Oct. 1-7 to raise awareness about investor literacy and protection.

All were conducted as part of

IOSCO’s second annual World Investor Week (WIW). The initia-tive was well received last year, at-tracting more than 1,000 financial organisations.

The first of its kind in the capi-tal, the conference was designed to meet the needs of local inves-tors regarding the fundamentals of investing. It offered lectures and workshops from experts in the field.

“I think it’s a great way to intro-duce the AIFC to the global com-munity. One of the issues about financial centres is to make sure they are the part of the country as a whole industry and economy and not just in the centre itself. So, very impressive indeed,” said George Littlejohn, Senior Advisor at Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI).

The event launched the city’s first finance and investment train-ing and examination centre oper-ated by the British Royal Institute for Securities and Investments. The AIFC CPD bureau will offer the necessary courses and tests to qualify individuals in the indus-try.

“There is such a term as ‘quali-fied investor.’ In other words, not everyone has access to the market. To get the access, you need the

qualification,” said Rysmagambe-tov.

The first control group will take the exam early in November and the test should be available to a wider audience next year. Test cen-tres will operate in AIFC offices in Almaty and the capital and the tar-get number is 2,000.

Anyone is eligible to take the exam, as it doesn’t require prior knowledge. In an effort to attract more locals, one of the books was translated into Russian and the centre plans to translate it into Ka-zakh next year.

In addition to the capital, AIFC and its CPD bureau conducted the-matic events and meetings for aca-demic and business circles in large cities including Almaty, Atyrau, Karaganda, Kostanai, Shymkent and Ust-Kamenogorsk involving 15 universities, five schools and more than 10 business sites.

The bureau seeks to increase hu-man capital through certifications in asset management, auditing and accounting, risk management and Islamic and green finance, such as CFA (chartered financial analyst), ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), FRM (fi-nancial risk manager) and BIBF (Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance).

The ceremonial openning of the CISI test centre in Astana.

Fitch affirms Kazakhstan Mortgage Company at

BBB, predicts more positive ratings


ASTANA – Fitch Ratings has affirmed the long-term issuer de-fault ratings (IDR) of the Kazakh-stan Mortgage Company (KMC) in foreign and national currency at the level of BBB- with Stable Outlook, according to Fitch ratings published in October.

Fitch predicts positive ratings, if Kazakh governmental support for KMC’s is unchanged.

KMC is one of the main state entities that are directed to in-crease housing affordability in Kazakhstan. Fitch views the abil-ity and willingness of Kazakh-stan, the ultimate sponsor, to support KMC as high. The state funds to KMC comprised more than 80 percent of all funds at the end of 2017. National Manage-ment Holding Baiterek (BBB/sta-ble/F2) provided a 30-year loan with a low interest rate totaling $364.34 million.

As for the socio-political per-spective, Kazakh President Nur-sultan Nazarbayev in his recent State’s Address pointed out hous-ing affordability as one of the priority sectors of development. Yet Fitch thinks that KMC’s de-fault would temporarily jeopardise continued provision of important

public services and could have sig-nificant political consequences for the state

The role of KMC is to provide long-term funding to the mortgage market by reviving it through new programmes and bond issuances. Fitch reports that this makes KMC dependent on regular access to funding, and hence any default can severely affect the company’s mandate.

In addition, Fitch noted concern in the direct competitiveness of potential KMC replacements in the Kazakh housing market, such as House Construction Savings Bank of Kazakhstan (BBB-/Sta-ble) and mortgage organisation Baspana, which is a full subsidi-ary of the National Bank of Ka-zakhstan.

“We assess that a default of KMC could significantly impair investors’ confidence in the cred-ibility of the Kazakhstani quasi-government sector, as other GREs (Government-Related Entities) tap the same financial market and the list of domestic investors is not long,” stated in the report with ref-erence to the financial implications of default.

Following the recent trend, Fitch predicts that KMC should remain profitable with low-cost state fund-ing in the medium term.

Tengiz field companies launch $5 billion project to dig 66 gas wells


ASTANA – Sixty-six gas wells will be drilled at the Tengiz field as part of the $5 billion North East Ring Project (NERP), said Union of Kazakhstan Oilfield Service Companies Chair Rashid Zhak-sylykov at an Oct. 10 press con-ference. Tengiz is Kazakhstan’s major oil and gas field operated by the Chevron-led joint venture Tengizchevroil.

“It is important for participants of the industry to be involved in these projects,” said Zhaksylykov.

The country’s oil industry, he said, is rebounding.

“The oil and gas industry is ac-tive today. Positive changes in oil prices revived the industry. The Karachaganak expansion project was launched with a $5 billion budget. The Future Growth Project is underway with a budget totalling $37 billion. Development projects Khazar and Kalamkas-Sea [two smaller fields nearby Kashagan] field development projects will be launched in the Caspian Sea,” he said.

He reiterated the need to recruit more local specialists, similar to what Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev voiced in his recent state-of-the-nation address.

“As you know, since the moment we joined the World Trade Organi-sation, our country could no longer demand from new oil production

companies to purchase Kazakh products. Though at the same time we see how WTO founding coun-try, the United States, takes contra-dictory actions in terms of WTO rules. In his state-of-the-nation ad-dress, President set a concrete goal to develop Kazakh content,” said Zhaksylykov.

The union is developing a pro-gramme with three major oil and gas operators, Tengizchevroil (TCO), Karachaganak Petroleum Operating and North Caspian Op-erating Company (NCOC), to in-crease the number of Kazakh spe-cialists.

“It has been more than 20 years since Tengiz, Karagachanak, Kashagan projects were launched, where there was a very low share of Kazakh specialists at key posi-tions. Foreigners headed depart-ments of procurement, engineer-ing, construction, current projects

and technical projects. They came for three or four years and went back, they did not know local mar-ket and therefore worked mostly with foreign contractors,” said the union’s Project Manager Niyaz Zhumat.

Zhaksylykov believes the Ka-zakh oilfield service market is profitable for foreign companies. At present, more than 20 out of the 100 largest contracting companies operate in Kazakhstan.

The level of local oil field ser-vice companies, however, signifi-cantly improved.

“The new code on subsoil use identifies increasing the share of local content in oil projects among mandatory conditions stipulated in subsoil use contract. Local companies account for an average of 50 percent of the total volume of oil field services that are estimated at $8 billion per year,” he added.

To boost investments in the field, Kazakhstan will set up the Fund of Direct Investments, said Zhaksylykov.

“Today, we can see that banks are not able to ensure liquidity to oil service companies to replen-ish working capital. Some tenders amount to tens and hundreds of millions of dollars. It is not a se-cret that very few domestic com-panies possess free flowing work-ing asset. And this measure should revive the sector of the economy,” he said.

Kostanai industrial zone signs 19 agreements worth $680 million, attracts agriculture projects


ASTANA – Nineteen agree-ments worth 251 billion tenge (US$680 million) were inked at the Kostanai Invest Forum 2018, the regional press service reported Oct. 12.

Kostanai Region Akim (Gover-nor) Arkhimed Mukhambetov not-ed the volume of foreign invest-ments has almost doubled. Last year, 28 agreements worth more than 200 billion tenge (US$542 million) were signed.

“Now we are working on 40 in-vestment projects worth 2.2 trillion tenge (US$5 billion), including 13

projects with foreign participation and three projects with the partici-pation of Chinese investors,” he said.

A $50 million project to produce televisions and computers was un-veiled. Plans are also underway to start a 15.9 billion tenge (US$43 million) project to produce tractors and agricultural equipment.

Hangteng, a Chinese auto com-pany, expects to invest $150 mil-lion in a car manufacturing project in the Kostanai industrial zone. China’s CNC will invest $1.2 bil-lion in the Allur Group by the end of the year and is expected to pro-duce up to 66,000 cars a year by 2023.

“In the field of agriculture, we are going to create an agricultural hub for deep processing of grain. Construction and installation works will begin next spring. The project costs more than $200 mil-lion,” said Mukhambetov.

Construction is in the final stage of a large meat processing plant to be launched in early November in Arkalyk. The kitchen factory for food preparation will be created in cooperation with Caterinburg, a professional food service opera-tor and one of the top five Russian companies in the catering indus-try. The enterprise will be located on the industrial site of the Torgai bauxite mine department.

“Now, we are working to attract more companies to the industrial zone. At the moment, 11 projects worth 235 billion tenge (US$637 million) will be located there. As a result, 37 tenge (US$0.10) of investments will be attracted for 1 tenge from the budget. Taking into account our activities in this direction, we are working with the government to receive a status of a Special Economic Zone,” he said.

The Aytei Group will invest in constructing a stone cutting and processing plant to produce coun-tertops, bathroom sinks and tiles for indoor and outdoor use. The akimat (regional administration) also developed a road map with

Bio Grain to build a hub for pro-cessing grain and oilseeds.

The second international invest-ment forum gathered more than 1,000 participants including heads of national companies and representa-tives of government agencies, devel-opment institutions and international financial institutions and companies. The Belgian, Indonesian and Uzbek ambassadors and a representative of the Russian trade mission in Kazakh-stan were also among the guests.

The region’s investment attrac-tiveness and competitiveness and government support measures at the central and local levels, as well as regional measures for attracting investments, were on the agenda.

“The new code on subsoil use identifies increasing the share of local content in oil projects among mandatory conditions stipulated in subsoil use contract.”

Kazakhstan’s Stock Exchange (KASE) and the Moscow Ex-change (MOEX) signed an equities market cooperation agreement to strengthen the Eurasian Economic Union’s international financial plat-form and attract more investors to both exchanges, reports Kazakh-tv.kz. Kazakh companies will be able to sell their shares in Russia and transfer technology among issuers, traders and shareholders. The MO-EX’s major resources to be shared include its experience and innova-tions, said MOEX CEO Alexander Afanasiev. According to Kazakh National Bank Chair Daniyar Aki-shev, the KASE-MOEX partnership prioritises the securities market and corporate issuers in its cooperation agenda.

Bruno Balvanera was appointed the new European Bank for Re-construction and Development (EBRD) managing director for Central Asia, the bank reports on its website. Born in Mexico, Bal-vanera joined the EBRD in 1996 and worked in the Caucasus, the United Kingdom, Russia, Belarus and Moldova. He will be based in Astana and will be responsible for the bank’s operations in Ka-zakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uz-bekistan. The bank’s commitments in the region are approximately $13.5 billion. According to Balva-nera, the EBRD’s areas of focus in Central Asia include the diversifi-cation of energy resources and the strengthening of the private sec-tor. Former Managing Director for Central Asia Natalia Khanjenkova has been appointed managing di-rector for Russia.

French oil, natural gas and solar energy company Total appointed Kazakh businessman Mansur Zhakupov its general director in Tu-nisia, reports Inform.kz. Zhakupov is the first non-French head of the Tunisian unit in 69 years. Through-out his tenure at Total, Zhakupov has held various posts in Gabon, Nigeria, Qatar and Angola. He is a graduate of the IFP School, HEC Paris, École Polytechnique, Texas A&M University and Bau-man Moscow State Technical Uni-versity. Total is the world’s fourth largest oil and gas company after Royal Dutch Shell, British Petro-leum and ExxonMobil.

The first representative office of the China Development Bank (CDB) in Central Asia has opened at the Astana International Finan-cial Centre (AIFC), reports Kapi-tal.kz. The operation of one of the world’s largest financial institutions at the centre is to expand interbank cooperation between Kazakhstan and China. Placing the CDB office under the AIFC’s jurisdiction will contribute to the centre’s market infrastructure and stock develop-ment, said AIFC head Kairat Ke-limbetov. In June, the Chinese bank financially supported 32 projects in Kazakhstan with loans amounting to $33.5 billion and some contracts worth over $28 billion. A memo-randum of understanding was also signed between the two parties for the improvement of communica-tion channels and the development of a permanent relationship.

The Astana Akimat (city adminis-tration) plans to purchase and install 300 Parkeon parking meters from France, reports Abctv.kz. According to the akimat, the introduction of paid parking is to popularise public transport and mitigate road conges-tion problems. Twenty-five percent of the capital’s car owners use paid parking. In May, Astana Parking Space established a pilot paid park-ing zone along Nurzhol Boulevard of 487 parking spots. Another 9,513 parking spaces will be set up by late 2019. The tariff is 100 tenge (US$0.27) per hour of parking.

Russian railway manufacturer Transmashholding acquired a 99 percent stake in the Tulpar-Talgo plant from Kazakh railway mainte-nance company Remlocomotive for $26.5 million. At Berlin’s Interna-tional Trade Fair for Transport Tech-nology 2018, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy President Kanat Alpysbayev and Transmashholding CEO Kirill Lipa signed an agreement on the ac-quisition. The remaining 1 percent share is owned by Spanish railway manufacturer Patentes Talgo. The plant’s production capacity is 150 cars per year. It has produced more than 400 Tulpar-Talgo wagons, and is scheduled to produce 600 wide-body cars in 2020.

A6


EDITORIAL&OPINION

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Central Asia needs common goals, says Singaporean diplomat

By Karlygash Ezhenova

SINGAPORE – In an interview with Exclusive magazine, Bilahari Kausikan, ambassador-at-large and policy advisor for Singapore’s Min-istry of Foreign Affairs, said he be-lieves Central Asia needs to come together more, starting from devel-oping better communications within the region.

How do you assess the integration

processes that have begun in Cen-tral Asia?

They are very important, but they have just started. In this regard, you will need to work more on the com-mon goals of your region. So far, all communications take place in a bilateral format, but it is worth try-ing to develop intra-regional com-munications more intensively. And in this context, most important is the collective development of goals and objectives. Although, apparently, in the foreseeable future, bilateral rela-tions will prevail – too great is the difference in the pace and stages of development.

I agree with you, but this is exact-

ly the problem of developing these common regional approaches. How did this process take place your country? It is always difficult to be friends with countries close to you. Nevertheless, Southeast Asia today is perceived as a large, unified and very promising market.

Current problems in your region can be divided into two groups. The first group relates to the problem of self-identification of Central Asia. You should start by consolidating your positions. I understand that among the six countries of Central Asia, some countries are not willing to take such a step, but there is no al-ternative. Secondly, you need to be able to convince your two big neigh-bours that regional consolidation of Central Asia does not threaten their interests. On the contrary, it serves them well.

As for the second group of prob-lems, I would like to note that the interest among the 10 ASEAN coun-tries in Central Asia is completely different. For example, Vietnam is already a partner of the EAEU [Eurasian Economic Union] free trade zone, and Singapore is cur-rently negotiating to become a party to this treaty. Other countries do not yet show such interest, which is most likely due to a lack of information. Today, one of the tasks is to raise awareness among ASEAN countries about Central Asia.

I totally agree that at least the

information distance should be re-duced – in geographical terms, we live in Asia, after all. I remember very active efforts to establish an expert dialogue between our regions in the 1990s, but then we saw either mutual disappointment or no quick wins, and this dialogue almost faded away. Any process begins with ex-pert dialogue. What platforms could resume the discussion, in your opin-ion?

I remember that after gaining your independence in 1991, your Presi-dent Nursultan Nazarbayev initiated the establishment of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Build-ing Measures in Asia (CICA). We held meetings, but in the 1990s each of us took up our own internal prob-lems and we went our separate ways. As you know, in the early 1990s, the situation in Central Asia was quite unstable. Now everything is more or less predictable. Of course, we have a much better situation in Singapore, but we also have our own difficul-ties. Therefore, CICA may serve as one such platform. I think that now is a good time to give this initiative a second wind. This second option can be based on links between experts, between think tanks. You can in-volve Japan, Korea, China and India in this dialogue. India is very impor-

tant for Central Asia. Do not forget to include Russia. One of the key el-ements of these processes should be confidence building between the par-ticipants of the dialogue. Moreover, as you said earlier, we should reduce the mental distance between people. The main thing is not to set very am-bitious goals.

When we considered why the

expert dialogue was almost extin-guished, we came to the conclusion that in addition to these reasons, the truth was that expert opinions and recommendations had not been sincerely considered by our govern-ment, our businesses. How have you built the relationship between think tanks, government and business here?

In Singapore, all analytical insti-tutions and centres are funded by the state budget, but at the same time they are fully independent in their research. It seems to me that in order to ensure the effectiveness of experts, it is necessary to engage, first and foremost, representatives of the business community – but not the state, otherwise it will com-plicate the process. One of the main points is the involvement of the younger generation of experts. The way the old generation, accustomed to working in state structures, thinks, and the way the new genera-tion thinks, are completely different things. Currently, in addition to the psychological distance, we have problems of geographical remote-ness from each other, but this once again can be solved through the use of the internet. Perhaps it makes sense to start with a virtual commu-nity as a more cost-effective way.

