1. law, govt and politics
2. government
3. parliament

Wednesday, november 5, 2014
+6°C /+1°C
www.astanatimes.com
No 20 (63)
Nazarbayev Receives Global Islamic
Finance Award at WIEF in Dubai
Stronger Board, More
Effective Government
Interaction to Mark
Samruk Kazyna
Transformation, Says
Fund’s Chairman
By Michelle Witte
President Nursultan Nazarbayev addresses participants of the 10th World Islamic Economic Forum in Dubai on Oct. 28.
By erkin mustafin
DUBAI – President Nursultan
Nazarbayev’s efforts to promote
Islamic finance and banking were
rewarded Oct. 28 when he received the Global Islamic Finance
Award (GIFA) at the 10th World
Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF)
in Dubai.
“Since 2009, Kazakhstan has
been the leader in the CIS [Com-
monwealth of Independent States]
and Central Asia in the field of legal implementation of principles
of Islamic finance. A number of
Islamic financial institutions currently provide their services in
Islamic banking, insurance and
leasing in Kazakhstan,” said the
President. He also underlined that
taking into account Kazakhstan’s
active role within international
Islamic organisations, the country
would increase efforts to develop
Islamic finance.
GIFA celebrates individuals,
institutions and governments that
promote Islamic banking and
finance and ensure it remains
committed to social responsibility. GIFA laureates include former
Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi and former Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
Kazakhstan was the first CIS na-
tion to develop a partnership programme with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), which opened
a branch in Almaty in 1997 for
IDB member states and Muslim
communities in the CIS, Mongolia, China and Eastern Europe.
Al-Hilal, the first Islamic bank in
Kazakhstan, was established in
2007; its capitalisation currently
amounts to $176 million.
Continued on Page A4
Kazakh Official Development
Assistance to Focus on Central
Asia, Afghanistan, Says FM
By malika orazgaliyeva
ASTANA – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan
Idrissov reported on the draft law
“On Official Development Assistance” at the plenary session of
the Mazhilis (lower chamber of
Parliament) on Oct. 29. The draft
law is intended to regulate Kazakhstan’s official development
assistance.
KazAid (1)The draft law is designed to implement President
Nursultan Nazarbayev’s decree of
April 9, 2013, “On the Concept of
the Republic of Kazakhstan in the
sphere of official development assistance.” According to Idrissov,
the draft law was developed by an
interdepartmental working group
that included 17 state bodies.
“The uniqueness of the project,
not only for our national legislation, but also for the whole CIS
[Commonwealth of Independent
States] territory, where only two
countries have a national system of development assistance,
must be noted. These are Russia
and Azerbaijan, but even they do
not have relevant laws,” Idrissov
said.
“I would like to note that the
participation of such authoritative international partners as
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and
the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development
(OECD) allowed us to ensure the
best global practices at all stages
of preparation of the draft law.
In addition, close work has been
done with experienced national
donors such as South Korea, the
U.S., France, Japan, Turkey and
others,” he added.
Idrissov also noted that the
project first directs the systematisation of existing activities of
official development assistance
(ODA). International experience
shows that ODA is an effective
mechanism for improving stability and prosperity in the region
and the world. Development assistance is also another tool for
creating favourable external conditions for the development of
the country providing assistance
– one reason many countries have
formed national ODA systems in
the past century.
An ODA system will also help
create external conditions for the
ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Samruk Kazyna Sovereign Wealth
Fund will redistribute responsibilities within the fund and change its
portfolio structure and approach to
investment as part of its recently
announced transformation, Chairman of the Board of Samruk Kazyna Umirzak Shukeyev recently
told The Astana Times in an exclusive interview. This will require internal changes, including training
and incorporating foreign expertise, as well as legislative changes
in Kazakhstan.
Samruk Kazyna officially unveiled its transformation programme, which is intended to help
modernise Kazakhstan’s economy
and bring an additional $11 billion
to the country’s gross domestic
product by 2020, on Oct. 6. The
privatisation of assets as part of
the transformation has put shares
in 106 companies worth $9 billion
up for sale, including some shares
in strategic assets. Fourteen com-
Continued on Page A3
Continued on Page A4
Country to
Celebrate 550 Years
of Statehood in 2015
By Malika Orazgaliyeva
successful implementation of the
Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy and
its goal of achieving high living
standards for the population of
Kazakhstan, Idrissov noted.
In his words, Kazakhstan, as a
regional leader, cannot afford to
stand apart from problems in the
region, where some countries are
actually on the verge of becoming
failed states. “Existing risks may
even worsen after the withdrawal
of international coalition troops
from Afghanistan,” Idrissov said.
“Therefore, the main geographical focus of providing ODA will
be Central Asia, Afghanistan and
the Caucasus in the long term.
There is no country in our region,
except Kazakhstan, that is able to
provide such systemic support.”
panies are currently up for sale
completely.
Foreign buyers will be able to
purchase shares in strategic assets through special procedures
stipulated in Kazakhstan’s legislation, including getting permission
from the country’s Strategic Assets Commission, Shukeyev said.
“There might also be some legal
restrictions in terms of ensuring
national security interests,” he said.
One company designed as a strategic asset, the Transtelecom Joint
Stock Company, is to be privatised,
with 49 percent of its shares to be
sold as a single lot.
“Four national companies, including KEGOC (the Kazakhstan
Electric Grid Operating Company),
Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, Kazatomprom and Samruk-Energy, will
come into the stock market in the
framework of the People’s IPO programme. In addition, we are going to
attract strategic investors to the Kazakhstan Engineering Company, 49
percent of the shares of which will
be put up for sale as well,” he said.
ASTANA – President Nursultan
Nazarbayev announced on Oct. 22
that next year Kazakhstan will celebrate the 550th anniversary of its
establishment as a state.
“In 1465, [Kazakh khans]
Kerey and Janybek created the
first khanate and it is to that time
that [Kazakh statehood traces its
roots]. Perhaps it was not a state
in the modern sense of this term,
within the present borders, and
without fame and prestige in the
world. But these words can be
said about all of the other states of
that era. The important element is
that the foundation was laid, and
we are the followers of the great
deeds of our ancestors,” said Nazarbayev.
President Nazarbayev’s remarks
came during a meeting in which
he introduced newly appointed
Astana Akim (Mayor) Adilbek
Dzhaksybekov to Astana’s city
administration and made other
statements. [Dzhaksybekov, who
had served as Astana’s mayor in
1997-2003, replaced Imangali Tasmagambetov, who was appointed
Kazakhstan’s Minister of Defence
earlier on the same day.]
The head of state stressed Kazakhstan preserves the traditions
of centuries-old friendships and
peaceful coexistence with neighbouring states.
“Certain persons are apt to rename everything and name the
streets and institutions in one language. This should be stopped. I
want to say it again: do not manifest patriotic zeal where it is not
required. The Constitution clearly
spells out all the rules relating to
the rights of ethnic groups and
languages. It is our advantage, our
hallmark in the world as a stable
multi-ethnic state,” said Nazarbayev, alluding to the need to
preserve an interethnic harmony,
a source of pride for the nation,
which is home to more than 130
ethnic groups.
Continued on Page A2
Kazakhstan Welcomes Bolashak at Twenty One
Ukraine Election
By Arsen Rakimzhanov
ASTANA – Kazakhstan “welcomes the holding of elections to
the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
on Oct. 26 this year,” the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
said in a statement on Oct. 28,
calling the new parliament an important step toward national reconciliation.
“We respect the choice of the
Ukrainian people and will support the efforts of Ukraine and the
international community towards
strengthening political stability
and consolidating the society and
ensuring the progressive development of the country,” the statement reads.
Earlier in the week, the Foreign
Ministry announced that Kazakhstan continues to provide practical
assistance to help stabilise the political situation in Ukraine, including allocating $40,000 to support
the activities of the Organisation
for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Special Monitoring
Mission in Ukraine, which monitors
the implementation of agreements
on the end of hostilities.
During his Oct. 7 meeting at the
Akorda presidential residence with
former Ukrainian President Leonid
Kuchma, President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced that Kazakhstan
was reviewing options for providing
humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
The Bolashak presidential scholarship, launched
by President Nursultan
Nazarbayev in November
1993, will mark its 21st anniversary this month.