Can China’s Belt and Road Ini-

tiative become a backbone for ex-pert dialogue among the countries involved in it?

You should be careful with this pro-ject. At the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, its leaders recognised that the rapid economic growth achieved in 1990 to 2010 had stopped. The mod-el which ensured such growth had reached its own limits. Why? Be-cause two factors came into heated conflict: market efficiency and the necessity of maintaining party con-trol. It is still not clear how to main-tain a balance between these factors. Therefore, the Congress was held in a tense atmosphere. Five years have passed, nothing has changed, the old model continues to be applied, and [Chinese President] Xi Jinping approached the issue differently at the 19th Congress last year. He re-formulated it as follows: we need to solve the problem by combining the expectations of the people and the unbalanced economy. In general, his speech at the 19th Congress of the Party was addressed to domes-tic residents of China, but not to the international community, contrary to the assertions of international mass media. In fact, he addressed his fellow citizens. Ensuring stabil-ity and sustainable development needs money. For this reason they decided to apply the old model out-side China, and to build large in-frastructure projects by involving state enterprises, but outside China. Kazakhstan, unlike other countries, is in a unique situation. You pos-sess enormous resources and, to a large extent, you can afford not to be dependent on external creditors by using internal resources. You do not need money; you need managing and technical experience. You need to import this instead of borrowing money from abroad and importing goods. And the most important thing is that you should not attract loans only from one country, particularly from China. It would be quite an un-balanced policy.

You have raised one more im-

mense challenge: To what extent should the government control the country and what should be its role?

International observers strongly recommend that we reduce the gov-ernment’s presence in our economy, and we have genuinely tried to do so.

When I worked as an ambassador in Russia, I witnessed shock therapy, when the government tried to fully transform the country in 500 days. It was a disaster and Russia still feels its consequences. I am a support-er of gradual reforms. The question is whether Kazakhstan has enough experience and knowledge for effi-cient privatisation. Foreign investors are quite cautious about Kazakhstan. Moreover, you should keep in mind that Western recommendations are not the ultimate truth. If we apply Singapore’s experience, we have Singapore Airlines, where the state is a major owner as in other profit-able companies. The difference is that we own these corporations, but do not interfere in their work. Cor-porations are managed by business-men, and their aim is to make money. How they do it is their prerogative. Another thing is that we should keep in mind social components: it is nec-essary to understand how many peo-ple are employed in these state enter-prises and how many people would be unemployed in the future. It will have a direct impact on social stabil-ity in your country.

When you recommend not setting

too ambitious goals, one recalls that Kazakhstan has had a lot of coun-try strategies. However, the first of them was clearly focused on the ex-perience of the Asian Tigers, which built efficient markets in authoritar-ian regimes. Do you think Asia is still an example for us to follow in this context?

Singapore is not the best example to follow. Korea, China, Japan have similar development experiences. They all started as authoritarian re-gimes and it was necessary in the early stages in order to clearly fol-low the instructions developed by government. They all started as ag-ricultural countries with distribution of lands to farmers, and then they gradually came to industrialisation, developed their own industry and achieved success step by step. Now in our region, taking into account the rapid development of technology, countries like Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia may not repeat the steps made by China, Japan and South Ko-rea. It does not make sense to copy them. Vietnam has a really good chance of breakthrough. More likely, Indonesia and Malaysia have already reached the peak of their growth. It is hard to predict the future of Laos and Cambodia.

Now, China, Japan and Singapore do not have the advantages that they had before – cheap labour power. But we are trying to replace cheap labour power with robots. That is why we see the rapid development of robot-ics and artificial intelligence. Robots are good because they do not need to eat, do not need to sleep, they do not go on strikes and they can be used to the maximum extent.

I think Kazakhstan has a great fu-ture. Your enormous resources are both dangers and opportunities. I like that you invest a lot in educa-tion. And it is right. I would like to remind you that Russia wanted to be-come yet another European country very much, but it ended up in a big disaster. That is why [Russian Presi-dent Vladimir] Putin has now given up on that and this is the secret of his popularity. After all, Kazakhstan is an Asian country, so you should use the experience of Asian countries more. However, at the same time, you should be in constant search of your unique model. Kazakhstan has achieved more than foreign analysts expected. I am sure that you still have a chance to surprise the world.

This interview first appeared in Exclusive magazine. Karlygash Ezhenova is editor-in-chief of this magazine.

Kazakh President sounds urgent call for international

cooperation

It is becoming more obvious every year that the challenges we face are now no longer local but regional and increasingly global. In an ever more complex and interlinked

world, the solutions to our problems – whether environmental, economic or human – are seldom contained by national borders.

Climate change cannot be slowed down or reversed by any nation acting in isolation. The poison of extremism is spread all too easily to countries thousands of miles away. The shock waves from mistakes in one continent, as we saw a decade ago, can send growth in all economies into reverse. Migration caused by conflict or natu-ral disaster can increase pressures and tensions far from the neighbouring countries but to other continents.

Given the evidence is so clear and the chal-lenges so great, the answer must be increased cooperation to find and deliver common solu-tions. But as we enter the last quarter of 2018, this shared sense of purpose seems further away than for decades.

Instead of increased collaboration, we see more conflict and division. As we have said before, old suspicions are resurfacing, new tensions emerging and fresh barriers being erected. The result is that the understanding, cooperation and rules-based international order, which has been the founda-tion of increased prosperity and security, appears under threat from all sides.

Last week, Kazakh President Nursultan Naz-arbayev bravely intervened to try to change this disturbing momentum. He all but shocked global leaders at the Asia-Europe Summit in Brussels by likening the current tensions and fractures in the international community to those which led to the Cuban missile crisis over half a century ago. His comparison to a time when the world has rarely, if ever, been closer to another catastrophic global conflict showed how serious he believed the posi-tion was becoming.

He was right to sound the alarm bells. We need to concentrate on what unites us rather than

always emphasising our differences. We have to find the courage to stop putting short-term, national interests before the long-term common good.

As might be expected from a country which from its earliest days has seen the United Na-tions as the pre-eminent international forum for settling disputes and finding solutions, he called for a special session to help find a way out of the current divisions and dangers. The involvement of the entire world community is needed if we are to find a way to ease tensions and build understand-ing and trust.

His offer to host such a special event, if neces-sary, in Astana, also made sense. Few countries have such good relations with all the major international players as Kazakhstan. Our country counts, for example, China, the European Union, Russia and the United States as both strong political and valued economic partners. We also have robust links and friendships throughout the Middle East – one of the regions where conflict is most intense.

Over the last decade, too, Kazakhstan has pro-vided a platform for international talks and helped bring sides together in the most bitter of disputes. And it is only by dialogue and building trust that we can find a way out of the current dangers. If such a special meeting is to take place, Astana has plenty of attractions and experience.

But what was most important about President Nazarbayev’s strongly-worded intervention is that it was a wake-up call to the international com-munity and a warning that it must urgently change course. It is intensely worrying to see how our world has fractured over the last few years.

Unless a way is found to build trust, increase understanding and promote cooperation, the future for all countries and all people will be more unstable, more dangerous and poorer. Only by working together can we create the long-term peaceful and prosperous future for everyone, no matter what our nationality or background. With-out such cooperation, we will all be losers.

A7


OPINIONS

Launch of Islamic Organisation for Food Security to bring resultsBy Yerzhan Jalmukhanov

At the 38th session of the Coun-cil of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Organisation of Islamic Coop-eration (OIC) held in June 2011 in Astana, the President of the Re-public of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed the estab-lishment of an institution of OIC to ensure food security of Muslim countries.

The proposal to create such an important organisation was based on full and urgent recognition of the need to address the major food security problems facing the mem-ber states, particularly the spate of hunger, malnutrition, famine, widespread poverty, growing pop-ulation, food shortage, desertifica-tion, deforestation, salinity and un-derutilisation of existing potential.

To this end, the seventh OIC Ministerial Conference on Food Security and Agricultural Devel-opment held in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan on April 26-28, 2016 welcomed the establishment of the Islamic Organisation for Food Security (IOFS), a new spe-cialised institution of the OIC to serve as an executing agency for implementing OIC resolutions and programmes in the domain of ag-riculture, rural development and food security.

The General Assembly of the IOFS held in Astana elected the Republic of Kazakhstan as chairperson of the General Assembly. It also elected the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire and State of Palestine as Vice-Chairmen of the General Assembly.

Subsequently, the following countries were elected as members of the Executive Board of the IOFS for a term of three years – People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Republic of Kazakhstan, Republic of Niger, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Chairperson of the Executive Board), Republic of the Sudan, Republic of Turkey and the

Director-General of IOFS (non-voting member).

To date, 32 OIC member states have signed the statute of the IOFS: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Ara-bia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Soma-lia, Sudan, Suriname, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, Union of Co-moros and the United Arab Emir-ates (UAE).

Currently, 11 out of 32 IOFS member states (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Gambia, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Ni-ger, Palestine, Qatar and the UAE) have successfully ratified the IOFS statute. In this regard, as per Clause 1 of Article 21 of the IOFS statute, it has entered into full legal force.

It is worth mentioning that implementation of this truly re-markable, visionary and historic initiative of President Nazarbayev would not be possible without the praiseworthy and tireless contri-bution of the diplomats and the esteemed Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan and all OIC member states.

Likewise, we are taking this op-portunity to express our profound appreciation to the colleagues from the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan and other OIC mem-ber states for the commendable, admirable and outstanding work and support exerted in the process

of the establishment of the IOFS from the very conception and in-ception of this initiative.

On the organisational and legis-lative side, the Government of Ka-zakhstan has successfully accom-plished ratification procedures of the IOFS headquarters agreement and President Nazarbayev has signed the appropriate law.

In addition, the Ministry of For-eign Affairs of Kazakhstan has accredited the IOFS as an interna-tional organisation under the coun-try’s jurisdiction. Accordingly, the IOFS has legislatively obtained the status and the capacity of an international legal entity and has fulfilled all the necessary require-ments.

To date, the IOFS has success-fully received the first two instal-ments of the pledged three-year financial support from Kazakhstan to the organisation in the form of a voluntary contribution and the Government of Kazakhstan has re-cently allocated office premises for the IOFS Secretariat.

Having successfully completed the above-mentioned legal, pro-cedural and foundational require-ments, the secretariat of the IOFS successfully started its activities on March 1.

In the short time of its existence, the secretariat of the IOFS has already managed to successfully accomplish and commence its ac-tive involvement in the following organisational and operational milestones:

* Adopted the rules of procedure* Adopted the financial rules* Adopted the personnel regula-

tions of the organisation* Activated the proceedings of

the Executive Board* Developed assessed scale of

contributions by the OIC member states to the IOFS

* Developed and adopted the 5-year action plan of the IOFS

* Concluded framework agree-ments and partnership agreements

with the leading regional and in-ternational institutions in the area of food security and sustainable agriculture and rural development (i.e.: Al Hilal, Arab Authority for Agriculture Investment and Devel-opment (AAAID), Arab Organisa-tion for Agricultural Development (AOAD), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Crops for the Fu-ture (CFF), Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Food Con-tract Corp, International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), Inter-national Classification of Diseases (ICD), International Fund for Ag-

ricultural Development (IFAD), Islamic Trade Finance Corpora-tion (ITFC), Islamic Develop-ment Bank (IDB), Islamic Solidar-ity Fund for Development (ISFD), KazAgro, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Insti-tute (MARDI), etc.)

* Developed organisational structure of the IOFS that will be fine-tuned with the help of the above international consultant and presented for consideration and approval by the General Assembly

* Organised exchange of re-search and technological know-how and knowledge among mem-ber states through the reverse linkage mechanism

* Embarked on exploring the is-

sues and solutions related to food shortage, desertification, deforesta-tion, salinity and underutilisation of existing crops in collaboration with the leading research centres (such as CFF, FAO, ICBA and ICRAF)

* Embarked on the establish-ment of an agriculture modernisa-tion investment fund with MAR-DI, the Islamic Corporation for Private Sector Development of the IDB Group and the AAAID to the tune of potential capitalisation of half a billion USD

* Proposed partnership with the IFSD for development and recla-mation of arable and barren lands in the OIC member states

* Embarked on conceptualisa-tion of the creation of crops ge-netic bank for OIC member states

* Participates jointly with the IDB, Standards and Metrology In-stitute for Islamic Countries (SMI-IC) and Malaysian JAKIM Halal Authority in introduction of Halal standardisation and certification

* Embarked on designing a fi-nancial support programme to the crop producers in the OIC member states jointly with the ITFC

* Embarked on exploring the po-tential of creation of a digital/geo-map on the food security situation in OIC member states jointly with the IDB

* Involved in conceptualisa-tion of a flagship Inclusive Eco-

nomic Empowerment of the Poor programme through participatory microfinance line of finance and value chain development jointly with the IDB.

Intensive preparations for the upcoming second session of the General Assembly of the IOFS to be held in Astana are underway. There are a number of very vital is-sues to be considered at the highest level and important decisions need to be adopted to enable the IOFS to embark on the implementation of the milestones reflected in the previously adopted 5-year action plan as well as adequately and rel-evantly support the food security and agro-industrial aspiration of the member states.

The IOFS would like to invite all the OIC member states to ex-pedite the necessary ratification of the IOFS statute to enable them to make regular contributions to both the administrative and operational budgets of the organisation. In ad-dition, the IOFS Secretariat calls on all IOFS member states to make voluntary contributions and dona-tions in accordance with Article 18 of the IOFS statute.

This will enable the IOFS to grow strong, institutionally, or-ganisationally and financially and help the Muslim Ummah to collec-tively, effectively and efficiently tackle the existing as well as loom-ing challenges pertaining to secur-ing food sufficiency and stability.

There is no doubt that ensuring food security is one of the most vi-tal and indispensable priorities in promoting peoples’ well-being and prosperity and creating employ-ment opportunities for the poor and vulnerable, especially the ones dwelling in rural areas, ensuring sustainable socio-economic devel-opment and inclusive poverty alle-viation in the OIC member states.

The author is Director Gen-

eral of the Islamic Organisation for Food Security.

Kazakhstan can be crucial link in ASEM connectivity endeavoursBy Aigul Kuspan

“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” These words of Rudyard Kipling are usually quoted to prove the idea of the great gap between Europe and Asia, Chris-tianity and Islam… However, the British poet in his Ballad of East and West stated, in fact, the op-posite:

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,

Till Earth and Sky stand pres-ently at God’s great Judgment Seat;

But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,

When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth!

In Kipling’s ballad, two young men – a European and an Asian – cease hostility after they are convinced of each other’s valour, honour and nobility.

They have looked each other between the eyes, and there they found no fault,

They have taken the Oath of the Brother-in-Blood on leavened bread and salt.

In today’s globalised world, West and East, Europe and Asia are closer to each other than ever before. Digital technologies and communications erase the con-ventional geographic boundary between the two continents, al-lowing yesterday’s still backward states of both sides to make a remarkable technological break-through, overcome the gap and integrate into the world econo-my. Nevertheless, as in Kipling’s times, valour, honour and nobility still remain the main factors for rapprochement; in other words, it is the ability to respect others, to live with them in the world and to engage in dialogue with them.

This is how I see the purpose of the Asia-Europe Meeting, ab-breviated as ASEM. Currently, this unique dialogue process

brings together 53 partners – 30 European states, 21 Asian states, the European Union (EU) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Collectively, they represent 60 percent of the world’s population, 65 percent of the global economy, 55 percent of the world’s trade and 75 percent of the world’s tourism.

As was the case in 2014 when Kazakhstan was invited to join ASEM as a full member, Presi-dent Nursultan Nazarbayev took part in the summit that was held on Oct. 18-19 in Brussels.

The ASEM philosophy is con-cordant with the initiatives of our head of state with regard to Eurasian integration, convening the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, establishing the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions and many other land-mark proposals for strengthening peace and security voiced at the UN, Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC), Shanghai Coop-eration Organisation (SCO) and Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The President of Kazakhstan addressed the first plenary session

of the Brussels summit, the main topic of which was quite ambi-tious: “Europe and Asia: Global Partners for Global Challenges.” The agenda of the event included a variety of topical issues rang-ing from trade and investment to connectivity, sustainable devel-opment and climate change, as well as from non-proliferation, combating terrorism and illegal migration to maritime and cyber-crime.

“This summit should call upon major countries such as the U.S., Russia, China, and the EU to real-ise their responsibility to human-kind and look for the path to re-solve international confrontations. I call upon leaders of above men-tioned countries to get together to discuss these burning problems. Perhaps a UN special session should be called for this matter. If need be, we stand prepared to of-fer Astana as a platform for such a meeting,” President Nazarbayev said in his remarks at summit.

At his bilateral meeting with President of the European Com-mission Jean-Claude Juncker, the Kazakh President invited him to take part in the next meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, which will be held this December in St. Petersburg. They also discussed enhanced partner-ship between Kazakhstan and the EU, as well as issues of security, trade and cooperation of the Eura-sian Economic Union with the European Union.

“I remember very well my trip to Kazakhstan in 2008 and our conversation about global stabil-ity. We need to meet more often”, said the President of the European Commission.

President Nazarbayev’s bilat-eral meetings with President of France Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May, Chancellor of Ger-many Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of Luxem-bourg Xavier Bettel, President of European Council Donald Tusk,

Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg, as well as President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, Premier of the State Council of China Li Keqiang, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam and other leaders of ASEM countries also took place on the margins of the forum. They discussed issues of bilateral cooperation, as well as deepening partnerships and re-solving international issues.

Prior to the 12th ASEM Sum-mit, the 10th ASEM Parliamen-tary Partnership Meeting was held, attended by Kazakh parlia-mentarians. During the summit, the business forum and the ASEM Economic Forum took place with the participation of our delegates. A large-scale cultural festival of artists from Europe and Asia was organised in Brussels from Oct. 18 to the end of the month. It is a par-ticular pleasure that Honoured Art-ist of Kazakhstan Yerlan Ryskali will give a concert at the Centre for Fine Arts of Brussels (BOZAR) within the framework of the cul-tural programme on Oct. 24.

Feb. 2 marked the 25th anni-versary of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and the EU. The effective interaction between Kazakhstan and the EU is built on a strong architecture of bilateral cooperation mechanisms – joint councils, committees, subcom-mittees. It should be emphasised that today the EU is a key investor and the largest trading partner of Kazakhstan.

In the coming months, the En-hanced Partnership and Coopera-tion Agreement between Kazakh-stan and the EU, concluded on Dec. 21, 2015, should come into full force. It reflects a new level of interaction and is aimed at deep-ening political dialogue, trade, economic and investment coop-eration and expanding contacts between citizens of Kazakhstan and the EU countries.

Kazakhstan fully supports the existing interregional cooperation between the EU and Central Asia.

The EU is currently developing its new strategy for Central Asia. This policy document is intended to be a solid and effective basis for even deeper cooperation be-tween our regions.

While in Brussels, the Kazakh President also met with King Philippe of the Belgians to dis-cuss prospects for bilateral co-operation between our countries. It should be noted that our Presi-dent has warm, friendly relations with the royal family. As a prince, Philippe travelled to Kazakhstan three times: in 2002, to meet Bel-gian astronaut Frank De Winne, who had returned from a brief space mission; in 2009, to see him off to the six-month space voyage on board the ISS and in 2010, to lead the Belgian economic del-egation of 70 enterprises and or-ganisations.

It is not difficult to assume that it is thanks to King Philippe that approximately 30 companies with Belgian capital are working in the Kazakh market today. I would like to mention such companies as Agfa Healthcare (hospital software), Ahlers Bridge (logis-tics services), Gosselin (logistics services), Manuchar (logistics, distribution services) and QWAY Energy Kazakhstan (renewable energy sources). CMI Energy took part in EXPO 2017 and now offers our country very interest-

ing solutions in the field of green energy.

The economic mission to Ka-zakhstan led by Wallonia Export-Investment Agency (AWEX) and Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT) has become an annual tradi-tional event organised by the Bel-gian regions. We expect the next such business mission in June 2019.

I am sure Belgium can become a reliable and effective economic partner of our country. It is impor-tant to work pointwise, find prom-ising niches and responsible part-ners. In this regard, the Embassy has high hopes for cooperation between the oblasts of Kazakh-stan and economic organisations, such as Kazakh Invest.

Great prospects are also seen in the field of education. This year, five Belgian universities entered the list of the 500 best universi-ties in the world. Belgium has a good practice of cooperation between universities, scientific clusters and technology parks. Nazarbayev University has five world-renowned Belgian scien-tists, which is a good foundation for academic exchange.

Coming back to the ASEM Summit, I would like to note that there was a lot of talk about con-nectivity. For Europeans, connec-tivity is the main condition for successful interaction between Europe and Asia: from transport links to energy networks, from contacts between people to digital networks.

This is exactly the direction that our head of state is tire-lessly working on – ensuring the breakthrough development of Kazakhstan as a crucial link in the multiple communications be-tween Europe and Asia through strengthening the human, trans-port and logistics, industrial and financial potential of our country.

The author is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipo-tentiary of the Republic of Ka-zakhstan to the Kingdom of Belgium.

The seventh OIC Ministerial Conference on Food Security and Agricultural Development held in Astana, on April 26-28, 2016 welcomed the establishment of the Islamic Organisation for Food Security (IOFS), a new specialised institution of the OIC to serve as an executing agency for implementing OIC resolutions and programmes in the domain of agriculture, rural development and food security.

As in Kipling’s times, valour, honour and nobility still remain the main factors for rapprochement.

NAZARBAYEV: “This summit should call upon major countries such as the U.S., Russia, China, and the EU to realise their responsibility to humankind and look for the path to resolve international confrontations.”

A8


CONGRESS OF RELIGIONS

World religious leaders say religion must be a beacon in complex global security context


ASTANA – World religious lead-ers gathered to identify global secu-rity threats and solutions at a panel session on Oct. 11, the second day of the sixth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana. Their recommendations are to be promoted at a research centre and communications platform es-tablished by the congress.

The panel session, “Manifesto ‘The World. The 21st Century’ as a concept of global security” was moderated by Secretary General of the Religions for Peace World Con-ference William Vendley and found-er of the Institute Sorbonne-Ka-zakhstan Marek Halter. It touched on safety as a global task, key po-litical and religious trends, the role of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s manifesto mentioned in the panel’s title in promoting sta-bility, his leadership in nuclear dis-armament and nonproliferation and religious leaders’ role in ending war.

Panel speakers included the Dutch Senate deputy Reinder Ru-ard Ganzevoort, the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad chairperson Paul Packer, the Association of Bud-dhists vice chairperson Chun Yi, Pa-kistani Council of Islamic Ideology

chairperson Qibla Ayaz, Worldwide Buddhist network vice president Hirotsugu Terasaki, the Council for Religious and Life Stance Commu-nities executive chairperson Ingrid Rosendor Joys, the Akshardham Center for Applied Research in Social Harmony director Jyotin-dra Mukundrai Dave, União Plan-etária president Ulisses Riedel de Resende and the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan senior cleric Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen.

The sixth congress is being held in a multi-polar world of many geopo-litical dimensions. Sanctions, trade wars, volatile financial markets and reduced investment contribute to a less stable economy. Drug traffick-ing, organised crime and terrorism pose cross-border security threats. Importantly, world politics is in-creasingly shaped by the use of re-ligion for political purposes and for the justification of terrorism.

Panel speakers began the discus-sion by noting Kazakhstan’s initia-tives in preserving global security.

“Kazakhstan, thanks to the policy of its President since its independ-ence, stands for building a world free from conflict and wars and actively participates in the prolif-eration of a nuclear-free policy and nuclear weapon disarmament and in organising various events to achieve peace and stability,” said de Re-

sende, commending Nazarbayev’s efforts in building a world without nuclear weapons testing.

The fact that more than 100 dif-ferent ethnic groups and nationali-ties live peacefully in Kazakhstan was also not lost on the speakers.

“As leaders, we must never set-tle for a world in which religion is a dividing force … Kazakhstan’s

treatment of the Jewish people is a prime example of ‘aman’ [faith]. For example, during World War II, nearly 200,000 Jews settled in Ka-zakhstan,” noted Packer.

They further highlighted their concerns on the intersection of global security and religious lead-ership.

“We urgently need voices of poli-

tics and religion, as well as of art, science and everything else. We need visionary stories that things could be otherwise. We need leaders who strongly believe in the possibil-ity to make change… As someone who is active in the world of politics and religion, I am deeply aware of their shortcomings but am also con-vinced of their potential. I believe it is our task today to avert the dark side and to foster our visionary in-tentions,” said Ganzervoort, empha-sising the importance of combined efforts in politics and religion.

Bishop Gennady singled out younger generations as a key focus area for religious leaders.

“The world is changing rapidly, and man is changing even more rap-idly. We see these changes most viv-idly in the example of young people and their use of informational tech-nology … It is clear that global chal-lenges, via their broadcast on the in-ternet, are acquiring a much larger scale, including the challenge from aggressive pseudo-religious trends that may drastically alter the human personality, especially a young per-son’s. All of us, in our daily efforts in the coming years, are to fight for the sake of the youth,” he said.

Nazarbayev outlined his vision for the role of technology in spread-ing the message of peace in his Oct. 10 address to the religious leaders.

“[Through an information por-tal], each believer may be able to contact the leaders of religious or-ganisations and confessions with a question or a suggestion and receive feedback,” he said.

Likewise, in addition to recognis-ing security threats to society, speak-ers identified possible solutions.

“I consider it very important to develop a pedagogy of virtues so that existing paradigms may be changed. Ideas rule the world and are often stronger than the sword. To create a better world, it is neces-sary to strengthen education, which is crucial for maintaining peace,” said de Resende.

A centre will be established as a working body of the congress to promote the recommendations put forward at all six conventions. Re-search activity in the field of reli-gion, such as inter-civilisational and interreligious dialogue, will also be studied at the centre. This platform for the congress’ continued work and uninterrupted communication was set up at the request of religious leaders, given that the congress con-venes once every three years.

The second day of the sixth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions also included panels on “Religions in a changing geopolitical landscape: new oppor-tunities to unite humanity,” “Reli-gion and globalisation: challenges and responses” and “Religious leaders and politicians overcoming extremism and terrorism.” It also saw the issuance of the congress’ anniversary stamp, a concert, a common prayer, a reception and a closing ceremony.


“The Syrian conflict, mass kill-ings of believers, destruction of cultural sites, religious objects and world heritage monuments in different parts of the world is yet another threat to global stability and security. The United Nations Charter, which prohibits the use of force or threat of using it towards territorial integrity and political independence of any state is being forgotten,” said Tokayev, address-ing religious leaders.

In his opening remarks at the congress, Kazakh President Nur-sultan Nazarbayev, who stands be-hind the initiative, noted the turbu-lent time that the world is currently facing, in what he describes as the “sinister circle of mutual distrust, hostility and conflict.”

“All of us, including politicians, and religious leaders, cannot but be concerned by the use of sanctions, inter-religious and intra-religious conflicts, trade wars, environmen-tal pollution. Inter-civilisational conflicts look absurd against the backdrop of scientific and techno-logical progress. But at this very moment the future of humanity is being shaped and how we will pass it to future generations remains the main civilisational problem,” he said, addressing the plenary ses-sion.

The role of spiritual leaders, he noted, is key to addressing this problem.

“You represent religions, which are all unique. Each religion, how-ever, fully recognises universal human values, the unity of moral principles. I am sure that it is the spiritual principle, woven from a multitude of beliefs, faiths and ideals that should facilitate the unifying processes. Faith in the be-nevolence of the Almighty rests on a sincere desire for peace-making. A person with conflicting thoughts on this issue will never become a true believer,” said the Kazakh President.

Nazarbayev outlined four key areas in reaching peace and har-mony worldwide.

The first deals with the role of technology in spreading the ideas of peace and to this end, he pro-posed to set up an information portal that will work on methods to withstand various forms of radi-calism and violence.

“Each believer will be able to contact the leaders of religious or-ganisations and confessions with a question or a suggestion and re-ceive feedback,” said Nazarbayev.

Cooperation should also usher in a new level, he said.

“We are talking about the use of the enormous potential of spiritual leaders and religious organisations to establish a constructive dialogue

between conflicting parties. I sug-gest to all spiritual leaders to ap-peal to the world community for peace and security,” added Naz-arbayev.

Lack of education, with more than 750 million people estimated not being able to write or read, and poor religious knowledge are among key problems along with global tendency to militaristic thinking and division of countries into military blocs.

The participants praised the in-terfaith peace and harmony model of Kazakhstan, home to 18 faiths and 3,715 religious associations. Kazakhstan managed to find a “balance between ensuring na-tional security and protecting religious freedoms,” said Naz-arbayev.

Sheikh Ahmad Muhammad Al Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar in Egypt, noted the importance of the Astana congress in addressing global crisis amidst growing vio-lence and distrust.

Current international mecha-nisms are not enough to counter the threats, he added.

“No one from the generation, to which I also belong, would ever have thought that the United Na-tions Charter that promised to protect weak and curb others’ ten-dency to supremacy will become simply a paper. When this is about developing countries, Middle East, weak states deprived of self sup-port. And that those at the vanguard

of this charter and its implementa-tion would use double standards towards nations and grant peace to those they wish and take it [peace] from others,” he said.

This century, he noted, witnessed how Islam became associated with terrorism and violence and how some groups use it to cover their “horrific acts.”

The technical potential of the region, however, is not enough to explain the rapid rise of terrorism with a “colossal power allowing it to relocate, cross border, attack and retreat staying calm.”

“We recognise that the scene is Islam and Arab platform and that players are Muslims and Arabs, but we doubt a lot that anything in this production is purely Arab or Islam. This is terrorism that com-mitted its heinous crimes hiding behind Islam,” he said.

Terrorism, he noted, is the result of an unfair and misguided global politics that “lost its sensitivity to pain and suffering of other peo-ple.”

“Therefore, the problem is not in Muslim youth or jihad, this is the problem of injustice and margin-alisation, feeling of one’s negligi-bility and infringement of rights or reflection of a severe psychologi-cal alienation among youth which is the result of how modern civili-sation lacks religious morality and norms,” he added.

Addressing the plenary session, Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel

Yitzhak Yosef also stressed the im-portance of the congress.

He believes conflicts and wars stem from an inability to listen to each other.

“Instead of listening what prob-lems each side has, we try right away to make the sides come back to peace. All conflicts are, as a rule, a result of inability to listen to the other side. In many cases, conflict-ing sides do not agree whatsoever to listen. It is always surprising that everything changes once they open their ears and start listening,” he said.

The Kazakh initiative is, there-fore, of paramount importance.

“The initiative of President Naz-arbayev is so important to gather religious leaders at one table and try to listen to each other. We have the responsibility to serve personal example of dialogue. It is not al-ways possible to agree, yet we should know how to open our ears and listen,” said Yosef.

Keeping religion and politics separate is equally important, said Francesco Coccopalmerio, head of Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legal Texts, who received the newly estab-lished award from Nazarbayev on behalf of the Pontifical Council for its “contribution to an interfaith dialogue and huge support of the congress.”

“Religion and politics in its es-sence seek to ensure welfare of an individual and society. To avoid any ambiguity and mutual instru-mentalisation, religion and politics should remain distant. Only this way is there an opportunity for these two phenomena to reach an effective cooperation for the sake of the common good,” said Coc-copalmerio.

Congress of religious leaders discusses role of religion in building peace

Congress adopts declaration to build peaceBy Aidana Yergaliyeva

ASTANA – Religious leaders adopted a declaration on the role of religion in the modern context Oct. 11 on the second and final day of the Sixth Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions here.

“We appeal to all people of faith and goodwill to unite in this difficult time and make their re-sponsibility in ensuring peace and harmony on our planet,” stated the declaration.

The declaration states that to resolve conflicts and ensure sta-bility, the religious leaders agreed to establish dialogues with politi-cians, international organisations and civil society. This includes

calling for negotiations between the parties of military conflicts and reject the use of violence.

“Religion will play the peace-building role,” said Dmitry Sa-fonov, the executive secretary of the Interfaith Council of Russia.

They also agreed to support and respect religious diversity and counteract provocations of pseudo-religious rhetoric enticing hatred and extremism.

“(We) express solidarity with all religious groups and ethnic com-munities exposed to the rights and violence inflicted by extremists and terrorists,” stated the declaration.

The religious leaders stressed that extremism should not be asso-ciated with religions.