Traditionally, the end of
the year is marked by the
annual Bolashak Alumni
and Scholars Forum. This
year, the Bolashak Alumni
Reunion Conference and
Education Fair 2014 on
Nov. 14 will provide all
participants, including their
alma mater, with the op-
portunity to discuss new
mechanisms of scholarship
realisation, present their
achievements and simply
enjoy the atmosphere of a
warm and friendly meeting
of confederates.
Aslan Sarinzhipov, min-
ister of Education and Science of Kazakhstan, (pictured, right) and foreign
scholars give their accounts
of what the programme
means for the country and
its future in opinions on
Pages A7 and B5.
Inside
nation
Economy & Business
editorial
opinions
NATION & CAPITAL
New Book Illuminates Kazakhstan’s History
with Maps, Illustrations A2
Experts and Officials Discuss EXPO 2017,
Future Energy in Astana A4
A Good Chance to Become Better Known as a
‘Good Country’ A6
Abai Opera Gets Warm Reception in Paris B1
Kazakhstan’s Judicial System Earns More
Popular Trust, Supreme Court Chair Says A2
Chinese, S Korean Companies to Invest in
Kazakh Chemical Industry A5
Radostovets: EEU Brings News
Challenges and Opportunities for Kazakh
Mining and Metallurgical Sector A6
Tredinnick: An Illustrated History of
Kazakhstan: Asia’s Heartland in Context A7
US$ 1 = 180.87 KZT 1 Euro = 226.07 KZT 1 Rouble = 4.17 KZT
Greek Association President Calls Kazakhstan
‘Unique Place’ for Its Hospitality B1
A2
NATION
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
Kazakhstan’s Judicial System Earns More
Popular Trust, Supreme Court Chair Says
By Zhanar Abdulova
ASTANA – Based on the annual increase of more than 100,000
claims filed with the courts during the last five years, Kazakhstan
citizens appear to have a growing
trust in the judiciary, Chairman of
the Supreme Court Kairat Mami
said during an Oct. 20 address to
the diplomatic corps.
“It is no secret that Kazakh
citizens prefer to go to court than
to higher state bodies, to arbitrators or mediators. The number
of claims submitted every year
to the courts has increased from
539,487 to 647,229. This is a
clear indication of the efficiency
of the judicial processes available
to people,” he stressed during a
briefing on the rule of law which
took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In his statement, Mami highlighted the main areas of work
done by the judicial bodies to
modernise national justice and
strengthen the judicial mechanisms for the protection of rights
and legitimate interests of citizens.
“Despite the importance of
improving legislation, a central
component of any independent and fair justice system is the
figure of the judge. The professional development of judges,
their skills and moral qualities is
one of the main priorities of the
Supreme Court,” Mami underscored.
“This year, reforms to the personnel policy of the judiciary
have been approved. The new
concept is aimed at a further increase in transparency and consistency in the selection and appointment of judicial personnel.
Judges undergo training at the
Institute of Justice at least once
every five years and every three
years take part in internships in
a higher court,” the Chairman of
the Supreme Court told the ambassadors.
Kazakhstan’s key priorities for
the development of the justice
system are set out in the Concept
of Legal Policy for 2010-2020. It
explains that the country is currently focused on strengthening
the independence of the judiciary,
ensuring an affordable and quick
resolution of legal disputes and
regular implementation of the
principles behind international
law in legislation and the judicial
system.
In line with the concept, the
Supreme Court together with the
government is actively working
to strengthen legal protections,
create an effective civil and administrative process and develop
the institutions of pre-trial proceedings.
Currently, the Senate of the
Parliament is considering a draft
law aimed at simplifying civil
proceedings. A new Code of Civil
Procedure has been drafted, while
the adoption of the new Criminal
Code, Criminal Procedure Code,
Executive Penal Code and Code
of Administrative Offences this
year became the next step in the
implementation of the concept.
“Our country faces the challenge of forming new national
legislation that will work within
current systems while ensuring the competitiveness of Kazakhstan’s legal system,” Mami
noted. “The main message of our
new model of criminal justice is
that we are determined to reduce
the number of laws restricting
citizens’ rights to exercise their
civil rights and obligations. We
want people to feel empowered to
implement entrepreneurial initiatives.”
Another of the government’s
key goals is to fulfil the vision set
out in the national long-term Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy. A strong
judicial system is essential [to
our country] becoming one of the
30 most-developed nations in the
world. Modern technology can
simplify and speed up proceedings, too, the speaker noted.
“Today, the filing of claims in
Kazakhstan is made using Internet resources and there is a possibility of becoming familiar with
the audio and video minutes of
the courts hearings and judicial
acts,” Mami said.
“This year we received over
30,000 e-applications. Participants in proceedings are being
notified electronically. We are
pushing ahead with increasing
the use of e-mail and allowing
the public to submit requests
via the website and a call centre.
Very soon, courtrooms across the
country will be equipped with
state-of-the-art audio and video
systems and the technical means
to allow participants in trials to
appear remotely,” he maintained.
Yet courts are not always the
best place to seek a swift resolution to a legal problem and
are themselves interested in the
development of extra-judicial
settlements of disputes. Thus, a
number of measures have been
initiated to improve administrative procedures in government
agencies and encourage the development of effective bodies to
manage mediation and arbitration.
“We have worked on these
measures collaboratively with
Kazakhstan’s business community, represented by the National
Chamber of Entrepreneurs, to
develop a bill on arbitration and
arbitration courts. We hope to involve the chamber’s representatives as mediators in disputes
between businesses, including in
trial proceedings,” Mami said.
Kazakhstan is currently making
every effort to create favourable
conditions for both the country’s
business and foreign investment,
which are key driving forces of
the national economy. The landmark decisions in the area include legalisation of property
and capital, the second wave of
privatisation, reducing the tax
burden and a moratorium on inspections of small and mediumsized businesses. The institute of
an “investment ombudsman” was
established in June for better protection of investors.
During the meeting, Mami said
the Supreme Court has initiated
the creation of a specialised court
to hear disputes involving foreign
investors.
“This, in our view, will allow
an increase in the availability and
the level of judicial protection for
foreign investment,” he noted.
Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court
is working closely with international and regional nongovernmental organisations, including
the United Nations offices in Kazakhstan including UN Development Programme, UN Children
Fund, International Organisation
for Migration and OSCE Centre
in Astana, in all the aforementioned areas.
A constructive partnership
within the framework of the rule
of law has been formed with the
European Union, the German
Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Foundation for
International Legal Cooperation
(IRZ), the Venice Commission
and American Bar Association.
In his remarks, Mami stressed
the importance of the rule of law
for a judge, noting the legal basis
for the activities of Kazakh courts
is constantly improving in compliance with international best
practices.
Addressing the diplomatic
corps, Supreme Court judge Ulbosyn Suleimenova familiarised
the participants with certain provisions of the new draft code of
civil procedure, explaining that
it has been designed to strengthen and protect the constitutional
rights and freedoms of Kazakh
citizens.
In his own remarks at the event,
Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov
said that according to World Justice Report for 2014, Kazakhstan
occupied the 71st position out of
99 countries ranked in the rule
of law index. Uzbekistan was
ranked 73rd, China 76th, Kyrgyzstan 78th and Russia 80th.
New Book Illuminates
Country to
Kazakhstan’s History with Celebrate 550 Years
Maps, Illustrations
of Statehood in 2015
Continued from Page A1
By Michelle Witte
ASTANA – A new book edited
by Hong Kong-based writer Jeremy
Tredinnick collects essays, photographs, maps, artefacts and other
visual and textual information to illuminate the historical passage of the
many cultures and peoples that have
called Kazakhstan home.
“An Illustrated History of Kazakhstan: Asia’s Heartland in Context,” to
be released by Hong Kong’s Odyssey
Books and Maps in November, tackles
the immense task of tracing the history
of a territory that has been “a crossroads for human migration around the
world” since the Stone Age, according
to its essay on Kazakhstan’s pre-history by scholars Zhaken Taimagambetov
and Jean-Marc Deom.
“Telling the ‘story’ of Kazakhstan
through the ages illustrates its many
significant roles in human history:
it served as a fulcrum for early human migration throughout Eurasia
and the wider world; it was one of
the most important centres of bronze
metallurgy during the Bronze Age;
its steppes were the crucible for Iron
Age nomadic warrior societies that
would change the world order; and
its bustling southern cities were vital
links along the many trade routes of
the classical Silk Road of antiquity,”
the book begins.
Perhaps one of the most significant
periods for Kazakhstan today that the
book addresses is the rise of the Kazakh Khanate, described in the book
as having formed over 300 years between the 15th and 17th centuries. In
1459, the sultans Kerei and Janibek,
along with allied tribes, split with
the Uzbek state of Khan Abulkhair
and moved east to find lands of their
own, eventually establishing a khanate that covered much of present-day
Kazakhstan. Next year, the country
will mark 550 years of statehood.
“Kerei and Janibek founded the
Kazakh khanate in 1465,” President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev noted at an Oct. 22 gathering
with the officials of the Astana city
administration. “Today, our country
preserves the traditions of centuriesold friendship and peaceful coexistence with all neighbouring countries.
We should preserve these relations
forever,” he said.
Meruyert Abusseitova, director of
the National Information Centre for
the Study of Historical Materials of
the Suleimenov Institute of Oriental
Studies of Kazakhstan’s Ministry
of Education, who contributed the
book’s essay on the rise of the Kazakh Khanate, writes that its origins
can be traced back even further, and
that the split only cast a spotlight on
ongoing social, economic and political developments within the territory
of modern-day Kazakhstan.
Next year’s anniversary approaches at a time when territorial sovereignty in the region has become
a source of renewed interest both
within the region and beyond. Kazakhstan’s northern neighbour and
major trading partner, Russia, recently weighed in on Kazakhstan’s
narrative of its own statehood, with
President Vladimir Putin suggesting
that President Nursultan Nazarbayev
“created a state on a territory where
there has never been a state,” on Aug.
29 at the Seliger National Youth Forum. “The Kazakhs never had a state
of their own, and he created it. In this
sense, he is a unique person on the
post-Soviet space and in Kazakhstan,” Putin said.
The statement sparked a major
discussion in Kazakhstan’s media,
prompting Russian Ambassador to
Kazakhstan Mikhail Bocharnikov
explain that that statement was made
as a compliment to the achievements
of the 22-year-old country as a newly
independent state.
He added that no one should feel
discriminated against in any situation; where one person is discriminated against, the whole Kazakhstan is affected.
According to the President, Kazakhstan has achieved great progress and international standing
since independence, which was
apparent during his recent visits to
Brussels and Milan.
“The signing of the documents
on completion of the negotiations
on the draft agreement on enhanced partnership and cooperation with the EU, also of bilateral
negotiations with the EU in the
framework of Kazakhstan’s accession to the WTO, point to the European Union’s trust in our country,” he said. “Kazakhstan was the only nation
in the Central Asian region invited
to the summit of the Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM) in Milan. I met
with many state leaders. They view
Kazakhstan as a state that serves
as a good example of economic
development, social stability, the
population’s wellbeing, peace and
stability,” the President said.
The head of state noted that today many countries face major
challenges related to the world
economy.
“Tit-for-tat sanctions between
Russia and the European countries,
as well as the situation in Ukraine
contributed to growing instability.
Russia is our strategic partner, the
next door neighbour with whom
we have close ties. If there is a
worsening situation in the Russian
economy, it indirectly influences
us,” said Nazarbayev, adding that
the government actively works to
counteract these trends.
“The government proposed to
revise the budget of this year, because decrease of prices for oil
and metals, as well as other items
of Kazakhstan’s exports, lead to a
reduction of income. However, all
wages and social payments should
be provided at the existing level,”
said Nazarbayev.
He also told administrators that
a large infrastructure development
programme will be announced
soon, saying there is a need to build
many high-quality roads from the
capital to all regions of the country. The new road construction will
provide jobs and new contracts to
construction companies.
“The signing of
the documents on
completion of the
negotiations on the
draft agreement
on enhanced
partnership and
cooperation with the
EU, also of bilateral
negotiations with the
EU in the framework
of Kazakhstan’s
accession to the
WTO, point to
the European
Union’s trust in
our country,”
Nazarbayev said.
The President also noted that
EXPO 2017-related construction
has started on a centre of culture
and science, as well as new areas
for leisure, trade and scientific research. He also said that other important projects are in the works,
such as the Abu Dhabi Plaza multifunctional complex, new hotels,
sports facilities, health care facilities, a botanical garden, a new railway station and a high-speed bus
transport system.
NATIONAL
news in brief
Imangali Tasmagambetov was
appointed Kazakhstan’s new defence minister on Oct. 22, following the resignation of Serik
Akhmetov from the post. Tasmagambetov, 57, served as mayor
of Astana for six years and has
previously served as mayor of
Almaty and prime minister of Kazakhstan. Adilbek Dzhaksybekov
has assumed the mantle of mayor
of Astana, a role he previously
occupied from 1997, the year the
capital was moved from Almaty, to
2003. The appointment comes as
Kazakhstan’s military is in the process of transitioning to an all-volunteer force, which it announced
in 2013 would happen by the end
of 2016, as well as preparing for
potential instability following the
withdrawal of international forces
from Afghanistan in 2015.
Astana will host the second international seminar, “Space Days
in Kazakhstan” Nov. 13-14, dedicated to the first results of Kazakhstan’s Earth Remote Sensing
System (RSSE). “This year, Kazakhstan became the owner of a
complete space system for earth
remote sensing, with two remote
sensing satellites functioning in orbit and in a ground-based centre,”
said Chairman of the Aerospace
Committee of the Kazakh Ministry
of Investment and Development
Talgat Mussabayev. At the event,
Kazakhstan’s first national RSSE
will be presented, in addition to the
country’s advanced systems and
technology solutions in the field of
remote sensing, geo-information
systems, geodesy and satellite
navigation. Solutions and workshops on applying remote sensing
data using high-accuracy satellite
navigation systems and creating
geo-information systems, as well
as images from Kazakh satellites,
will be presented. More than 200
local and foreign experts are expected to attend.
First Deputy Minister for Investment
and
Development
Zhenis Kassymbek stated at an
Oct. 29 Central Communications
Service briefing that Kazakhstan
is planning to purchase 61 aircraft
by 2020 and open 75 new international air routes, bringing the
total of the latter to 128. Kassymbek noted that since the beginning
of the year, the air carriers have
acquired eight modern aircraft,
including five jets by Air Astana,
two by Bek Air and one by SCAT.
The main objective of the update
is to improve safety and eliminate shortcomings pointed out
by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Kassymbek said. Eighty amendments
were adopted to the law on civil
aviation. As a result, the EU committee has lifted restrictions on
Air Astana flights to Europe last
spring. The ICAO conducted a revision this year of the elimination
of the faults revealed in 2009 and
the validation committee decided
to eliminate one of the two essential objections on airworthiness.
According to the preliminary
report, Kazakhstan’s Civil Aviation complied with 65 percent of
ICAO standards. The ministry announced that the state is continuing to work on the development of
airport infrastructure and that by
2020 all major airports would be
upgraded.
Nazarbayev University is comparable with leading educational
institutions in the world, according
to an assessment given to Metropolitan University by David Robinson, professor at Duke University, during an interview with TV
Channel 24.kz. He is a lecturer at
Nazarbayev University and closely monitors its development. Robinson noted that the main advantage of the university is its unique
teaching faculty. With other members of Nazarbayev University, he
is working on attracting leading
specialists to the Kazakh institution. “We cooperate with prestigious universities in the world in
order to jointly create a training
programme. For example, we have
an MBA programme for managers
in the Graduate School of Business at Nazarbayev University.
We have prepared this programme
with the business school of Duke
University, which is always in the
top educational institutions in the
world,” said Robinson.