“We should not confuse Islam with terrorism. It is the mistake of

many media. Islam is the religion of peace and tolerance. It doesn’t promote extremism. Security and safety is a human right. That is what Islam believes,” said Mufti of Tajikistan Saidmukarram Ab-duqodirzoda.

Astana hosted the first such con-gress 15 years ago and believes the congresses have had a positive im-pact.

“This is the gradual process. The first congresses disagreed on many issues. Now they have more under-standing. It is a big success that they are talking about peace and coop-eration. Earlier it was hard to even imagine how all of them can sit to-gether. Now it is easy,” said Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan Ashikbayev.

Ashikbayev and other officials

also stressed the importance of taking actions. One of the first steps forward could be the open-ing of what was proposed to be called Nazarbayev Centre for Inter-Civilisational Dialogue that will serve as the hub for reconcili-ation and building peace a centre.

Another key measure mentioned by the deputy minister is educat-ing youth, which was also included in the declaration. It specifies that education about should be about religions, tolerance and respect for family values.

“To prevent the radicalisation of youth. To make religion serve its original purpose and not to confuse them with messages from radi-cals,” said Ashikbayev.

The declaration also included a separate point that religious lead-

ers are ready to support and protect refugees.

“(We) support efforts aimed at protecting refugees, their

rights and dignity, as well as providing them with all neces-sary assistance,” stated the dec-laration.

B2 B3

Nation&CapitalWEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2018

B7SPORTS

Gennady Golovkin plans to promote Kazakh boxers

CULTURE

Rock beats, steppe strings: Layla-qobyz creates new pop flavour with Kazakh instruments

PEOPLE

Kapparov fellowship affords Kazakh students Harvard education

B

BARYS ARENAOctober 26 at 7.30 p.m. HC Barys – HC Vityaz

October 28 at 5 p.m. HC Barys – HC Sibir Novosibirsk

October 30 at 7.30 p.m. HC Barys – HC Admiral

Vladivostok

ASTANA OPERA October 28 at 6 p.m. Alibek Dnishev’s concert

October 31 at 7 p.m. La Traviata, opera

November 3 at 6 p.m. An Evening of One-Act Ballets

ASTANA BALLETNovember 2-3 at Love’s Lost Idols

7 p.m., 6 p.m.

ASTANA ARENANovember 3 at 5 p.m. FC Astana – FC Kairat,

Kazakhstan Premier League

THINGS TO WATCH & PLACES TO GO

Gender equality trends are promising, society needs to engage more, say experts


ASTANA – Feminist move-ments are growing in the light of push for the social modernisation and reaching high human devel-opment in Kazakhstan, yet there is a room to develop. The gender experts and human rights activists Moldiyar Yergebekov and Asiya Khairullina spoke to The Astana Times about existing social prob-lems around gender inequality and their high hopes for the future.

Developing feminist movements

The feminist movement in Ka-zakhstan began with the country’s independence in the early 1990s, according to Yergebekov, yet feminists from that time and those who appeared after 2010 are dif-ferent.

At the outset they fought for equal rights, but now their agenda includes identity and those who have started to call themselves feminist. He believes the move-ment started with Bolashak Inter-national Scholarship programme students, who, upon returning to the country after years of studying abroad, were more open to various ideas and discussions.

“We did not come to an empty space,” said Khairullina, who is also one of the first feminists in Kazakhstan and the chairperson

of Women’s League of Creative Initiative. “That is, before these principles were laid down, they were protected by [both] Soviet and Kazakh laws. These princi-ples were there. But in order to comply with this new transition to the independent state, we began to talk about it already from the perspective of such great global changes. And that means that new indicators had appeared, new

laws, new state programmes, new discourses had come to the public. That is, it was very interesting and bright.”

Overall, the number of femi-nists started to grow, and men also began to talk about gender equality and the constraints on women. Movements such as the UN Women’s #HeForShe cam-paign raised the profile of the problem and increased the num-

ber of men supporting women. According to the United Nation’s Gender Inequality Index, Ka-zakhstan is ranked 43rd out of 189 countries in 2017.

Active campaigns and groups are concentrated in big cities such as Almaty and the capital, with just a few activities to advocate for the equal rights in the regions.

Continued on Page B5

Central Asian start-up offers designs inspired by nomadic history


ASTANA – ASHKA, a London-based start-up, promotes Central Asia through modern design and storytelling, whilst giving back to the community from which it draws inspiration.

The online store offers unique creations of British and Central Asian designers inspired by Ka-zakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan’s rich history.

“ASHKA is an online stall for those who live on the go. We of-fer unique products that share a common minimalist design, func-tionality and mysterious nomadic aesthetics,” reads the brand’s In-diegogo description.

According to ASHKA Founder

Alex Ahn, curated items must be simple, useful and inspired by the past. The first collection com-prises designs from Kazakhstan’s Knockknock Studio and Nastya Leonova and Turkmenistan’s Ayna Izbasar and British collaborations with graphic designer Matthew Tremaine, leather craftsman An-drew Weller and social start-up Kindness Collective. Available items include a shyrdak (felt rug) yoga mat, a tfai-tfai (knock wood) clutch and a Bugu (Kyrgyz tribe) belt pouch, ranging approximately from $7 to $780.

“The challenge for ASHKA is to strike the right balance between being ethnic and modern. To ad-dress this challenge, we have en-gaged Matt Tremaine, a British graphic designer, to develop five prints based on significant pieces

of Central Asian culture, such as asyk (Kazakh national game), the use of horns for the decoration yurts or the popular galosh rub-ber boots. The final product looks modern,” Ahn told The Astana Times.

The brand’s name does not mean anything in particular, its sound simply resembling Turkmenistan’s capital, Ashgabat, and the found-er’s nickname Sashka.

The founder left his home coun-try 16 years ago and has since trav-elled to more than 45 countries for inspiration.

“The idea to do something crea-tive around Central Asia has been with me for ages,” he said. “Grow-ing up in Ashgabat, I learned a lot about the folk art, archaeology and classic arts of Turkmenistan. Two years ago, I had coffee with

a friend in London and told her about my aspirations. She said, ‘Why not join me for the London Design Fair today and meet the guys?’ That’s how I met a group of designers from Almaty – Nas-tya Leonova, Galym Kairalapov, Timur Aktayev and Aziz Ab-dulmazhitov. Some products from the designers are part of our first collection.”

According to Ahn, high street and luxury brands have increasing-ly veered into cultural appropria-tion. ASHKA, rather, promotes the Central Asian brand through mod-ern design and storytelling so that consumers understand the story behind every product. In this way, modern travellers may learn from Central Asian nomads in a consci-entious and respectful manner.


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EU photo exhibition celebrates cultural heritage, highlights children’s creativity


ASTANA – The European Union (EU) Delegation to Kazakhstan’s photo exhibition “EU4Kids: Dis-cover Europe with Kids” opened Oct. 12 in Astana to celebrate the European Year of Cultural Herit-age and 25 years of diplomatic relations between the EU and Ka-zakhstan in the capital’s Kazmedia Centre, reports the centre’s press service.

At the exhibition, Kazakh pho-tographer Ospan Ali’s portraits of children aged three and a half to 14 years old styled as Europe’s most recognisable faces were presented. Project partners included Kazakh-

stan Kids Fashion Show 2018 and Aspara Fashion Week.

“Cultural heritage has a univer-sal value for us, which is important to preserve and pass on to future generations,” said EU Delegation Head, Ambassador Sven-Olov Carlsson at the exhibition. “You may think of heritage as being ‘from the past’ or static, but it actually evolves through our en-gagement with it. What is more, our heritage has a big role to play in building the future of Europe. That is one reason why we want to reach out to young people in Ka-zakhstan during the European Year of Cultural Heritage.”


Kazakh make-up artist participates in shooting

Crazy Rich AsiansBy Saltanat Boteu

ASTANA – Kazakh make-up artist Irina Strukova started her career during her student days. Her flair was noticed, for after working on many TV series and movies, Warner Bros. invited her to shoot the movie “Crazy Rich Asians,” reported the Steppe.

Strukova entered the profes-sion in the 1990s, when the job of a makeup artist did not offi-cially exist. There was no paint for makeup and like her col-leagues, she had to work with acryl and gouache. In mid-2000, she became interested in studying trick effects in movies. Strukova wanted to study in the U.S. and her first steps towards that goal were courses in Chicago and New York.

In 2013, she applied to Cinema Makeup School in Los Angeles where she took classes in sculp-ture modelling, detachable parts and digital makeup. After gradua-tion, The Weinstein Company in-vited her to work on the TV series “Marco Polo” about the Italian’s adventures on the Silk Road. One of her colleagues from the pro-duction suggested she be hired for “Crazy Rich Asians.”

Preparations began in March

2017 and Strukova went to Ma-laysia the following month. The shoot lasted two and a half months and she also travelled to Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi and Penang islands and Singapore. Although the schedule was intense and the weather conditions difficult for the makeup artist team, Strukova enjoyed the opportunity.

“In terms of creativity, the work on the movie was like leisure time, because all my recent works were only historical projects. I enjoyed doing makeup, hairstyle and dressing,” she said.

The designer entrusted Stru-kova with Rachel, the main char-acter played by Constance Wu, and charged her with keeping the actress’ hair in the appropriate style. She also worked with Hen-ry Golding, who played Nick, the male lead.

“Because of the humidity it was difficult. I did her (Rachel’s) makeup and hair every day,” said Strukova.

Strukova currently lives in the U.S. She tried to open a grim and trick effects school to develop the Kazakh movie industry and was offered the chance to create a course for non-English speakers at Cinema Makeup School and in-vite people from her homeland to attend.

Ontustik SEZ wins award from fDi Intelligence’s Global Free Zones of the Year 2018


ASTANA – The Shymkent-based Ontustik Special Economic Zone (SEZ) received an Editor’s Choice award in the Ones to Watch category of fDi Magazine’s Global Free Zones of the Year 2018, re-leased Oct. 8.

“The zone’s proximities to a sup-ply of raw cotton, as well to a mo-torway that allows the movement of raw material and finished goods to emerging market countries, are important draws for investors. In-vestors can access free land for temporary use until 2030, and enjoy tax incentives, a free cus-toms zone and management team support. Ontustik SEZ opened its first representative office in 2017, while also engaging in interna-tional roadshows in Turkey, Dubai and South Korea,” reads the fDi release.

Overall, the SEZ won in five categories, including China Strat-egy, Expansions, Marketing Slo-gan, Charity Initiatives and Com-munity Outreach.

The experts noted that “the SEZ was recognised for its China Strategy, having opened its first foreign representative office in the country in 2017 to attract at-tention from Chinese investors. This resulted in a $140 million manufacturing investment from a Chinese investor in 2018. The zone has also been awarded for its Community and Charity Initi-atives, organising multiple events through the year for local youth, minority groups and people with disabilities.”

The Azala Cotton company’s 30 percent production volume in-crease was also a favourable deal.

“The Ontustik SEZ entering the international free zones rat-ing means that the zone has now

become a full player in the global investment field. The awards from Foreign Direct Investment Intelligence are a sign of quality and trust for foreign investors and partners. Now, the results of its work have gained international recognition,” reported the press service of Kazakh Invest after the award was announced.

Established in 2005, Ontustik has three priority activities: light industry and chemical and pet-rochemical manufacturing. Bal Textile, the largest manufacturer of carpets; Azala Cotton, the only cotton yarn factory in the country; Khlopkopromcellulose, a cellu-lose manufacturer and many other companies operate in the area.

In the Infrastructure Upgrades category, the experts included new infrastructure projects to attract investors, including new roads, electricity supplies and water systems and expansion

plans at the Khorgos-Eastern Gate SEZ. Exemptions from cus-toms duties and VAT while im-porting raw materials or compo-nents of finished goods were also on the list.

Pavlodar SEZ was highlighted in the Start-up Support category.

“The resources and raw mate-rials on offer at Pavlodar Special Economic Zone include 100 per-cent of the region’s aluminium supply, 75 percent of its ferro-alloys and 37.5 percent of its coal reserves,” it is said.

fDi Magazine is published by the Foreign Direct Investment Intelligence Analytical Centre and is part of the Financial Times publishing group. The magazine focuses on analysing trends in the global foreign direct investment market. Foreign direct invest-ment experts annually evaluate the activities of about 50 zones in different nominations.


PEOPLEB2

NATION&CAPITAL

Kapparov fellowship affords Kazakh students Harvard educationBy Dilshat Zhussupova

ASTANA – Several notable Ka-zakh graduates have attended the John F. Kennedy School of Gov-ernment at Harvard University. Since 2017, many more students from Central Asia are having the opportunity to attend the prestig-ious public policy and administra-tion institute.

Initiated by his wife Gaukhar Kapparova and friends Yerbolat Dossayev, Berik Kaniyev and Yuriy Pak, the Nurlan Kapparov Graduate Fellowship was estab-lished in honour of the Harvard graduate and Kazakh statesperson and businessperson. He earned a midcareer-master of public ad-ministration (MC/MPA) in 2003 and the funding supports Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) students seeking post-graduate degrees. In an interview with The Astana Times, his niece and fellowship coordinator Ainur Kapparova de-tailed the history of the fellowship and the ways prospective students may get involved.

“This is the first Harvard fellow-ship targeting students from Cen-tral Asia,” she said. “At Columbia Business School (CBS), which I attended, there were fellowships for European students, for exam-ple. We are very proud that such a fellowship now exists for Central Asian students at Harvard.”

Nurlan Kapparov, who died from a heart failure in March 2015 while on a business trip to Bei-jing, was at that time the chairman of the board of KazAtomProm national atomic company. Previ-ously, he had served as Minister for Environment Protection of Kazakhstan as well as chairman

of the board of KazMunayGas na-tional oil and gas company.

The fellowship is awarded on a competitive, merit basis to ad-mitted applicants from Kazakh-stan who meet all relevant HKS admissions criteria and enrol in one of HKS’ master’s degree programmes – Master in Public Policy (MPP), Master in Public Administration (MPA), MPA in International Development (MPA/ID) and MC/MPA.

Preference is given to applicants with a minimum of two-years’ work experience in Kazakh gov-ernment, quasi-government or pri-vate sector entities and is related but not limited to economics, fi-nance, trade or infrastructure. If no such candidate is available, the fellowship may be awarded to other admitted applicants from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyr-gyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan or may be held to be awarded another year.

Asset Abdualiyev, deputy chair-person of the board of the Almaty Development Centre, is the first Kapparov fellow. He recently com-pleted his MC/MPA and is contin-uing a Master of Science in Man-agement for Experienced Leaders at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Karlygash Zhunu-sova, the second recipient, began her two-year MPA/ID in Septem-ber. An economics graduate with honours, Zhunusova works at the Centre for Statistical Surveys and Dasco Consulting Group.

“It just so happens that I am the only student from Kazakhstan and Central Asia in the MPA/ID Class of 2020. For me, learning from the experience of my new classmates from different parts of the world and telling them about Kazakhstan

represents a lot of opportunities. I study with people from Argentina, India, Thailand, Turkey, Japan, Peru, China and the United States. Each time, I learn something new from their experiences in public programme implementation to their culture and traditions,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

Throughout his career, Kapp-arov maintained an unwavering commitment to charity, humani-tarian goals and future genera-tions. He was concerned with ad-dressing youth education and in this regard, his days at Harvard were particularly formative.

“My uncle was very active with-in Harvard’s community during and following his studies,” said Kapparova. “He made significant strides in establishing closer coop-eration between Kazakhstan and the university.”

Upon graduation, he founded the Harvard Club of Central Asia (HCCA) to gather alumni from the region. Notably, he made the seemingly unimaginable prospect of entering a world-ranked univer-sity a reality for prospective Cen-tral Asian students, whom he also provided with financial assistance and admissions guidance. His

namesake fellowship continues this legacy.

“My role is to promote the fel-lowship to as wide an audience as possible and to those generally interested in gaining a postgradu-ate education so that they become aware of its existence and, most importantly, apply,” Kapparova added. “The fellowship will con-tinue indefinitely and, every year, will be allocated to an admitted student. The more people know about the fellowship, the more people will apply to HKS and, hopefully, more people will be ad-mitted!”

A CBS graduate and Fizmat Endowment Fund managing director, Kapparova has more than eight-years’ experience in investing and consulting with HSBC, McKinsey & Company and State Street Bank. She is thus perfectly placed to promote the fellowship, knowing how personally and professionally re-warding a professional graduate degree may be.

“Thanks to my classmates at CBS, many of whom were consult-ants, I was thoroughly prepared for the case-solving part of my in-terview process at McKinsey,” she said. “You could say that, if not for completing my MBA, I would have never made the career switch from finance to McKinsey, where I was able to gain significant ex-perience and get involved in truly engaging projects.”

“I looked forward to becoming a part of the community of Co-lumbia graduates upon my return to Kazakhstan. Since I did not find any such association, I took it upon myself to create one. In this way, I met incredible individuals from a wide range of specialisa-

tions upon graduation and we reg-ularly meet up, network and form friendships,” she added.

While graduate school was per-sonally fulfilling, Kapparova rec-ognises a number of barriers ex-ist for students in gaining an Ivy League education.

“The admissions process for graduate school in the United States is relatively tricky, de-manding preparation and thinking ahead. Moreover, it is not only dif-ficult to get admitted to HKS, but also quite expensive to attend. The aim of this fellowship is to afford the opportunity for individuals from Kazakhstan and Central Asia to receive an education at HKS, one of the best schools in public policy and administration in the world,” she said.

All decisions regarding admis-sions and fellowship awards are made at the discretion of HKS in accordance with its established policies and procedures. The ap-plication deadline for the 2019-2020 academic year is Dec. 3.

“Two years ago, I could not even imagine being here at HKS. Maybe, someone who is read-ing this post now also plans to continue their education, return to the atmosphere of studies and open a world of possibilities. Go for it! All you need is a little ea-gerness and patience, support from your family, colleagues and friends and a lot of courage,” said Zhunusova.

Further information may be found on the fellowship’s official website www.nkfellowship.com, Facebook page www.facebook.com/nkfellowship and HKS’ ad-missions page www.hks.harvard.edu/admissions-aid/masters-pro-gram-admissions/how-apply.

Nurlan Kapparov (L) (1970–2015)

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Kazakh physicist develops wind turbine optimised for

cold Kazakh conditionsBy Aidana Yergaliyeva

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s 100 New Faces project, which recog-nises exemplary citizens of the country, counts among its ranks physicist Almira Zhilkashinova, who developed a wind turbine that can generate energy even in the coldest Siberian frosts of neg-ative 40 degrees Celsius.

Zhilkashinova won the 2015 Shapagat national inventions contest with this turbine, which is now included in the register of Kazakh innovations.

There are more than 30 types of wind turbines, and at least 100 modifications – yet her modified wind turbine has no analogues in the world. The design is based on the laws of molecular energy. Its distinguishing feature is that steam and compressed air are used to make the whole process more efficient and cheaper than a traditional wind turbine. This idea received a patent in Kazakh-stan.

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Edu-cation and Science funded a pro-ject to develop a domestic alter-native model of a wind generator able to operate more efficiently in the weather conditions of the Kazakh steppes. Zhilkashinova joined in, working with a team of scientists from the country’s leading universities, Nurlan Dos-murat and Dosmurat Zidehan.

According to Zhilkashinova,

their construction does the least harm to the environment. In her years of experience working with various wind turbines, she hasn’t seen a single instance of such en-vironmental harms as bird death or soil erosion as a result of using her modified turbine.

“My wind turbines are classi-fied as low-energy, and are only 2 meters tall. Birds don’t fly at this height. During my practice, I haven’t seen even once birds flying close to it,” said Zhilkashi-nova.

According to her, the only downside is the turbine’s noise, but that’s not a big problem, as there are many new technologies that can mitigate that effect.

Zhilkashinova is the head of the Energy Saving and Alterna-tive Energy Laboratory of the National Scientific Laboratory for multiple-access. Now, she is working on a new hybrid model of her turbine for industrial use.

Being selected to be recognised by the nation’s 100 New Faces project has laid some additional

responsibilities on the physicist.“First of all, it is a responsibil-

ity and feeling of constant control by the society. You often have to attend events with the young gen-eration and [try to] be their role model. And [for this] you have to always try to achieve something,” said the scientist.

Zhilkashinova decided to make research her life in high school and advises all young people who ask for guidance to do the same. From time to time, she gives lec-tures and presentation for school children at the Pushkin Library in Ust-Kamenogorsk.

“When a person chooses their life profession, they should choose it with their hearts, be-cause losing your valuable four or five years [to studying in a particular field] and then not working within the profession is very reckless. In choosing your occupation, you should thor-oughly think about it and take the decision only by yourself, and not listen to your parents,” said Zhilkashinova.

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Historical knowledge is key for civic solidarity, emphasises

Azerbaijani community leaderBy Dilshat Zhussupova

ASTANA – The Azerbaijani di-aspora in Kazakhstan is a proud one, with a compelling history which ought to be shared, said its community leader Vidadi Salak-hov.

Approximately 100,000 Azer-baijanis live in Kazakhstan. The ethnic group also resides in the Russian Federation, Georgia, Tur-key, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Among Azerbaijanis residing in Kazakhstan, many are descend-ants of voluntary migrants of the early 20th century and of the sev-eral waves of repressed groups de-ported from Georgia and Armenia in 1937 and 1944-49.

“One hundred and ten thousand Azerbaijanis were accepted in Ka-zakhstan during the years of Sta-lin’s Terror,” said the community leader at a 2016 event dedicated to the Day of the Unity of the People of Kazakhstan. “By the generosity of their souls, the Kazakh people, who survived collectivisation and famine and themselves lived in poverty, saved thousands of people of different nationalities.”

Some arrived to work in the Vir-gin Lands Campaign in the 1950s and to develop new industrial areas in the 1960-80s. In the 1980-90s, another significant migration wave was the outcome of resettlement following the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and a lower standard of living among the population.

In 2008, the Union of Kazakh-stan’s Azerbaijani Ethnocultural Centers was established. Ten re-gional and two city Azerbaijani national associations came to con-stitute this union, where people have an opportunity to learn the state language and attend social and cultural events.

Salakhov was the union’s presi-dent, the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan’s Scientific-Expert Group chairman, the newspaper Turan-Times editor-in-chief and a Doctor of Historical Sciences.

Born in a small village in Azerbai-jan’s Kalbajar district, Salakhov was raised by parents who fostered his literary and scientific interests, reports Liter.kz. He also attributed his long-life interest in history to his conversations with wise, elder-ly community members through-out his childhood.

At 18 years old, Salakhov served in the army at Baikonur in the Kyzylorda region. During this first stay in Kazakhstan, he found like-minded people and, ultimately, friends. In this way, he found his second homeland. Shortly after, Salakhov moved to Shymkent and, later, Tselino-grad. He resided in Kazakhstan for over 40 years.

Salakhov served as a newspaper editor since 2004, regularly releas-ing material on the Turkic roots of the Kazakh and Azerbaijani peo-ples, the work of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan and the lives of the Azerbaijani diaspora. His academic research interests also centered on Turkic culture. He penned the study “Creativity of the great Azerbaijani thinkers – the poets Nizami, Nasimi and Fużūlī,” which is available in Ka-zakh and English, andproduced numerous written works on the spiritual culture of Kazakhs and Azerbaijanis.

Having thoroughly studied both cultures, the scholar noted that, as people of the Turkic world, the Ka-

zakh and Azerbaijani people have much in common and thus consti-tute a single nation in Kazakhstan.

As a historian, he was also quick to emphasise the important role of history, particularly in a globalised era, in consolidating Kazakhstan’s society and promoting civic re-sponsibility among its youth. Ac-cording to him, history serves as the people’s collective spiritual, cultural, social and political mem-ory.

“Kazakh people endured many difficulties,” he said at the 2016 forum “Mangilik Yel (Eternal Na-tion): My fate as part of the coun-try’s fate.” “In the 20th century, a significant amount of our people were erased by various slogans such as ‘war’, ‘enemies of the peo-ple’ and ‘dispossession’. But our people rebounded and, in a short period of time, demonstrated to the world that we are the proud people of Kazakhstan and have experi-enced a difficult fate. Today, these are people who have something to say and who have authority in the global arena.”

“As a citizen of Kazakhstan, I believe that our people, consisting of 130 nationalities, are the wealth and achievement of Kazakhstan,” he concluded.

Vidadi Salakhov passed away Oct. 15. The Astana Times ex-presses its deepest condolences to his family and friends and the Azerbaijani community in Kazakhstan. The interview was conducted a few days prior to his passing and is published in memoriam.

Vidadi Salakhov (1957–2018)

Almira Zhilkashinova

There are more than 30 types of wind turbines, and at least 100 modifications – yet her modified wind turbine has no analogues in the world.

“One hundred and ten thousand Azerbaijanis were accepted in Kazakhstan during the years of Stalin’s Terror.”


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One of the photos featured at the exhibition.

Astana Opera presents ‘The Barber of Seville’ opera with 4D effects


ASTANA – Gioachino Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” opera staged by Italian director Alfonso Antoniozzi was premiered Oct. 12-14 at the Astana Opera House, reported the theatre’s press service.

Sundet Baigozhin and Emil Sakavov performed the part of Fi-garo, Yevgeniy Chainikov and Al-exander Krassikov played Bartolo and Saltanat Akhmetova, Alfiya Karimova and Aizada Kaponova played Rosina.

The Italian production team also included renowned set designers Ezio Frigerio and Riccardo Ma-sironi and Oscar winning designer Frank Skuarchapino, who created more than 100 costumes for the play.

Honoured Worker of Kazakh-stan and Astana Opera Principal Conductor Alan Buribayev has previously directed this opera at one of the German theatres.

“Every classical theatre’s rep-ertoire should include this opera. Astana Opera produces Rossini’s work for the first time. I think this is an appropriate opera for our vo-cal ensemble as the composer sets high standards for singing, which differs from other virtuosic Ital-ian operas. Rossini requires from the tenor the same flexibility and

mobility as from soprano. This is a challenging task for our soloists,” he said prior to the premiere.

The opera refers to the transition period between the opera school of the 17th – 18th centuries and new opera canons, which appeared in the 19th century.

“Rossini created 39 operas in the first half of his life, after that he lived for 40 years, but did not create anything. ‘The Barber of Seville’ was written for the small Roman theatre Teatro Argentina. Each individual of the opera has a very strong character. They know how to make fun of them-selves. The composer takes their characters from real life and there are no exclusively positive or negative people. They use foul language, talk about others and lie to each other, which is true in our society today… This

is all part of this carnival fun,” he said.

The director staged the opera in a classical style. It is based on the libretto, but he also added some new things. As a director, Antoni-ozzi worked on this opera 12 years ago, but as a singer, he performed it many times.

“In our production, Bartolo starts living in a new place. He comes to Seville with suitcases and his house under repairs. This episode cannot be found in other productions. Many directors show Bartolo as a fool, although the li-bretto clearly states that he is an old man and a bit suspicious due to his age. I would like to emphasise that he is more a positive hero than a negative one,” Antoniozzi said prior to the premiere.

He added that the public’s atten-tion was mainly focused on Figaro.

“I grew up listening to this mu-sic and I didn’t want to change an-ything in it. Directors transfer the action in another time, as they do not have enough budget to show all the beauty of the 18th century. We will present the real Rossini style in all its beauty with original costumes and decorations at the Astana Opera House,” he said.

The event was devoted to the 20th anniversary of Astana and held with the support of the Min-istry of Culture and Sports.

Rock beats, steppe strings: Layla-qobyz creates new pop flavour with Kazakh instruments


ASTANA – Kazakh musician Layla Tazhibayeva and her group Layla-qobyz, known for playing rock music using the traditional Kazakh string instrument, the kob-yz (also sometimes spelled qobyz), have announced plans to perform in early December in Astana and Almaty.

“This time we want to perform music from famous films and cartoons. For example, we will perform ‘Time of my life’ from ‘Dirty Dancing’ or ‘Cuban Pete’ from ‘The Mask.’ We hope this concert will be something special for our fans. We also have plans to give a performance in coopera-tion with famous photographers,” Tazhibayeva told The Astana Times.

Layla-qobyz consists of Aizhan Omarova (piano and keyboards), Aigerim Ayapova (kyl-kobyz), Dauren Rayev (dombra), Erik Tazhibayev (bass guitar), Sergei Kargapolov (drums) and Vladimir Osipov (guitar).

Tazhibayeva, who plays the kobyz-prima, explained the differ-ence between her instrument and Ayapova’s.

“Kyl-kobyz is an ancient instru-

ment with two horsehair strings and a kobyz-prima is a contem-porary version of kyl-kobyz for a folk instrument orchestra. It has four violin strings,” she said.

Tazhibayeva graduated from Kulyash Baisseitova Specialised Music School in Almaty and Kur-mangazy Kazakh National Con-servatory.

Currently, she teaches kobyz and vocal technique classes at the Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory. She is a laureate of national and international compe-titions and festivals, including the World Performing Arts Competi-tion in Los Angeles.

“A year ago I had an idea to play rock songs using kobyz and, as a result, the group was formed in April. I decided to create a new band after working on my other projects. In 2004, I created the Art Dala group of four musi-cians playing kobyz. It was the first band to use the kobyz in the pop genre live onstage. After that band broke up, I founded the In-zhu Marzhan trio. We started to perform more jazz songs and cov-ers, including by Abba and The Beatles,” she said.

She also shares the information about Kazakh national instruments and music on her Instagram ac-count, @qobyz.kz.

“My mission is to promote Ka-zakh music and the kobyz, to per-form cover songs not on the violin, but on the kobyz. The uniqueness

of the kobyz is that it is a folk in-strument and has a unique soft sound with a velvet touch. This is what makes rock songs even more interesting. The kobyz’s sound gives a certain mysterious, but also bright, touch to contemporary mu-sic,” she said.

The musician noted that Kazakh traditional music can be difficult to understand for a wide audience, as is any ethnic music genre. But rock is easy to remember and at-tracts attention.

“Performing covers for us is a way to find our audience. We in-tend to take part in the contest and to release an album featuring Ka-zakh music. We are glad to receive positive feedback from the audi-ence. Some people are surprised to know that we perform rock but their scepticism disappears when they attend our performances. The audience always has different mu-sical tastes, so we try to meet their expectations and we never change our direction. Therefore, we per-form songs by Queen, Muse, Mi-chael Jackson and many others,” she said.

Continued from Page B1

The exhibition features 25 por-traits of famous European figures in science, music, fashion, art and sport. A professional team of makeup artists, hairdressers and stylists recreated looks of fashion icons Coco Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace, Laetitia Casta, Carmen Kass and Petra Nemcova,

scientists Albert Einstein and Marie Sklodowska-Curie, artists Pablo Pi-casso and Vincent van Gogh, mu-sicians Adele, Bono, Maria Callas, ABBA and George Michael, ac-tresses Penélope Cruz, Brigitte Bar-dot, Ornella Muti, Monica Bellucci and Marlene Dietrich, athletes Na-dia Comăneci, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and race car driver Mika Häkkinen.

The project organisers were in-spired by children’s freedom of thought, lively and emotional per-ception of the world, unshakeable belief in miracles and lack of per-ceived boundaries in dreaming.

“The project is interesting in that the EU took an atypical approach in presenting Europe’s cultural wealth. Children are full of sincer-ity and immediacy; they have an enthusiasm and lively energy that is highly important for conveying the power of cultural diplomacy. The child models withstood the photography sessions and posed as real stars, disregarding their uncomfortable outfits and wigs,” said Ali, whose photography is recognised in Kazakhstan and Eu-rope.

The European Year of Cultural Heritage entails a series of initia-tives and events held across Eu-rope throughout 2018 to celebrate its diverse cultural heritage. In February, the EU and Kazakhstan began celebrating their 25th an-niversary of diplomatic relations and continuing close and mutually beneficial cooperation.

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“Whilst staying away from stere-otypical perceptions of the region, I seek inspiration in the lifestyle of nomads spanning across time, eth-nicity and ideology,” writes Ahn on his Indiegogo page.

Proceeds from the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign will go to-wards developing the online shop, building stock, making quicker deliveries in the United Kingdom and internationally and participa-tion in London street markets.

“If Central Asian products are worn in the U.K., the designers will get more publicity in their own countries. To change percep-tions, ASHKA should go beyond online trade and social media to face-to-face interactions at busy weekend markets in London,” said Ahn.

“We will also be expanding our collection [with the proceeds] by engaging new designers, as well as partnering with other organisations to celebrate Central Asian culture. For example, I was thinking of

products which could reimagine the unique Soviet-era mosaics in Almaty, Turkmen silver jewellery or Uzbek skull-caps,” he added.

Ten percent of proceeds will be donated to the Arwuz Foundation, which funds Turkmen students’ education abroad. The start-up has

gathered approximately 25 percent of its $3,231 fundraising goal with the support of 34 backers. Crowd-funding contributions, as little as $4, may be made at indiegogo.com.