A3
eurasia&world
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
external
news in brief
An agreement on cooperation
between the Foundation of the
First President of the Republic of
Kazakhstan and the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship
with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC)
was signed during the official visit
of Kazakhstan’s Mazhilis (lower
chamber of parliament) delegation to China. “Nowadays, our
state, particularly the parliament,
actively implements missions of
the Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy. We
are very interested in the Chinese
experience in the fields of health
care, education and social security,
both in existing problems and their
solutions. We are keen to get acquainted with our colleagues and
cooperate with them in the future,”
said head of the delegation, Deputy Chair of the Mazhilis Dariga
Nazarbayeva at a meeting with
CPAFFC President Li Xiaolin.
Li underlined that the association
sought to enhance bilateral cultural
and humanitarian cooperation, as
well as promote the development
of the Silk Road economic belt.
The parties also reached an agreement on mutual provision of land
for building diplomatic missions.
Croatian First Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Foreign
and European Affairs Vesna Pusic
announced that her country would
open an embassy in Kazakhstan
during an Oct. 29 meeting with
Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan
Idrissov in Astana. “Kazakhstan
has received high assessments for
its investment climate, which facilitates Croatia’s mission. We are
also working on developing relations between the business circles
of the two states. To this end, we
are opening a diplomatic mission
in Astana next year, which will
eventually transform into a permanent Croatian embassy,” said
Pusic. Preparations for President
Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visit to
Croatia are going well, she added.
The Croatian president received
an invitation from Nazarbayev to
participate in EXPO 2017 and is
conducting negotiations on cooperation in the energy industry,
Pusic reported. At the end of the
meeting, the parties signed an action plan between the two foreign
ministries.
A Kazakh delegation headed by
Chairman of the Mazhilis Committee on Legislation and Legal
Reform Rakhmet Mukashev visited the Netherlands Oct. 23-28 The
visit was organised by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Centre in
Astana and Penal Reform International (PRI) with the support of the
Kazakh embassy in The Hague.
The purpose of the visit was to
expand cooperation between the
two countries, including a detailed
study of the Dutch experience in
humanisation of the penal system
through the use of probation services. The Kazakh delegation had
a number of bilateral meetings
with Dutch leaders, including Vice
President of the Senate of the Parliament Hans Franken, Secretary
General of the European Probation Organisation Willem van der
Brugge and chief coordinator of
electronic monitoring of convicts
Michel van der Veen, and visited a
number of specialised penitentiary
centres and other institutions.
The official opening of the exhibition of Kazakh and American artists, entitled “Voice of the Eternal
Steppe,” took place on Oct. 28 at
the UN headquarters in New York.
Paintings and sculptures by prominent artists, including Bakhytnur
Burdesbekov, Meirzhan Nurgozhin, Dosbol Kassymov, Berik
Kulmamirov, Talgat Tleuzhanov,
Yerbol Khamirov, were presented
at the event. The exhibition included works by American artists who
devoted themselves in their works
to Kazakhstan, its people, landscapes and traditions. Among them
were Colin Blekard, Leila Elias,
Pete Didrikh, Michael Preetyman,
Janet Cook and Frank Scicchitano.
The exhibition represented a
mixture of styles, from realism
to impressionism and surrealism.
Visitors to the exhibition particularly noted the professionalism and
skill of the authors who managed
to very accurately convey their inner feelings on canvas and sculpture.
The day before the exhibition,
New York’s Carnegie Hall hosted
the Astana Opera, where Kazakh
artists performed “Voice of Asia.”
Kazakh Official Development Assistance to
Focus on Central Asia, Afghanistan, Says FM
Continued from Page A1
A national system of international development assistance is
one of the essential attributes of
states seeking to become the most
developed countries of the world.
With its economic development
and growing international profile,
Kazakhstan’s responsibility for
ensuring international and regional
security and stability is increasing,
Idrissov said.
There are also external factors
prompting the development of
this draft law, the foreign minister
noted. Kazakhstan was recently
reclassified as an upper middle income country. In addition to burnishing the country’s image, this
imposes some responsibility on
Kazakhstan for what is happening
in the world, as well as increases
the expectations of the international community of Kazakhstan’s
capabilities. “The attitude is, ‘You
received support and became
stronger; now help others,’” he
said.
The foreign minister is convinced that it is impossible to ensure steady growth in isolation
and in an unfavourable socio-eco-
UN Resident Coordinator in Kazakhstan Stephen Tull (l) and Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov sign a project document on Oct. 31 stating that the UNDP will
assist Kazakhstan in establishing KazAID.
nomic environment. It is no coincidence that many new donors, he
said, are countries with gross domestic products that are less than
or comparable to Kazakhstan’s,
per capita.
Concluding the speech in the
Mazhilis, Idrissov gave the following arguments in favour of the project: “First, KazAID is not a charity sending money overseas. It will
provide carefully targeted support
for projects that will have a real impact on our regional economy, se-
curity and well-being. Second, we
will work with other governments
and organisations across the region
to identify and implement projects,
making use of their experience and
knowledge – and international best
practices – to ensure projects are
well managed and have the greatest
effect. Third, KazAID’s operations
and projects will be rigorously and
regularly assessed to ensure they
are delivering on their objectives
and providing the most efficient
and effective use of funds.”
Foreign Experts See Great Value in KazAID
By Malika Orazgaliyeva
Kazakhstan’s
recently
announced official development assistance (ODA) programme and
the agency that is being set up to
oversee it, KazAID, signals an
evolutionary step in the country’s
role in the region and the world,
and as such is a matter of interest
to the Kazakhstan’s governmental
and nongovernmental partners.
The Astana Times spoke with partners from the United States and the
UN about what KazAID will mean
for the country and the region.
Michael S. Klecheski,
deputy chief of mission
of the United States in
Kazakhstan
What do you think of the establishment of KazAID and its importance?
First of all, let me say that the
U.S. government is very pleased
that Kazakhstan is going to establish this agency. From our
perspective, it is a sign of a new
step in Kazakhstan’s development,
because Kazakhstan is now taking another important role in the
world. Needless to say, that process of approval takes some time
and the project still has to pass a
few more steps. However, we look
forward to partnering with this organisation. USAID, which is the
United States development agency, has been very supportive of the
KazAID initiative and looks forward to working closely with KazAID in the future. It’s something
we’re really excited about.
In your opinion, what type of
aid should be provided?
As Minister Erlan Idrissov [Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan] said, it requires doing some
proper analyses, as well as talking
to countries that might be beneficiaries of this aid. Also, it would be
beneficial to talk to a partner with
whom KazAID will be working.
There are lots of challenges in this
region, such as economic issues,
water issues, connectivity issues,
et cetera. It will be good to have
a partner like KazAID when it is
officially formed.
What are your expectations
from KazAID?
We expect it to be terrific partners; however, organisations like
these need time for development.
Actually, our expectations are very
high; we are very excited and believe that soon, it will become an
effectively functioning organisation that will grow with time.
Jun Kukita, chief
representative of
UNICEF in Kazakhstan
How would you evaluate the establishment of KazAID?
It is a very important development for Kazakhstan, particularly
in the globalised world, where
everything goes beyond a country’s border.
Let me give you a few examples.
The Ebola virus that is currently
affecting many countries, especially in Western Africa – if international societies, including Kazakhstan, do not respond on a timely
basis with sufficient resources, it
will paralyse the whole world. The
same for climate change: it will
also come to Kazakhstan, and one
country is not able solve such a
problem without the help of others. Collaboration is important.
As Minister Idrissov said, this is a
way of insuring your security and
prosperity.
Today, Kazakhstan can share a
lot with the world. For example, the
country reduced its child mortality
and is now working on many more
complex issues, such as suicide or
violence, which are still a headache
for many countries. These innovations and reforms Kazakhstan can
show to the world or share with the
world. And having these channels
is very important.
Also, Kazakhstan is moving forward with the Kazakhstan 2050
Strategy and aiming at becoming
one of the top 30 countries in the
world. Mainly, these are OECD
[Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development] countries. So, being a top, developed
nation carries the responsibility
and privilege to share wealth, resources, knowledge and information with others.
In my view, Kazakhstan can
manage to cope with both internal
and external issues.
Kazakhstan’s aid will mostly go
to its neighbours. What do you
think about the decision to primarily support the Central Asian
region?
Since Kazakhstan is a part of Central Asia, the centre of Eurasia, starting with the neighbours is a natural
and probably more effective way.
Firstly, it is easier for neighbours to
communicate with each other. Sec-
Kazakhstan, UN Continue Building
on Two Decades of Cooperation
By Malika Orazgaliyeva
ASTANA – Kazakhstan is keen
to strengthen the United Nations
further and is willing to assist the
organisation in expanding its presence in the country, including
through the establishment of a UN
regional diplomacy hub in Almaty,
the country’s foreign minister said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Erlan
Idrissov made a statement at a roundtable devoted to UN Day on Oct. 24,
“The United Nations and Kazakhstan: 2015 and Beyond.” .
Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan
Ashikbayev, UN Resident Coordinator in Kazakhstan Stephen Tull and
other officials also addressed the
audience at the event at the Kazakh
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which
included leaders of UN organisations’ offices in Kazakhstan, the
diplomatic corps and representatives
of nongovernmental organisations
(NGOs).
Kazakhstan and the UN have been
celebrating UN Day together for the
last two decades. Over this period,
the partners have developed suc-
cessful and beneficial cooperation in
many areas, officials said.
“We are grateful for the contribution of UN experts and the leadership of the United Nations’ specialised institutions whose support has
been instrumental in developing and
consolidating
newly-independent
Kazakhstan. For over 20 years we
have been fruitfully cooperating on
a multitude of projects on poverty
reduction, healthcare and education
systems, social services, sustainable
development, improving environmental conditions and the efficiency
of public administration, as well as
many other sectors,” Idrissov said in
his welcoming speech.
The minister mentioned that much
of the knowledge generated by mutual cooperation has been channeled
into long-term development programmes. He noted that Kazakhstan is aiming to enter the top 30
most-developed countries by 2050.
Therefore, the vision reflected in the
country’s Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy
is fully consistent with the objectives
of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. According to him, the
strategy highlights a number of areas
related to health, social imbalances,
professional state and regional and
global security and sets ambitious
targets for the renewable energy sector.
“The UN, with its noble principles
and values and its broad scope of responsibility and outreach, is a core
element of a new world order. We all
are working to increase the relevance
of the UN in the face of the multidimensional threats and challenges the
world is facing today,” Idrissov said.
Tull briefly described the history
of the UN, saying that United Nations Day is devoted to making the
aims and achievements of the institution known to the people of the
world. The organisation was created
following World War II to prevent
another such conflict. UN Day is part
of United Nations Week, which runs
from Oct. 20-26.
Ashikbayev noted that in order to
make contributions to global peace,
the Kazakh government is bidding
for a nonpermanent member seat on
the UN Security Council for 20172018. That election is to be held in
November 2016 at the General Assembly in New York and the pace
of Kazakhstan’s campaign permits
guarded optimism regarding the outcome.
According to the deputy minister,
Kazakhstan will continue to strive to
make its contribution to multilateral
efforts to promote peace, disarmament and nonproliferation, sustainable development, environmental
protection and the rapprochement of
cultures, as well as working on other
fundamental issues.
“I would also like to use this opportunity to stress that the initiative
of making the city of Almaty a regional hub of multilateral diplomacy
is advancing at a good pace. I am
confident that it will provide a strong
foundation for further regional and
international cooperation in Central
Asia and beyond,” Ashikbayev said.
A video address by UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon was also
shown to the gathering.
In it, he said, “The United Nations
is needed more than ever at this time
of multiple crises. Poverty, disease,
terrorism, discrimination and climate
ondly, they share a common history
and have common systems. As a result, prosperity and stability among
your neighbours will immediately
affect your country.
Willem Muhren,
information management
officer of the UN Office
for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA)
What do you think about the establishment of the KazAID agency in Kazakhstan?
It is a very important step for
Kazakhstan, as the first country
in Central Asia to have a national
system of ODA. The country’s
support to the region will help
build a more stable and secure environment.
In previous years, Kazakhstan
had provided significant international humanitarian assistance, so
we hope that the establishment of
the KazAID agency will give better direction, better structure to
Kazakhstan’s humanitarian activities in the future.
change are exacting a heavy toll.
Millions of people continue to suffer deplorable exploitation through
bonded labour, human trafficking,
sexual slavery or unsafe conditions
in factories, fields and mines. The
global economy remains an uneven
playing field.”
“The founding of the United Nations was a solemn pledge to the
world’s people to end such assaults
on human dignity, and lead the way
to a better future. There have been
painful setbacks, and there is much
work ahead to realise the charter’s vision. But we can take heart from our
achievements,” he continued saying
the world’s efforts to achieve the UN
Millennium Development Goals has
spearheaded “the most successful
anti-poverty campaign ever.”
“United Nations treaties addressing inequality, torture and racism
have protected people, while other
agreements have safeguarded the
environment. UN peacekeepers have
separated hostile forces, our mediators have settled disputes and our humanitarian workers have delivered
life-saving aid,” Ban said.
“At this critical moment, let us
reaffirm our commitment to empowering the marginalized and vulnerable. On United Nations Day, I call
on governments and individuals to
work in common cause for the common good,” he concluded.
A4
economy
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
Experts and Officials Discuss EXPO 2017,
Future Energy in Astana
By Yelden Sarybay
ASTANA – More than 200 participants discussed conceptual and
logistical details related to EXPO
2017 at the first International Planning Meeting (IPM) and the Future
Energy Forum (FEF) held at the
Palace of Independence on Oct.
22-24 in Astana.
“One of the objectives of the
meeting is to assure potential international participants that Kazakhstan has all the necessary administrative and material resources for
the organisation of EXPO 2017.
It will be held in compliance with
all international standards,” said
Chairman of the Board of the Astana EXPO2017 National Company
Talgat Yermegiyaev.
During the IPM, representatives
of the Astana EXPO 2017 company presented the master plan
and construction schedule for the
pavilions, content plans, entertainment programmes, communication
strategies and promotion of the
exhibition, corporate participation
and sponsorships, the procedure to
participate in EXPO 2017 and information concerning the tourism
potential of Kazakhstan.
Thirty-eight new buildings will
be constructed specifically for
EXPO 2017 on a 175-hectare site.
According to Aidar Marat, general manager of the Department
of Architecture and Design of the
Astana EXPO 2017 company,
“More than 42 percent of the exhibition grounds will be set aside
for pavilions. The remaining area
Entertainment at the first International Planning Meeting for EXPO 2017 in Astana.
will accommodate a variety of
open and semi-enclosed areas for
visitors, for concerts and festivals.
The expo area will include the national pavilion of Kazakhstan in
the shape of a sphere, the pavilions
of countries participating in the exhibition, corporate participants and
non-governmental organisations.”
Vicente Loscertales, Secretary
General of the International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE), described
the forum on the following day as
a platform for the development of
Nazarbayev
Receives Global
Islamic Finance
Award
Continued from Page A1
Kazakhstan’s 2011 presidency
of the Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) and the initiatives of the OIC Astana Declaration are considered major successes in Islamic banking.
Experts at the Oct. 28 forum
underlined Kazakhstan’s role as
an economic and cultural bridge
between East and West, fostering
cooperation among Muslim and
non-Muslim businessmen.
Nazarbayev addressed the forum, noting the relevance of its
theme, “Innovation Partnership
for Economic Growth,” and the
need to increase cooperation in
the face of global challenges.
“We stand on the threshold of
the third industrial revolution.
Members of the Organisation
of Islamic Cooperation control
70 percent of global energy resources and export 40 percent
of mineral raw materials. However, only 7.5 percent of global
GDP and 11.2 percent of total
global trade accrue to the OIC
countries,” said Nazarbayev,
while calling for increased cooperation among the Islamic
world in the face of issues, such
as population growth, poverty,
gradual depletion of natural resources and environmental degradation.
Nazarbayev met during the
forum with Vice President and
Prime Minister of the UAE and
the constitutional monarch of
Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin
Rashid Al Maktoum to discuss
the potential to implement projects on the Caspian Sea and cooperate on the Khorgos transportation hub on the border between
Kazakhstan and China. The
Kazakh President also met with
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib
Razak and Luxembourg Prime
Minister Xavier Bettel to discuss
trade, economic, investment, in-
dustrial innovation and cultural
cooperation.