ASHKA may be found on Face-book and Instagram (@ashkastall).

Central Asian start-up offers designs inspired by nomadic history

ASHKA Founder Alex Ahn

EU photo exhibition celebrates cultural heritage, highlights children’s creativity

The event was devoted to the 20th anniversary of Astana and held with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

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New national plan for people with disabilities being developedBy Assel Satybaldina

ASTANA – The Kazakh gov-ernment will present a new na-tional plan by the end of the year to ensure the rights and improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, as the previous plan adopted in 2016 will expire this year. The new plan has seven pri-ority areas, said Minister of La-bour and Social Protection Madina Abylkassymova at an Oct. 9 gov-ernment meeting.

More than one billion people, or 15 percent of the world’s popula-tion, live with some form of disa-bility. As of September, the number of Kazakh individuals is 674,200, a 7.5-percent increase compared to 627,200 in 2014, she said.

The document will incorpo-rate standards stipulated in the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, which the country ratified in 2015, and include recommendations from Catalina Devandas, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Per-sons with Disabilities, who visited Kazakhstan in September 2017.

In her statement, she noted Kazakhstan’s commitment to ad-vancing the rights of people with challenges, yet recognised the need for further steps and urged the government to bring its na-tional legislation on legal capac-ity and mental health into com-pliance with international human rights standards.

“Kazakhstan needs to move fast in establishing a comprehensive deinstitutionalisation reform to phase out institutional care and facilitate the transition to living in communities,” said Devandas.

The plan’s first area involves measures to prevent disabilities. The leading causes are blood cir-culatory system disorders, cancer and different kinds of trauma.

“Child disability remains one of the most pressing problems that tends to grow. The main reasons are congenital anoma-lies, nervous system disorders and mental health problems. In this regard, the Health Ministry should ensure preventive activi-ties and measures of health or-ganisation in family planning, prenatal care and development

of rehabilitation medicine,” said Abylkassymova.

Inclusive education was identi-fied as the second priority area. Approximately 12.6 percent of Kazakh children with disabilities do not have access to support and are home-schooled and Devandas noted the country’s efforts to in-clude them in the educational sys-tem are “still at a pilot stage and need to be scaled up.”

“Home schooling should be an exceptional and temporary meas-ure to support children whose health does not allow them to at-tend school, rather than a practice to further segregate children with disabilities,” she said.

Ministry data indicates more than 147,000 children have lim-ited learning opportunities. Ab-ylkassymova noted the education programme for 2016-2019 would provide inclusive education in 30 percent of the country’s pre-schools, 70 percent of schools and 40 percent of technical and profes-sional education institutes, though she did not specify the conditions.

“At present, 15 percent of all kindergartens and 55 percent of

schools have conditions for inclu-sive education, where more than 40,000 kids with special learning needs study,” the minister said.

“Special rapporteur Catalina Devandas said that 10,000 chil-dren with disabilities who are registered in schools in fact are home schooled and do not attend school,” she added.

The third priority area outlines the conditions needed for barrier-free living.

“At present, 32,600 social in-frastructure objects are identified and need to be certified to form a barrier-free environment for peo-ple with disabilities. Of those, 32,000 objects are subject to certi-fication and 21,100 objects need to be adapted. So far, certification has been conducted on 31,500 objects and adaptation on 19,500 objects,” said Abylkassymova.

Transport infrastructure facili-ties, including rail stations, air-ports, public transport, tourism, culture and sports facilities still provide limited access to people with disabilities, she added.

Minister for Investments and Development Zhenis Kassymbek,

whose ministry oversees transport infrastructure, noted reconstruc-tion is underway at Karaganda’s rail stations and the design and es-timate phases have begun for those in Almaty, Astana and Shymkent.

“In the next five years, in its capital investments plan Kazakh-stan Temir Zholy [national railway company] plans to reconstruct and build 71 rail stations and repair passenger platforms at 263 rail sta-tions,” he said.

“Since 2012, for example, Nur-sultan Nazarbayev International Airport has agents who provide services to passengers with special needs. At present, there are 17 such agents at the airport,” he added.

The fourth area seeks to foster economic independence.

“At present, among 417,700 people with disabilities of work-ing age, more than 30 percent or 127,100 people are working. As of Oct. 1, 15,900 people sought services from employment cen-tres and of those, 6,400 were em-ployed, 1,300 people attended short term courses and 39 persons received microloans to open busi-nesses,” said Abylkassymova.

This year, the national budget allocated 105.6 million tenge (US$283,261) to create 770 jobs for people with disabilities. Exe-cuting this measure is lagging and ineffective, she noted, and the new national plan will revise employer quotas and subsidy mechanisms.

“Within the eight months of 2018, only 88 workplaces were created, corresponding to 11.4 percent of the plan and worth 24.1 million tenge (US$64,645). In the third quarter, 2,600 people were employed as part of the fixed quo-ta of jobs for people with disabili-ties,” she added.

The fifth priority area is intended to make social rehabilitation more efficient.

“Local bodies need to ensure al-location of funds from local budg-ets, taking into account the real needs of people with disabilities in technical means and rehabilitation services,” said Abylkassymova.

The sixth area includes meas-ures to modernise the social ser-vice system; the seventh includes measures for conducting compre-hensive information and activities to raise awareness.

Researchers to produce affordable gluten-free

food productsBy Zhanna Shayakhmetova

ASTANA – The Kazakh Re-search Institute of Agricultural Products Processing recently de-veloped local, affordable gluten-free products, the press service of Astana city administration report-ed Oct. 10.

Being expensive, these prod-ucts are not always available to residents suffering from celiac dis-ease.

According to the results of the survey, in Kazakhstan 67 percent of patients with celiac disease or the so-called congenital protein intolerance are children under 11, 15 percent are children aged 11-12 and 17 percent are people aged 21-35. The main clinical manifestations in children range from shortness of bones, bone dis-

orders, anaemia and neuropsychi-atric disorders to allergic diseases. Only strict adherence to a gluten-free diet prevents the development of complications and provides physical and intellectual develop-ment.

Most of the gluten-free flour products formulations are devel-oped by the largest U.S. and Euro-pean companies that import prod-ucts worldwide.

“In some families, several chil-dren have celiac disease. Gluten-free products cost ten times higher than gluten products. Not every family can afford this. We are very interested in producing local prod-ucts that are not inferior in qual-ity to foreign ones,” said Chief Specialist of the Crop Production Research Laboratory Olga Pol-ubotko.

The institute is conducting re-

search on obtaining flour confec-tionery mixes and cereals. Corn, rice, buckwheat, millet and flax grown in various regions of the country were selected as raw mate-rials. Studies prove that the gluten causing celiac disease is absent in these products.

“We select these products for preliminary studies. We will pro-duce gluten-free products, includ-ing muffins and cookies. Cookies with the addition of talkan (coarse flour from roasted barley or wheat) are made for the first time. This ingredient has a pleasing flavour. Food taster highly praised the products. We also produce gluten-free instant oatmeal cereals. We will study other products further. We have plans to make pasta, as everyone is interested in the pro-duction of pasta and dough for beshbarmak (Kazakh national dish),” said she.

According to local researchers, imported products contain a large amount of starch and additives. They intend to develop domestic products with a minimum content of artificial additives.

Academic Secretary of the Ka-zakh Research Institute Darigash Shaimerdenova said organisations in Finland is interested in cooper-ating with Kazakhstan in making gluten-free pasta.

The institute also conducts re-search to produce other varieties of foods including lactose-free lac-tic acid, pectin-containing, fat-free products without trans-isomers based on leguminous crops.Ph

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v.kz. Nation following five-year

$95 million plan to improve cancer survival rate

Staff Report

ASTANA – Kazakhstan is using a $95 million, five-year plan to improve its cancer survival rate.

“(Kazakhstan’s 50 percent sur-vival rate) is not a very high rate, which is approximately 70 to 80 percent in OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries,” Kazakh National Academy of Sciences Scholar Dilyara Khaidarova said at a recent academic conference in the capital.

The academic emphasised the urgency of quicker diagnosis.

“Our oncologists should pro-vide assistance on the ground. Many complaints revolve around patients not being appropriately processed or going to the wrong place so that, once a diagnosis is actually made, the cancer has pro-gressed. Sometimes, it may take up to one and a half months to

diagnose a person,” the academic said.

A 35 billion tenge (US$95.03 million) five-year plan for the de-velopment of cancer treatment in all regions has been adopted by the government.

By 2022, new linear particle accelerators will be installed in all regions’ laboratories. Drug therapy expenditure will in-crease by over four billion tenge (US$10.86 million). Oncologists will be financially incentivised to identify cancer at its early stages, and a new cancer screen-ing programme will screen for cervical, breast and colorectal cancer.

Innovative treatment methods will also be introduced in Asta-na’s new cancer treatment centre.

“Diagnostics work is mostly positron emission tomography (PET) diagnostics and molecular diagnostics research. These are being carried out today but, by the time of the opening of the new

center, newer diagnostic methods may appear,” she said.

Kazakh patients may no longer need to go abroad for cancer treat-ment in the near future.

“By 2021, when construction is complete, I believe that proton ther-apy will become routine,” she said. “Around the world, there are 57 such centres, and Russia has already opened two. At our centre, we seek to accept over 1,600 patients with rare diseases, so they are to receive highly specialised care, especially children,” said Khaidarova.

“Palliative care is a key prob-lem. We have formed two mobile teams for pain relief and assis-tance in Almaty, and they are see-ing success. Mobile teams which provide palliative care at home are now launching in Astana and Semey. In Astana, the opening of hospices, by which hospitals are redeveloped into hospices, is also underway. The city is growing, so it is necessary to account for more beds,” she added.

Kazakhstan boosts exports and increases investments in processing industries

By Yerbolat Uatkhanov

ASTANA – As a result of the state programme of accelerated industrial and innovative devel-opment, Kazakhstan is actively increasing exports. Investments in processing industries are increas-ing as well, which is quite profit-able due to improved prices for exported products in the world market.

The volume of foreign trade turnover in January-August reached $59.8 billion, 21.6 per-cent more than the same period of 2017. The export volume in the reporting period reached $39.1 bil-lion, a 28.2-percent increase com-pared with January-August of last year. The volume of imports also showed a 10.8-percent increase to $20.7 billion, reported the Minis-try of National Economy statistics committee.

August prices for Kazakh ex-ported goods rose by 3.5 percent compared to the previous month. Since December, the prices of exported goods increased by 13.3 percent, while prices for import-

ed goods increased only by 1.3 percent and 4.5 percent respec-tively.

During the reporting period, hikes in export supply prices were recorded for oil (19.8 percent), manganese ores (19.5 percent), copper ore (17.6 percent), cop-per (14.9 percent), natural gas (13.6 percent), ferroalloys (12.8 percent), iron ores (10.7 percent), rolled ferrous metals (10 percent), coal (8.5 percent) and aluminium (0.2 percent), while the price of zinc decreased by 11.1 percent. Price growth was noted for barley (14.8 percent), cotton (6.5 percent) and wheat (6.1 percent), although the price of wool dropped by 6 per-cent.

Investments in processing industries grew by 42 percent during the year, reported Ener-gyprom. The share of the manu-facturing industry reached al-most 20 percent. In the first eight months, processing industries have already received 745.9 bil-lion tenge (US$2 billion) in in-vestments, 41.8 percent more than the previous year.

Of the capital investments, 44.2

percent were made in Shymkent, which recently received the status as the country’s third city of na-tional importance. The Karagan-da (9.9 percent) and Atyrau (7.5 percent) regions are also among the leaders in attracting process-ing industry investments.

In addition to its investment growth, the processing industry share is growing in the coun-try’s total capital investment. The weight of the manufacturing sec-tor in the total investment portfo-lio for January-August reached 11.7 percent. The figure was 11 percent in 2017 and 7.5 percent in 2010, before active industri-al-innovative development was promoted as part of the state pro-grammes.

The key investment magnets in the manufacturing industry are gasoline and diesel production, as well as other refined petroleum products and coke (49.8 percent of capital investments), metallurgy (20.4 percent) and the food indus-try (11.2 percent). The three lead-ing areas accounted for more than 80 percent of the sector’s capital investment.

Kyzylorda region hosts special forces tactical exercises

Staff Report

ASTANA – The Kyzylorda re-gion in southern Kazakhstan re-cently hosted Kalkan 2018 special tactical exercises involving more than 200 people, including special units, soldiers, rescuers and doc-tors.

The exercises involved simulat-ed situations to refine their mili-tary manoeuvre skills.

The primary simulation was in the Syrdarya district, where the scenario involved a simulated criminal attack on a hydropower facility near the Terenozek ru-ral area and an attempt to poison water. Forty armed special force

soldiers were involved in the 30 minute scenario.

“Speaking about today’s exer-cise, theory is one thing but prac-tice is completely different. It is natural for a person to get lost in emergency situation. Here all conditions are such that are close to real ones and this helps play it cool, think fast, act and take right decisions,” said Officer Galym Aitkaliyev.

The exercise also examined the ability of local executive bodies to cooperate with different struc-tures and respond properly.

“Within the scale of this ex-ercise, we showed people that within a short period of time, we are able to handle territorial de-

fence regardless of territory and weather conditions,” said Armed Forces Military Training Depart-ment Head Omar Urinbayev.

“We saw how communication units of border forces, border aviation acted. We examined the work of armoured vehicles and military personnel. In general, we could give not lower than good evaluation. Tactically, they did right and lived up to the essence of exercise, but we believe there is no limit to perfection and we will continue working on that,” said Tairahun Supiyev, Head of Special and Tactical Department of the Kazakh National Secu-rity Committee’s Border Forces Academy.


NATION&CAPITALB5

SOCIETY

Education ministry to raise social status of teachers, improve kindergartens

By Saltanat Boteu

ASTANA – Minister of Educa-tion and Science Yerlan Sagadiyev briefed government officials Oct. 9 on the country’s education system and development plans for the next two years.

First, a new law on the status of teachers in schools will be pre-pared, Sagadiyev said. The law will cover ways to the raise the so-cial status of teachers, reduce their workload and protect them from unnecessary inspections. After public discussion of the law, it is expected to be approved in 2019.

The condition of the school buildings across the country needs special attention, the minister noted. Advanced reconstruction is needed in 680 schools, 50 percent of which are repaired. As for re-solving the issues with emergency schools and the three-shift training system, 63 schools are being built in the country. The national budget is considered for the construction of 11 of them. In addition, the na-tional budget will cover the con-

struction of 27 schools, while the rest of them should be built from regional budgets.

To increase the number of psy-chologists and the level of their professionalism, the Ministry of Education and Science conducted work on the Happy Family Pro-gramme and invited foreign spe-cialists. This work will continue. For the same purpose, psycholo-gists will take courses. It is also planned to increase the category and salary of educational psy-chologists through a new system of certification and testing for pro-fessional competence. The new

system will be developed and sub-mitted to the government this year.

According to the ministry, 70 per-cent of children are enrolled in up-dated curricula while teachers are prepared for this work. The minis-try is also working on the imple-mentation of electronic textbooks. It plans to equip 100 percent of schools with electronic textbooks within two years. At the same time, for the convenience of students, the issue of installing lockers in schools is being discussed.

Also, the minister covered edu-cation in pre-school institutions. The overall coverage of the chil-dren going to kindergartens be-tween three to six years of age is 95 percent. The automatic system of electronic queue to enter pre-

school institutions is operating, and currently covers 70 percent of ap-plications.. Cameras are also being installed in kindergartens, covering 58 percent of such institutions.

Along with administrative is-sues, the quality of pre-school education was also discussed. To increase its quality, along with regional akimats (administra-tions), the ministry will prepare the roadmap to raise the quality of the specialists in pre-school edu-cation system. A corresponding

roadmap will cover the courses for specialists in pre-school edu-cation, national testing system and the new system to estimate the qualification of the specialists that will lead to the increase in their salaries.

Government provides updates on five social

initiativesBy Saltanat Boteu

ASTANA – Prime Minister Bakhytzhan Sagintayev chaired a meeting in the capital Oct. 16 which provided updates on the five social initiatives from President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed earlier this year. The discussion covered housing, re-ducing the tax burden on low-paid workers, higher education accessibility, expanding micro-credits and developing the gas pipeline infrastructure to increase its supply.