During the forum, National
Bank of Kazakhstan Chairman
Kairat Kelimbetov and Central
Bank of the United Arab Emirates Chairman Mubarak Rashid
Al Mansouri also signed a memorandum of understanding during
the forum to establish cooperation
between the two central banks in
financial supervision and the development of Islamic financing to
ensure the stability of the financial systems of the two states.
Kelimbetov also met with Malaysian Central Bank Chairman
Zeti Akhtar Aziz to discuss bilateral cooperation and Malaysia’s
experience with Islamic finance.
He also exchanged opinions with
members of the Gulf Bond and
Sukuk Association on developing Almaty as a regional hub of
Islamic finance for CIS and Eastern European countries.
Also known as the Muslim
Davos, WIEF is the main annual
economic summit for the heads
of OIC member states and beyond. The forum is a platform to
expand partnerships and connect
experts to advance Islamic economies across different markets.
More than 2,500 participants
from 140 countries attended this
year’s WIEF. The forum’s agenda
addressed developing economies,
the global financial landscape,
the role of Islamic finance in
enabling trade and streamlining
the Halal supply chain, socialising education and the role of universities, retaining young talent,
sustainable urban planning and
creating smart infrastructure and
holistic communities.
Astana hosted the 7th WIEF,
the first in Central Asia in 2011.
Kazakhstan was chosen because
of its economic and cultural development.
Malika Orazgaliyeva contributed to this report from Astana.
research projects on future energy,
the topic of EXPO 2017.
“EXPO 2017 in Astana was chosen very carefully,” said Loscertales. “The two-day forum will be
a platform for the development of
research projects on the topic of
EXPO 2017 ‘Future Energy.’ It will
be a forum for the consideration of
future developments, universal energy, efficiency, renewable energy,
energy transport. Energy is becoming an important tool for the development of the future society.”
The main objective of the forum
was the preparation of strategic
content for the upcoming exhibition and opening a wide and continuous international dialogue on
the “Future Energy” theme.
“Today, the problems associated with the energy of the future
can not be solved by any country
or organisation alone. In this regard, the participation of citizens
and civil society is essential. We
need international cooperation and
resources, we need the support of
Kazakhstan employs 32,000
foreign nationals who are divided
into four categories by their professional skills, said Vice Minister
of Health and Social Development
civil society to help the changes Daulet Argandykov. According to
that are taking place every day,” him, category one consists of top
said Loscertales.
managers and assistants, category
Leading experts in the energy two includes heads of departindustry, academics, leaders of ments, category three is comprised
public and non-governmental or- of specialists with higher educaganisations and representatives tion and category four is composed
of the public sector attended the of skilled workers. Category three
forum. The Forum is expected to makes up 44 percent of migrant
produce a “Manifesto of values​​ workers, while skilled workers
and principles” for EXPO 2017, amount to 25 percent. The quota
which will bring together the pro- for attracting foreign specialists
posals of governments, compa- is 0.7 percent of the economicalnies, academia and environmental ly-active population. The largest
organisations and businesses from shares of the foreign workforce
various countries to create a new quota fall on China (23 percent),
Turkey (13.14 percent) and India
model of energy.
According to Loscertales, EXPO (4 percent).
Forty-four percent of migrants
2017 will attract the attention of
are
involved in the construction
many experts and will address
industry,
14 percent are engaged
current challenges with different points of view, including per- in mining and processing and 5
spectives from public authorities, percent work in the manufacturing
international organisations, civil industry. “There are certain disadvantages of the existing procedure
society and non-governmental orfor attracting foreign specialists,
ganisations.
primarily due to the long-lasting
The Director of Marketing and procedures and bureaucracy, with
Promotion of EXPO 2017 Assel these procedures not always meetKozhakova gave a presentation ing the expectations of the econoconcerning the EXPO 2017 enter- my,” said Argandykov.
tainment programme, saying that
the “Future Energy” theme will be
In light of the installation of
reflected in the content of a num- automated electronic weighing
ber of planned programmes and arches for trucks, the amount of
shows.
fines in the current year exceeded
Kozhakova said that for 93 days 1.3 billion tenge (US$7.2 million),
throughout the expo grounds and said First Deputy Minister for Inthe city of Astana there will be vestment and Development Zhenis
large-scale shows, theme parties, Kassymbek. Thirteen weighing
festivals, performing arts, con- arches were installed this year as
certs, art exhibitions, theatre per- part of a pilot project. The main
formances and other shows that objective was to ensure the transwill highlight the diversity of the parency of vehicle control on the
national roads, said Kassymbek
participating countries.
at a briefing in the Central Communications Service. In his words,
the project has proved itself. More
than 1.3 billion tenge (US$7.2 million) in fines was collected during
this period, which is far more than
from the stationary posts.
Stronger Board, More
Effective Government
Interaction to Mark Samruk
Kazyna Transformation,
Says Fund’s Chairman
Continued from Page A1
Only three months from the first
sale, it is premature to speak about
the success of the newly-private
companies, Shukeyev said. However, the fund intends to provide
monitoring tools for each contract.
“But this will only apply to those
assets that will be implemented
under the terms of maintaining
the profile of the company or the
preservation of jobs for a certain
time after the sale of the asset,” he
explained.
With the income from the sales,
the fund intends to invest in innovative companies and technologies. “We put special emphasis on
the development of start-up companies in energy, mining, petrochemical, real estate and development businesses,” Shukeyev said.
Among the coming changes to
the fund itself will be a stronger
board of directors, including international experts. “The fund needs
to strengthen its board of directors, involving international experts and providing them with full
decision-making power. The fund
also needs to significantly optimise
interaction with government bodies, shifting the focus from statistical reporting to business activity.
This will, in turn, require some improvements in Kazakhstan’s business legislation, as well as review
of tariff regulation and minimising
the number of queries that are not
associated with an increase in profits,” he said.
The activities of fund personnel are also going to be reoriented
away from the government and toward private industry, he said.
“No less than 75 percent of time
in the activity of industry-specific employees of successful peer
funds is aimed at increasing the
value of existing portfolio companies, finding and managing new
projects, while the remaining part
may include functions for interaction with public authorities and
other tasks. In Samruk Kazyna at
the moment, 60 percent of industry
employees’ working time is devoted to building up relationships with
government authorities. Therefore,
in order to improve the quality of
asset management, the fund needs
to reorient industry-specific teams
to work more to add value to existing portfolio companies and
develop new projects. This will
require advanced training of existing employees through holding
additional training and seminars
with a preliminary evaluation of
their level of knowledge, as well as
hiring new, highly skilled professionals with international working
experience.”
International best practices are
the base of the transformation process, Shukeyev said. “The fund’s
transformation process started
with the study of international experience and comparative analysis.
Among the success stories of transformation are the sovereign wealth
funds Mubadala, Khazanah, Temasek, as well as the Sberbank, La
Poste and Statoil companies.”
economy
news in brief
In the case of Singapore’s Temasek Holding, a transformation
that included more professional
management and restructuring of
its portfolio led to an increase in
profit over less than a decade. Until 2002, the holding largely served
as a fiduciary with little value for
companies in the portfolio, Shukeyev said, but beginning in 2002,
the holding began to form a professional board of directors and
management team and significantly restructure its conglomerates.
“Temasek approved the ‘Yellow
Pages rule’ to prevent interference in the private sector, which
implied the fund did not invest in
businesses if the goods and services had already been provided
by companies that could be found
in the telephone directory. Since
2004, Temasek has been actively
committed to building a professional investment holding company that would work in emerging
markets, with more than 14 industry clusters and global geographic
coverage,” Shukeyev said, adding
that the holding began investing
actively around the world; now,
69 percent of the company’s assets
are overseas. “From 2005 to 2010
the total income of shareholders increased from 16 percent to
43 percent, while the value of the
portfolio increased from $54 billion to $170 billion.”
Transformations like those are
informing Samruk Kazyna’s shift,
and its transformation programme
is hoped to have a major impact.
“Even minor optimisation of operating expenses by 2 percent will
save 90 billion tenge (US$49.75
million) in the Samruk Kazyna
group of companies, while the
fund is setting more ambitious
goals,” the chairman of the board
said.