National Bank chairman Daniyar Akishev reviewed creat-ing the conditions needed to pur-chase affordable apartments. He noted the 7-20-25 programme, initiated in July, offers citizens the opportunity to make hous-ing purchases through a loan in tenge with an annual rate of 7 percent, an initial contribution of 20 percent and for a period of up to 25 years. Currently, 2,352 ap-plications worth 28 billion tenge (US$76.25 million) have been approved.

“First, a person should choose an apartment based on the crite-rion in the programme. Secondly, he or she needs to come to the member bank (involved to the programme) and apply for a loan. There is a need to have officially confirmed income documents and not to have housing on the right of ownership. Currently, seven banks are accepting these kinds of applications,” he said.

Minister of National Economy Timur Suleimenov discussed re-ducing the tax burden to increase wages for low-paid workers. At present, the tax burden is reduced ten times for employees with a salary of up to 25 monthly cal-culated indices (MCI), or 60,125 tenge (US$163.70)).

“The norms developed will entail losses to local budgets in 2019-2021 in the amount of 93.7 billion tenge (US$255.18 mil-lion). Losses for 2019 (29.1 bil-lion tenge (US$79.25 million)) will be compensated by the na-tional budget during the three-year transfers in 2017-2019,” he said.

The third direction involves increasing the accessibility and quality of higher education and improving student living con-ditions. An additional 20,000 scholarships were allocated, with the total for two years increasing from 39,000 to 69,000, according to Minister of Education and Sci-ence Yerlan Sagadiyev.

In addition to the increase in governmental scholarships, uni-

fied state testing is held more fre-quently, graduates are accepted on conditional enrolment and a new admissions model for mas-ter’s degree studies has been im-plemented. Sagadiyev also spoke about dormitory provisions.

Regarding expanding micro-credit, Minister of Labour and Social Protection Madina Ab-ylkasymova reported financing has been increased this year by 20 billion tenge (US$54.46 mil-lion), including 6 billion tenge (US$16.34 million) in cities and 14 billion tenge (US$38.12 mil-lion) in villages. Microcred-its totalling 62 billion tenge ($US168.84 million), 45 billion tenge (US$122.55 million) in rural areas and 17 billion tenge (US$46.29 million) for urban ar-eas, are expected to cover 14,000 people.

“In total, from the beginning of the year, 38.4 billion tenge (US$104.57 million) was spent on microcredit, of which 10.5 billion tenge (US$28.59 million) was in urban areas and 27.9 billion tenge (US$75.98 million) in rural areas. The best indicators in terms of the regions are observed in the city of Almaty and the Almaty, West Ka-zakhstan and Zhambyl regions,” said Abylkasymova.

Microcredits are vital for in-creasing the income of the self-employed and unemployed popu-lation.

“Seven thousand, nine hundred and fourteen people from the self-employed and 979 unemployed were given the opportunity to do business, as well as to formalise their activities. Also, many jobs were created. In total, 8,256 jobs were additionally created by the recipients of microcredits,” she added.

The final initiative relates to improving the country’s gas use. Design and estimate documenta-tion for improvements to the Sar-yarka gas pipeline in the Kyzylor-da-Astana section was approved Aug. 28 and construction and installation is scheduled to begin once the general contractor is as-signed, according to First Vice Minister of Energy Makhambet Dosmukhambetov. The company should be named in November or December and the work complet-ed before the end of 2019.

The Saryarka line will be con-nected to the existing Beineu-Bo-zoi-Shymkent gas pipeline in the Kyzylorda region. The enlarged line is expected to meet the capi-tal’s demands and populated ar-eas along the Saryarka highway through 2030 and Kokshetau city and the North Kazakhstan region through 2040.

Prime minister visits East Kazakhstan to assess progress on latest presidential address

Staff Report

ASTANA – Prime Minister Bakhytzhan Sagintayev visited the East Kazakhstan region Oct. 10, meeting members of the public and business representatives and visiting social institutions there. He noted the positive experience of the region in implementing the Menin Mektebim (My School) project and in introducing mod-ern healthcare technologies. The region has opened a unique centre for robotic surgery and transplants.

During the trip, Sagintayev visit-ed governmental social institutions to monitor the implementation of the recent state-of-the-nation ad-dress and the current state of the region. He stopped by Secondary School 46 of the city of Ust-Kame-nogorsk, examining the technical equipment of the school’s physics, biology and chemistry classrooms and checking out inventions by the

school’s students in robotics and automated technical systems.

School 46’s newly modified classes are equipped with inter-active touch panels, microscopes and other special instruments for chemical experiments and biology observation, said Director of Sec-ondary School 46 Gulfarida Au-ganbayeva. Its physics class also has software kits for setting up computer measuring sensors and recording their data, kits for elec-trostatics and radio engineering, multimedia manuals, and refer-ence and instructional wall tables. The IT class is equipped with a Robotis Mini robot, a set of fields for robot competitions, an Arduino Smart Greenhouse educational set, a Tarantula 3D-printer and other equipment. The school also imple-ments the system and methods of Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS).

According to data from the East Kazakhstan region’s akimat

(regional administration), 227 secondary schools are currently modifying their classes according to NIS standards and from Sept. 1 all of them opened fully equipped IT classes. In addition, all schools in the region have internet access and are connected to the Kunde-lik electronic system of journals and diaries. In total, there are 691 schools educating 187,245 chil-dren in the region; 70 percent have computer and multimedia classes.

The condition of Kazakhstan’s healthcare system and the incor-poration of innovative technolo-gies into it was also one of the key issues raised in the address. This year, the budget for the healthcare system of the region is 16.5 bil-lion tenge (US$44.9 million), 9.4 billion tenge (US$25.6 million) of which is for the development of health facilities, 3.6 billion tenge (US$9.8 million) for strength-ening their material and techni-cal base, and 300 million tenge

(US$814,500) for capital repairs.As part of the digitisation of the

country’s healthcare system, 100 percent of state and 97.4 percent of independent medical organisations have implemented medical infor-mation systems. All employees are trained to work with the infor-mation systems of the Ministry of Healthcare. Digital literacy posts have been created for patients to provide assistance in installing and applying new mobile applications in the registries of medical organi-sations. The transition to paperless medical records was launched July 1.

Along with social institutions, Sagintayev met heads of enter-prises who said they supported the address. During his inspection of a processing plant in Zharminsky district, Sagintayev met with the management of Bakyrchik Mining Enterprise LLP. General Director Yury Ovchinnikov told him the company is considering the issue

of raising wages for its employees.Bakyrchik Mining is develop-

ing the largest deposit in the coun-try, the Bakyrchik deposit in the Zharminsky district, the reserves of which are estimated at 280 tonnes of gold with an average grade of 7.7 grammes per tonne. Currently, a project to build a min-ing and processing complex with a capacity of 2 million tonnes of ore per year, which is included in the region’s programme of industrial-innovative development, is being implemented. The total investment in the company amounted to more than 133 billion tenge (US$361 million). The facility was commis-sioned in June 2018 and is expect-ed to be operating at full capacity next year.

The enterprise also presented a new project named Kyzyl. Gold reserves at Kyzyl have been as-sessed at 280 tonnes, and a high gold content noted. During the first nine months of 2018, 311,500

tonnes of ore were processed from Kyzyl, and 12,569 tonnes of gold-bearing concentrate, a finished product, were produced. In the fu-ture, the project is considering the exploration, extraction, process-ing, transportation and sale of gold and other minerals.

Much attention is also given to introducing modern technolo-gies in the framework of Industry 4.0. Bakyrchik has implemented unique technical solutions devel-oped in Finland, South Africa, Germany and other countries. Automated systems used in the factory can reduce human errors in production, secure work and re-duce injuries.

The overall picture of the re-gion shows that digitisation and innovative approach is develop-ing in education, medicine and other industries to ease the process of studying and working for the citizens in accordance with the ad-dress.


One such programme, the ZhasCamp organised annually by Youth Information Service of Kazakhstan (MISK), is intended to open discussion on gender equality, politics, culture and oth-ers among villagers. Yergebekov, who is a university professor, has been invited to speak several times, especially, for his studies about the image of Kazakh wom-en in the media.

Kazakh media’s subconscious problemsMass media has the power and

influence to shape public attitudes, views and perceptions. Thus, the way women are represented sets certain boundaries and rules on how a woman should act, he be-lieves. Little by little, various symbols, images and assumptions, such as the seemingly innocuous gendered colours of “blue for boys and pink for girls,” form a social understanding on how a person should behave and what social position he or she should have. They form such strong views that an image of a woman-mother, a cook and weaker person, becomes inseparable from her identity, Ye-rgebekov notes.

“Governmental outlets must serve as public broadcasting. But instead of being the voice of all the rational thought, they cherish the socially established views,” said Yergebekov on the work of most Kazakh media sources. “It needs a good critique. We need to transform the Kazakh media.”

“We have this perception that media in the Kazakh language is very sexist, while media contents in Russian are not. There is a stere-otype like this. In fact, it is not like this. Media in Russian is equally sexist,” he emphasised.

Yergebekov pointed to the case of a lesbian who married and shortly after killed her partner and an acquaintance in autumn 2014, said Yergebekov. One media source covering that case empha-sised the fact the murderer was a “woman-lesbian.” He noted there are two points to consider – the assumption the woman is a weak creation and the demonising image of a lesbian.

Kazakh society is in need for modernisation

The gender equality experts note that although the govern-ment’s aspires reaching high hu-man development index and sup-ports women rights being equal,

there is a need to change the con-sciousness and perception of the society itself.

“Regarding big indicators, eve-rything seems very good. What disappoints me is that today we have new elements of neo-patriar-chy that more and more show in-fluence on social consciousness,” said Khairullina.

Kazakh women’s share in the country’s growth domestic prod-uct (GDP) is approximately 40 percent, and 52 percent out of that work in small and medium enter-prises (SMEs). To note, 66 percent of Kazakh individual entrepre-neurs are women.

While the Kazakh government gives support and sets direct re-quirements such as minimal num-bers of women that should be employed in decision-making positions, the society holds back emphasising the role of women as beauties, home-keepers and car-egivers, the expert said.

“Unfortunately, throughout the years we have been getting into a more conservative atmosphere [here in Kazakhstan]. Usually, conservatism respects the ideas of others [although one might not agree], while the conservatism in Kazakhstan is trying to oppress divergent ideas. For example, last year I know there were some peo-ple wanting to beat girls (pros-

titutes) with kamshy (national whip). One imam from a mosque said that it is allowable to punish wives that way. Each year, peo-ple hold discussions of how many wives a man can have, however, nobody takes action to stop this,” Yergebekov said.

Yet Khairullina believes the bet-ter future is next door. The Kazakh law and history have always sup-ported women in their aspirations to realise their potential one way or another. It is the modern society that should be modernised, and it has every possibility and tools to do so, she says.

“It seems to me, if we redirect our efforts and focus it on pulling the society so that it changes its at-titude to these issues and becomes more open, I think it is possible. [Today many] powerful levers ap-peared from many small confer-ences and forums,” she notes.

The new speed of the informa-tion exchange that advanced tech-nologies allow spreading now is colossal. Khairullina stresses that the society needs to use it to open big discussions and tackle radical sentiments.

“We need to engage people eve-ry day and we cannot just talk to the officials here. We can talk with children, teenagers, with young people. Well, we have a way out of here, why don’t we use it?”

Gender equality trends are promising, society needs to engage more, say experts

A new law on the status of teachers in schools will be prepared. The law will cover ways to the raise the social status of teachers, reduce their workload and protect them from unnecessary inspections.

Minister of Education and Science Yerlan Sagadiyev.


NATION&CAPITALB6

TOURISM

The expedition team took photos at various locations including in the Mangistau region (pictured).

WB loan will help develop Kazakh, Kyrgyz tourism


ASTANA – Almost 2.5 million people are expected to benefit from sustainable tourism develop-ment and greater regional connec-tivity in Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk-Kul region as part of the Central Asia Regional Links programme’s third phase (CARs-3), reports devdis-course.com.

The third phase was approved by the World Bank in October, for which $55 million will be pro-vided by the International Devel-opment Association (IDA) in the form of a credit and grant and an additional $1.93 million by the Korea World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF) for technical sup-port. Project implementation will occur in 2019-24 by the Kyrgyz Ministry of Transport and Roads in coordination with the Prime Min-ister’s office, Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism and the Issyk-Kul region administration.

According to World Bank Sen-ior Transport Economist and Team Leader Cordula Rastogi, the re-habilitation of existing road links between Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk-Kul region and Kazakhstan’s neigh-bouring Almaty region will pro-mote tourism, create jobs and connect people and markets. The distance between Almaty and Karakol will be halved so that Kazakh tourists, who constitute

nearly 70 percent of the area’s tourists, will have better access to Kyrgyzstan’s most famous tourism destinations around the mountain-ous Lake Issyk-Kul. Kyrgyz tour-ism is expected to grow six-fold.

“The emphasis on regional and territorial development coincides with the announcement by the Kyrgyz President that 2018 is the year for the development of re-gions,” noted World Bank Country Manager for the Kyrgyz Republic Bolormaa Amgaabazar. “Com-prehensive and interlinked mod-ernisation of transport-tourism infrastructure will lead to diversi-fication of the economy – the key to sustainable social and economic growth and people’s welfare.”

Kyrgyz residents involved in the tourism sector and exporters of ag-ricultural produce to Kazakhstan will benefit from the project’s third phase. Visitors from Kazakhstan, Russia and Europe will also enjoy improved road and aviation safety, cross-border connectivity and bol-stered economic exchanges along Central Asia’s Silk Route.

The Central Asia Road Links programme builds on the regional development initiatives by the Central Asia Regional Coopera-tion – 2030 (CAREC) programme headed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), with contributions from the Eurasian Economic Un-ion (EAEU) and China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Qonyr Auliye underground cave becoming popular tourist attraction

By Saltanat Boteu

ASTANA – The Qonyr Auliye underground cave has become a popular destination for local tourists because of its supposedly mysterious healing potential and a legend about the burial place of Genghis Khan, Tengrinews

reports. The destination has the potential to develop into tourist destination for foreign tourists as well.

The cave is located in the Aktas Mountains on the right bank of the Shagan River in Abai district of the East Kazakhstan region. From the Kazakh language, the name of Aktas Mountain means

“white stone” that reflects the ap-pearance of the chalk mountain.

Qonyr Auliye has a narrow entrance where only one per-son can fit in. The height of the cave is from three to nine metres, while the depth is 100 metres. The deeper into the cave peo-ple go, the wider it becomes. At some point, it turns to a room the

width of which is twelve metres and the height is five metres. For the convenience of tourists, the wooden bridge turning into stairs was built inside the cave. The stairs go down to the lake in the cave.

The lake inside Qonyr Auliye cave is considered to be sacred. The approximate dimensions of the lake are 17–18 metres by 12–15 meters. The depth is up to five meters. Although the wa-ter is cold (water temperature is only four Celsius), people swim in it. It is crystal clear with a lime taste. People, especially el-derly ones, believe that the lake can heal and some of them claim that they witnessed the miracle of being healed.

The cave also has a rich his-tory. Many prominent figures including those who researched the cave came here. Abai Ku-nanbayev and Mukhtar Auezov, prominent Kazakh writers, vis-ited it. According to Kunan-bai Oskenbaiuly, the father of Kunanbayev, the cave was the wintering of Genghis Khan and many years of research showed that Genghis Khan could be bur-ied in it. The prominent Kazakh scientist, ethnographer Akseleu Seidimbek also claimed that.

The Kazakh government took the cave under control as a his-torical site and it entered the list of 100 national sacred places of the country under the Ruhani Zhangyru (Modernisation of Ka-zakhstan’s Identity) programme.Ph

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Kazakh Tourism promotes six travel directions in TV series

By Saltanat Boteu

ASTANA – Journey to the Great Steppe, a July 18-Sept. 29 expedi-tion organised by Kazakh Tourism, travelled in six different directions to visit fascinating destinations throughout the country. The trip, one of the stages in developing the nation’s tourism, has become a 60-show TV series.

Kazakh Tourism met with the me-dia Oct. 10 to present the results of the travels. The discussion opened with speeches by company chair-man Rashid Kuzembayev and gen-eral manager Daniel Serzhanuly.

“The aim of the expeditions is to open new directions of tourism. For that, we travelled to about 60 places with beautiful nature, his-tory and sacred places. Based on that, we will develop long and short routes. Also, the travelling routes will be created based on the recommendations of the six expe-dition groups,” said Kuzembayev.