Kazakhstan is interested in developing cooperation with Japan
in hybrid and electric vehicle
production, said Prime Minister
Karim Massimov. He made the
remarks at the fifth meeting of
the Kazakh-Japanese Intergovernmental Commission on Economic
Cooperation. “Japan has high tech,
Kazakhstan has natural resources
and hardworking people,” Massimov said. In his words, working together will provide a certain
result in sectors, such as developing cooperation in the nuclear and
automotive industries. Moreover,
the countries have the potential for
cooperation in the space industry,
agriculture and other spheres.
Kazakhstan has become a cofounder of the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB) which is
considered a step forward in its
bid for UN Security Council nonpermanent membership for 201718 and expands its contribution to
maintaining regional and international peace and security.
With establishment of the AIIB,
Asian developing states will be
able to develop infrastructure and
maintain rapid, stable and sustainable economic development while
developed countries will get an opportunity to expand their demands
in capital expenditures and stimulate economic recovery. Its key
mission is to provide additional assistance to Asian states in need by
combining the efforts of the AIIB
member states.
Besides the current AIIB member states, any state, which observes the memorandum and receives co-founders’ support, can
become a co-founder. It will also
get the right to participate in the
negotiations concerning the AIIB
Charter.
The AIIB Charter is to be signed
and enter into force in 2015, while
the Bank is to be officially opened
until the end of 2015.
The memorandum on establishing the AIIB was signed at the
end of October at the meeting
of the founder states in Beijing.
The AIIB co-founders include
Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam,
Cambodia, China, India, Kuwait,
Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan,
Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri
Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and
Vietnam. Chinese capital Beijing
will become the headquarters of
the new financial institution.
A5
Business
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
Business
News in Brief
The five winning start-ups of Kazakhstan’s Go Global Programme
will be on display in Singapore
from Nov. 15-Dec. 15. The winners will complete a start-up acceleration programme there, which is
expected to be a first step toward
introducing Kazakh businesses to
Southeast Asia. The competition
winners include PhoneBooth, a
mobile application for optimising
call centre spending, and Mobiliuz, a platform providing cars with
access to the Internet to examine
on-board computer data and provide detailed reports on the car, the
user’s driving style and fuel consumption. Other winners are the
e-wallet system WoopPay, VA3S
(Video Analytics As A Service) and
the People communication platform. These start-ups will get market and technical expertise as well
as recommendations from Joyful
Frog Digital Incubator Asia mentors Alena Arens and Hugh Mason.
More than 400 business leaders
and government officials throughout Central Asia gathered recently
in Almaty as part of the fourth annual Central Asia Trade Forum organised by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Participants included technical experts, opinion shapers, government
leaders, trade promotion agencies,
international organisations, private
businesses and business associations from the region. Delegations
participated from as far as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Latvia. The Central Asian Trade Forum is the largest
trade forum in this part of the world.
The theme for this year’s forum
was “From Dialogue to Deals,”
demonstrating the event’s focus on
business-to-business support. USAID trade forums held in the past
two years have resulted in trade
deals valued at more than $2.2 million. The trade forum’s business-tobusiness networking opportunities
among entrepreneurs provide an
important platform for finalising
regional trade deals.
Astana’s Korme exhibition hall
was the host Oct. 27-29 of the international exhibitions KazAgro 2014,
dedicated to the agriculture and food
industry, and KazFarm 2014, on the
livestock and meat industry. Agriculture is a priority sector and one
of the most dynamically growing
parts of Kazakhstan’s economy. The
exhibitions were attended by more
than 250 companies from 18 countries. The event was organised by the
Expo Group international exhibition
company, with official support from
the Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture,
German Federal Ministry of Food
and Agriculture, Astana city administration, KazAgro joint stock company, Alliance of German Engineers
and North Dakota Chamber of Commerce, and sponsored by the Rostselmash Combine Plant nongovernmental organisation.
Bechtel Oil, Gas & Chemicals, a
US engineering, construction and
project management company, received a contract to provide engineering, procurement and construction services to build four crude oil
storage tanks at the Tengizchevroil
oil production facility at the Tengiz
oil field in the Atyrau region. Under the contract, Bechtel will also
upgrade the fire and gas detection
systems across the entire crude tank
farm. Tengizchevroil is a joint venture among Chevron, ExxonMobil, KazMunayGas, and LukArco.
Bechtel business unit president
Jack Futcher said, “The Bechtel
team will apply extensive technical
knowledge and more than 30 years’
worth of experience working in Kazakhstan to deliver new tank storage capacity to the Tengiz facility
on a short schedule. We look forward to continuing our work with
Tengizchevroil and the people of
Kazakhstan as they develop important energy resources.” The project
is expected to enhance 500,000 barrels of tank storage, export pumps,
interconnecting pipe, switching
manifolds, a monitoring station,
associated facilities and supporting infrastructure at the existing
facility. Earlier, Bechtel supported
the development of the Tengiz and
Korolev oil fields, built several oil
and gas facilities at Tengiz and constructed artificial islands with associated port facilities in the Caspian
Sea off the coast of Bautino.
Kazakhstan’s GDP Expected
to Grow 5 Percent in 2014
By Danna Bupezhanova
ASTANA – Chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Kairat
Kelimbetov predicted an increase in
the country’s gross domestic product
of up to 5 percent at the end of 2014
during an Oct. 21 press conference in
Astana on the revised budget.
From January to September of this
year, the GDP grew 4 percent. According to the results from the first
half of the year, the current account
surplus is $6.6 billion, a figure two
times higher than that of the first half
of 2013. He noted that the increase
was caused by a trade surplus of 17.4
percent, or approximately $22.6 billion. The overall inflation rate for
2014 is forecasted at 7.4 percent.
The main reason behind the revision of the national budget’s total
revenue figure for 2014 was the refinement of macroeconomic indicators via an analysis of the economic
situation in the country and adjustment of calculations based on actual
revenue intake for January through
September 2014.
Kazakhstan’s Minister of National
Economy Yerbolat Dossayev stated
at the briefing that three factors influenced the approved forecast, including
preliminary economic development
data for January-September 2014
and updated indicators of economic
growth by sector in 2014, trends in
world commodity prices (the world
price of oil was earlier estimated at
$95.0 per barrel, while the forecast
level of metal prices decreased from
104.1 percent to 93.7 percent compared to 2013) and the revised report
on GDP in 2013.
Dossayev reported that the growth
volume of industrial production
shrank from 2.7 percent to 0.8 percent, while oil production reached
81.8 million tons instead of 83 million
tons as planned. “Amid a decrease
in demand for Kazakhstan’s exports
and the falling price of oil and metals
around the world, exports are projected to reach $81 billion, $5.3 billion
lower than the previous forecast indicated. Imports, according to the new
forecast, amounted to $48.6 billion, or
$3.6 billion lower than the previously
released predictions,” he said.
“Taking into account the reduction in GDP and imports, the national
budget revenue (excluding transfers)
in 2014 is estimated at 3,940.4 billion tenge (US$21.79 billion), 420.7
billion tenge (US$2.33 billion) below
the earlier approved forecast. The biggest decrease in revenue is expected
in VAT on imported goods (225.3 billion tenge/US$1.2 billion) and taxes
on international trade and foreign operations (173.8 billion tenge/US$958
million). The size of the guaranteed
transfer from the National Fund was
kept at the approved level of 1,480
billion tenge (US$8.18 billion),” the
minister said.
He added that in order to partially
compensate for the expected loss in
income, the ministry proposed increasing the budget deficit from 2.3
percent to 2.6 percent of the nation’s
GDP. “In addition, on the basis of decisions made by the managing board
of the National Fund, funds from the
national budget for 2014 would include additional target transfers from
the National Fund amounting to 325
billion tenge (US$1.80 billion). Considering other additional targeted
transfers, budget expenditures are
projected to reach 7,190.3 billion
tenge (US$39.75 billion),” added
Dossayev.
At the same briefing, Minister of
Finance Bakhyt Sultanov stated that
the obligations of the government in
paying wages, pensions and benefits
would not shrink.
“Along with optimising costs, the
new GDP calculation includes the redistribution of funds totaling 55 billion
tenge (US$304 million) to support domestic economic activity, particularly
infrastructure development around the
country, preparations for EXPO 2017,
the assurance of information security
and a decrease in debt spanning the
next three years,” he added.