The approximately 150 par-ticipants travelled 17,000 km to 11 regions. Kazakh TV journalist Zhuldyz Rakhmet, National Geo-graphic Kazakhstan photographer Dmitry Rugis and Kazakh traveller Kanat Sagnayev also shared their impressions and experiences.

“I really liked Bozzhara, on the route of the expedition from the Aral to the Caspian Sea named ‘From Sea to Sea.’ It was very dif-ficult to reach it. It took one day to reach the first location from Al-maty to Kamystybas; we reached Bozzhara only in the evening. I had never been there and when we woke up in the morning, we saw its beauty in the light. Then, I thought why, being a Kazakh citi-zen, I have never been here. I think everyone should visit that place,” said Rakhmet.

As the presenter, she was cen-tral in shooting the series. Kazakh TV will produce five documentary programmes of the six routes, re-sulting in 25-minute episodes. Al-

though the time limits and condi-tions were difficult, she found the experience exciting and hopes to encourage others to travel.

“We tried to shoot the pro-gramme in the time limits of the expedition by asking questions of locals and gathering informa-tion about the places. The pro-gramme will give various infor-mation about the ways to reach certain destinations, transporta-tion, the conditions of the roads and the costs of traveling,” said Rakhmet.

The travellers came from differ-ent countries, including bloggers and photographers from China, Kuwait, National Geographic Rus-sia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and a journalist from Russia.

“These people were amazed. They said, ‘You should shoot movies here; why build expensive stages if you can find the singing sand dunes of Dubai in the Almaty region and shoot Mars in Aktau,

Katutau (volcanic formation),’” said Rakhmet.

The speakers noted Kazakh-stan’s nature is special with its pristine wilderness and diverse

landscapes. Although the tourism infrastructure has yet to be de-veloped, travellers are able to see unique scenes and hear many mys-terious legends from locals. Ka-

zakh TV will present these aspects in a future show.

“Journey to the Great Steppe” will be broadcast by the end of Oc-tober.


NATION&CAPITAL

SPORTSB7

“The new trainer will be from Germany, who will take up his duties once the Premier League has finished.”

Rypakova recognised as 2008 Olympics silver medallist


ASTANA – Kazakh track and field athlete Olga Rypakova has been officially recognised as the 2008 Beijing Olympics silver me-dalist after two other competitors were recently stripped of their medals for failing a drug test, re-ports the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

Rypakova finished fourth at the Summer Olympics, setting an Asian Record of 15.11 metres. Her jump was a mere 10 centimetres behind the bronze medallist and Greek athlete Hrysopiyi Devetzi. Shortly after, Devetzi tested posi-tive on a drug test and was relieved of her medal, which was trans-ferred to Rypakova.

Russian athlete Tatyana Lebede-va’s second place result was also under doubt and the International Olympic Committee’s recent sam-ple countercheck from the 2008 Olympics via new methodology revealed an anti-doping rule viola-tion by Lebedeva. She accepted her two-year disqualification punish-ment in September after her Court of Arbitration for Sport appeal was dismissed in July. Her results from Aug. 18, 2008 till Aug. 17, 2010 were annulled, and she was ulti-mately disqualified from the 2008 Games. Rypakova has since been upgraded to a silver medal.

“From the first day [in Beijing] I felt winged and inspired,” said Rypakova, reports the IAAF. “Nobody believed that I was able to do something special at that Olympics, but [my husband] Den-is did. He was near me in the most important moments and helped me to remain calm and to keep positive.”

Originally a heptathlete, she be-gan competing in the triple jump since 2007 and with great success. The silver medal will be the ath-lete’s third Olympic Games’ medal in the triple jump, as she won gold at the 2012 London Olympics and bronze at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

“I won bronze and was really

happy to stand on the Olympic medal podium again [in Rio], even if it wasn’t the highest step. I’m sure that I did everything that I could at that moment. That feel-ing gave me the hope that I’ll be able to continue with athletics in the next Olympic cycle,” she said, referring to the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Olga Rypakova

Carlos Alós

Lutsenko wins stage at Cycling Tour of Turkey

By Anuar Abdrakhmanov

ASTANA – Alexey Lutsenko who rides for Astana ProTeam re-cently won 4th stage of the Presi-dential Cycling Tour of Turkey.

Lutsenko got ahead of Ital-ian’s Diego Ulissi, who rides for UAE-Team Emirates, and Spain’s Eduard Prades riding for Euskadi-Murias (second and third respec-tively) to the finish line of the 205.5-kilometre race.

“The race wasn’t easy, as the last two stages turned out to be nerv-ous. There were many attacks as only seconds separated the rivals, and the overall results of the main competitors were very close to each other. Unfortunately, I failed

to win, but it is a race. I am glad to win the most difficult and longest mountain stage of the race. This is my final race in the season. And it is a good result to finish it on the podium as this season was a fur-ther step towards my development as a leader for weekly races after winning the Tour of Oman early in the year and the Tour of Turkey stage and stepping its podium,” said Lutsenko.

The victory gave the Kazakh cy-clist the chance to finish the race second in the general classifica-tion of the Tour of Turkey. Kazakh cyclists Andrey Kiviliev in 1995, Sergey Lavrinenko in 2000, and Alexander Dyachenko in 2012 have already won the Tour of Tur-key.

This season has been rich in bright moments and victories for Lutsenko. In addition to the suc-cessful performance in the Tour of Turkey, Lutsenko has won one of the Tour of Austria stages, Ka-zakhstan’s national championships and two gold medals at the Asian Games this season. Next season, the Kazakh cyclist will be among Astana ProTeam’s leading racers.

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FC Kairat dismisses Spanish manager Carlos Alós


ASTANA — The Almaty-based Kairat football club has terminat-ed its contract with with Spanish trainer Carlos Alós, Kairat Bo-ranbayev, chairman of the Almaty Football Club’s Board of Supervi-sion announced in a press release.

The termination follows the club’s failure to qualify for the group stage of the UEFA Europe League and an opportunity to win the Kazakh Premier League.

“We have terminated the con-tract with Carlos Alós after he failed to reach the main tasks. Now Andrey Karpovich serves as acting head coach. The new coach will be introduced on Nov. 15,

who will be from Germany. Car-los Alós’s efforts to set the team for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League and to win Ka-zakh Premier League were not successful. So Karpovich faces a task to win the Kazakhstan Cup

consisting solely of Kazakh citi-zens,” said Kairat Boranbayev.

Boranbayev also said that FC Kairat’s new coach would be Ger-man.

“Today we have signed a con-tract with the consultant to the trainer of Germany’s national foot-ball team. He, who has worked with the national team over 19 years, will advise teams from the academy. The new trainer will be from Germany, who will take up his duties once the Premier League has finished,” said Boranbayev.

The head of FC Kairat also noted the team’s intention to keep former Arsenal FC player Andrey Arshavin for the next season.

“We didn’t believe in Arshavin, but he proved himself. Now the

entire Kazakhstan supports him. In Russia, 42,000 supporters came to see him. Thus, we accomplished two

different things at the same time. We did not talk about his further career in FC Kairat. We have Islamkhan or other young Kazakhstan’s football-ers replacing him,” said Boranbayev.

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Gennady Golovkin plans to promote Kazakh boxers


ASTANA – Famous Kazakh boxer Gennady Golovkin wants to help young Kazakh boxers suc-ceed in the sport, he said during a recent press conference in Almaty.

“I thank every citizen of Ka-zakhstan for support, which is very important. I know people wake up very early to support me, I appreci-ate it,” said Golovkin.

The former world champion in the middleweight class, Golovkin got into promoting boxers by opening the GGG company in the United States. He plans to promote Kazakh boxers.

“The promotion will support our young boxers in gaining fame, achieving goals, which is work-able, in my opinion. It is good to know that Kazakhstan’s compa-nies are emerging willing to sup-port us,” said Golovkin.

Kazakhstan’s boxers Ali Akhme-dov and Ruslan Madiyev have be-gun training with Golovkin’s pro-motion company.

“I have set up a promotion

company in the USA, in which we represent our boxers. They are Ali Akhmedov, Ruslan Madiyev, who can gauge their strengths, wish to achieve greatness and be-come champions. We help them to make their dreams real. They are talented guys with good rank-ings, and most importantly they are from Kazakhstan. The num-ber of those wishing to train un-der my promotion will increase,” said the boxer.

Golovkin also noted the chal-lenges of being a professional boxer.

“Professional boxing is among the dangerous sports, so the pro-motion does not view those box-ers engaged in professional boxing for a year and a half/one year. It is because I am responsible for them and their health,” Golovkin said. “The person must be hardworking to reach heights and be a cham-pion.”

On Sept. 16, Golovkin suffered his first loss in the rematch bout against Mexican boxer Saul Cane-lo Alvarez in Las Vegas.

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The victory gave the Kazakh cyclist the chance to finish the race second in the general classification of the Tour of Turkey.


NATION&CAPITAL

CAPITALB8

Astana Mayor, commission prepare capital for winter


ASTANA – Astana Akim (May-or) Bakhyt Sultanov is readying the city for the upcoming winter season, reports the Astana Akimat (city administration) press service.

“We must be fully prepared,” said Sultanov, who heads a com-mission that recently reviewed the city’s readiness for winter. “Mu-nicipal services should work like a clock so that citizens do not expe-rience discomfort on the roads due to weather conditions.”

Public utility companies Astana Tazalyk and Astana Zelenstroy’s equipment were examined, and their management assured the commission of their preparedness in terms of staff and equipment.

The companies’ vehicles are ready for dispatch – 526 vehi-cles in the Yessil district, 177 in the Baikonur district, 437 in the Saryarka district and 452 in the Almaty district. Their combined fleet includes over 400 special-ised machines, and Astana Tazalyk has prepared a 20,000 cubic metre sand-salt mixture, an anti-icing reagent and special rotors.

Snow removal routes and sched-

ules are currently under revi-sion, given the city’s new streets. Astana is also Kazakhstan’s only city in which akimats, rather than capital house maintenance firms (KSK), clean yard territories. In particular, the city akimat seeks to prioritise roads providing access to social facilities, houses and courtyards.

Sultanov offered two proposals, which were supported by the city sanitary cleaning companies.

A new agreement format for city sanitary cleaning contractors was put forward. Contracts are to be multi-year agreements in which companies hold responsibility for the complete cleanliness of certain city districts, as opposed to one-year agreements defined by clean-ing service type. The multi-year time period may allow businesses to upgrade their technical base and fleets with greater confidence in the near future.

City districts are also to be ex-panded into larger plots, given that each plot is to have its own con-tractual agreement. This approach may ensure a given company’s full employment in its designated area and reinforce its responsibility for the area’s cleanliness.

Triathlon academy to open next yearStaff Report

ASTANA – BI Healthcare LLP will open a triathlon academy in July in the capital’s Triathlon Park, reported Elorda Info. The facility will occupy 4,500 square metres at the crossroads of Saray-shyk, Elim-ai and Zhalaiyri streets in the Almaty district.

The first floor of the two-storey building will include a sports area with a gym, swimming pool, bike exercise room, strength training and warm-up area and coaching and changing rooms; stores such as a health bar and bicycle work-shop and reception, wardrobe and inventory rooms. The lower level will also have hydrotherapeutic procedure spots such as Finnish and Russian saunas and a Ham-mam (Turkish bath). The second floor will contain a massage room, cryochamber and hypoxic room for therapeutic and health proce-dures as well as administrative and office space.

Triathlon Park, the site of com-petitions of the same name, has

bike (2.3 kilometres) and jog-ging (4.1 km) tracks. The park is

divided into organised and un-organised recreation zones. The

former includes work out, cross fit and extreme sports areas, a large

space with children’s attractions and a picnic spot. The work out

and cross fit platforms have a soft tartan coating (safety rubber seam-less crumb coating) and the corre-sponding equipment. In the picnic area, people can spread a blanket on the grass or use the barbecue pit with a hard pavement and special place for a fire. A bowl for skate-boards and rollers, as well as the Concrete River surface for skating and doing manoeuvres and stunts, is available in the extreme sports zone.

The park offers shower sta-tions, dry closets, food courts and drinking fountains throughout the grounds. Zhalaiyri Street also has parking lots.

In June, Triathlon Park was the site of Ironman 70.3 race, with more than 3,000 participants from 35 countries. The capital has also hosted approximately 600 sports and mass participation events dur-ing the year. As the number of citi-zens currently involved in sports is 288,000 and growing, Triathlon Park is an important step towards building a healthy lifestyle and comfortable urban family recrea-tion and sports.

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Meet & Sketch brings art to capital, unites people


ASTANA – Meet & Sketch, which seeks to enrich art life in the capital, provides Kazakh urbanites with a great opportunity to hone their drawing skills while joining like-minded people from different backgrounds.

Mirra Kotovskaya, a capital na-tive working as a graphic designer and illustrator, established the community in August. She was in-spired by open meetings common across the globe, where people gather and draw together.

“I noticed that in Kazakhstan there are very few such meetings and hardly any in Astana. I was follow-ing an Instagram page of the Meet & Sketch community in Almaty, in what is known as the first such Meet & Sketch group in Kazakhstan. On their page, they wrote about the big demand from Astana and many people in Astana asking when such a community will be in the capital. At that moment, I thought ‘why not me? Why should I wait and not or-ganise something myself,’” she told The Astana Times.

After contacting the Almaty community, she started forming one in the capital using Instagram as the only promotional tool.

“There is no sort of art com-munity in Kazakhstan and Astana and it is difficult to un-derstand who will be interested. I decided to write a post on my Instagram page that has a cer-tain audience to ask who knows what sketching is and who will be eager to come and meet and just draw in a place that I will choose. Many people responded to it,” she said.

Though organising such events was a challenge in itself, the even-tual outcome has been surprising. Twenty-three people attended the first meeting held in late August at Starbucks in Khan Shatyr mall.

“People from Moscow told me that our Meet & Sketch meet-up hit a record in terms of the number of people coming to the first meet-ing, because there were around ten people in Moscow and around six in Almaty,” she added.

Being part of the group is very easy both for those with highly refined skills and those who are beginners. One just needs to bring materials for sketching.

“In my announcements, I write that all people are welcome if a person feels he or she wants to draw. But I noticed there is a cer-tain difficulty. When a person has no skills whatsoever in drawing,

he or she becomes shy and con-fused when they come and perhaps they wait for someone to teach them. Therefore, it is a bit easier for people who possess at least some skills,” she said.

Kotovskaya describes sketching as an “easy going style.”

“Perhaps when you study draw-ing in an academic way, it might be a bit boring. But sketching is such an easy and interesting style that perfectly fits those drawing outside home, plein air style, in ca-fés or in nature,” she noted.

Describing the meaning of sketch art in three words, she said it is freedom, fun and meeting peo-ple.

“It gave me the freedom not to get stuck in the office, not to do things that I do not like. Thanks to art, I feel freedom. It is also fun and communication, because thanks to illustrations and my work, I met so many people,” she said.

“I can say that I have been draw-ing for my entire life. I have a bach-elor’s degree in graphic design and in this period, I became interested in drawing in a more professional manner; not doing it for myself, but studying it,” she added.

The meetings, usually organ-ised on alternate Sunday morn-

ings, last two to three hours. Approximately 40 minutes is de-voted to the sketchers introducing themselves.

“Many people think that it is my master class and that I will teach something, but this is not like that. When I was going to such meetings myself in the past, it was a bit scary. People can look at you when you try to sketch them and it is, after all, boring when you are alone. I wanted to find people who want to meet, need art, lack practice to gather and draw,” said Kotovskaya.

The choice of locations is bound-less, although the capital weather creates some constraints.

“The first meeting was in Star-bucks. They are very loyal. I came there and asked whether I could bring people so that they could draw here. They agreed right away and even offered a coffee tasting. I really appreciated that, because they did not ask anything from me and it is good for them as well,” she said.

The second meeting was in Keruen City mall and the latest in Photo Bar, a coffee shop that in-vited the group. Kotovskaya plans to add other interesting locations to the list.

“For instance, I have an idea

to gather people at the National Museum of Kazakhstan. An exhi-bition opened there just recently. Going to museums and drawing from art masterpieces is common abroad,” she said.

Kotovskaya believes such meet-ups remain undiscovered, leaving room for new ideas and imagina-tion. She also seeks to make meet-

ings more interesting and engag-ing.

“I want people to come and be willing to come more. Marketing is also important here in encour-aging people to attend. I believe there will be a positive effect on people,” she added.

The next meeting is scheduled for mid-October.

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