Agreement Opens New
Chapter in Japanese, Kazakh
Economic Cooperation
By Dmitry Lee
ASTANA – Kazakhstan and Japan
signed an agreement on the encouragement and mutual protection of
investments at the fifth Intergovernmental Commission on Economic
Cooperation in Astana on Oct. 23.
The agreement is expected to deepen
economic cooperation and aid the
launch of new projects.
One of the projects Kazakh Prime
Minister Karim Massimov would like
to see come out of the agreement is
the manufacture of hybrid and electric
cars in Kazakhstan.
“Japan has high-tech, Kazakhstan
has natural resources and hardworking people. I think together it will
give a certain result in sectors such
as the development of cooperation in
the nuclear industry and the automotive industry,” Massimov said during
the commission meeting.
A project to produce electric cars
would blend well with Kazakhstan’s
Green Economy Programme and its
hosting of EXPO 2017 under the
theme of “Future Energy,” according
to the prime minister. Kazakhstan
has also worked to create favourable
conditions for foreign businesses.
Kazakh Minister of Industry and
Trade Asset Issekeshev also told
commission meeting participants
that Kazakhstan sees Japan as a
priority investor and that Japan is
among 10 countries for which Kazakhstan launched a visa-free regime
earlier this year.
Annual Economic Forum of National Business
Expert-200-Kazakhstan to Discuss Public
Administration Reform
By Bakhytzhan Igenbayev
ASTANA – The sixth Economic
Forum of national business, Expert-200-Kazakhstan, will take
place at the Radisson Hotel Astana
on Nov. 1.
The forum is the final event of
the Expert-200-Kazakhstan project and opens up the possibility
to position the participating companies in the Kazakhstan market,
expand their business by sharing
experiences and building relationships with potential partners, develop relationships between government and business.
The main theme of the forum
this year is “The Reform of Public
Administration: Centre – Regions
– Business.” The main goal of the
forum is to find solutions to the
problems of interaction of central
and local government bodies and
businesses in the implementation
of the state policy of economic development of Kazakhstan.
The forum will feature discussions between public administrators and entrepreneurs.
According to the organisers,
Prime Minister Karim Massimov,
Minister of National Economy
Yerbolat Dossayev, Minister of Finance Bakhyt Sultanov, Minister
of Investment and Development
Asset Issekeshev, Chairman of the
Management Board of SamrukKazyna JSC Umirzak Shukeyev,
Deputy Chairman of the National
Chamber of Kazakhstan Zhannat Yertlessova, President of the
American Chamber of Commerce
in Kazakhstan Kenneth Mack,
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Centras Capital Yeldar Abdrazakov and heads of the largest
companies in the country are expected to take part in this year’s
forum.
In all, around 300 leading representatives of Kazakhstan’s businesses and government are expected to take part in the forum.
The official part of the forum
will open with two panel discussions: “Administrative reform
and economic development of
Kazakhstan: the role of business
and the state” and “How to improve the efficiency of economic
policy?” where key issues relating
to implementing reforms in public administration, principles of
interaction between business and
government, role of the state in
the economy and others are to be
discussed.
The forum’s business programme will include two consecutive panel discussions, “Innovation and competitiveness of the
national economy: how to activate
internal potential?” and “Human
resources for the economy: government, business and universities
– the roles and responsibilities in
the development of higher education” with key reports from Henry
Etzkowitz, senior researcher at
the H-STAR Institute at Stanford
University and David Kirby, Vice
President of the British University
in Egypt.
In addition, the forum will include an award ceremony for the
largest companies in Kazakhstan
based on the rating of Expert200-Kazakhstan for 2013. The
results of a research-based rating
will be published in a special issue
of Expert Kazakhstan magazine.
The Expert RA Kazakhstan rating agency and Expert Kazakhstan
magazine jointly organise the 6th
Economic Forum of national business Expert-200-Kazakhstan.
Their title partner is Sberbank
JSC, the exclusive educational
partner is the Almaty Management University. “BIPEK AVTO
– ASIA AVTO”group of companies is a strategic partner, Koktobe
City is the official partner, Corporation APK – Invest JSC is the
partner, while Holding BI Group
Construction JSC and Ural Federal University named after the first
President of Russia Boris Yeltsin
are the partners of panel discussions.
The general media partner of
the forum is information agency
Zakon.kz, while the official media
partner is the Kazakhstanskaya
Pravda newspaper.
Media partners of the event include Business Mir Kazakhstana
magazine, Kazakhstan business
magazine, PRODENGI.KZ information portal, Business Life magazine, BANKER.KZ internet portal, Bankir.Ru information agency,
RCBK magazine, Analytical
banking magazine, Irbis information agency of the financial markets, Investing.com information
portal, Kursiv newspaper, Today.
kz information portal, Panorama
weekly newspaper, the Press Club
of Kazakhstan, Capital magazine,
Business Meridianmagazine, Territoria Lisinga consulting agency,
Ak Zhaiyk weekly magazine, LS
financial and investment journal,
Kazakhstanskaya Lenta informa-
tion portal and the Astana Times
newspaper.
The full programme is avail-
able on the forum’s website:
http://www.raexpert.kz/events/
e200kz-2014/programme/
A6
EDITORIAL&opinionS
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
A Good Chance to EEU Brings News Challenges
Become Better Known and Opportunities for Kazakh
as a ‘Good Country’ Mining and Metallurgical Sector
T
he results of a recent European
opinion poll commissioned by
the Eurasian Council on Foreign Affairs show some positive trends in the perception of
Kazakhstan in five key European powers,
finding more support than opposition
for Kazakhstan’s bid for a UN Security
Council seat and finding fewer respondents
who reported being completely unaware of
positive changes in the country. Respondents were also more likely to view the
country more positively when they were
told of positive actions Kazakhstan had
taken in nuclear nonproliferation, environmental recovery and institutional reforms.
The poll, conducted by London’s ICM
Research, interviewed 1,000 18-64-yearolds in France, Germany, the U.K., Italy
and Spain in September of this year. The
results were announced last month, and
compared with the results of a 2013 EU
Opinion Research project commissioned
by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it seems that Kazakhstan is becoming, if not better known, at least less
unknown, with fewer respondents reporting that they knew nothing of the country
at all (31 percent, down from 36 percent
last year).
Kazakhstan continues to be more
positively perceived than its Central Asian
neighbours, the poll found, and only
slightly less positively perceived than
Georgia and Russia. (Subjects felt slightly
more warmth for Kazakhstan than they did
for Iran, slightly less than for fellow secular Muslim nation Turkey.) Respondents
showed more interest in visiting Kazakhstan than any other Central Asian nations,
but less than in visiting Russia, Turkey or
Georgia. There is room for improvement in
the country’s image as a tourist destination.
Respondents were asked specifically
about Kazakhstan’s bid for a seat on the
UN Security Council, and, in good news
for the country, slightly more respondents
(16 percent) said they supported Kazakhstan’s bid rather than opposed it (14 percent). The majority neither supported nor
opposed the bid. Opposition was highest in
Germany (23 percent), while support was
highest in Italy (25 percent). All members
of the United Nations will be voting for
Kazakhstan to take the Security Council
seat.
Respondents who reported being aware
of Kazakhstan were more likely to choose
negative than positive terms to describe
the country, unfortunately. “Unknown”
was the clear winner out of the 28 terms,
with 31 percent of respondents choosing
it to describe the country. It was followed
by “none of these” (22 percent), “struggling” (21 percent, down from 27 percent),
“unstable” (20 percent, down from 26
percent) and “troubled” (19 percent, down
from 22 percent). However, 19 percent
described the country as “improving.” Seventeen percent of respondents also called
the country “backward,” most (29 percent)
from Germany, where Kazakhstan seems to
have an image problem.
Germany, a major trading partner and a
country often cited as a role model in environmental and educational initiatives, is
relatively active in business in Kazakhstan,
particularly in environmental technologies.
The dynamic cooperation between the two
countries raises the question of whether
Kazakhstan’s less-than-positive image is
due to ignorance or instead arises out of
their interaction – and, if so, what can be
done to increase understanding and appreciation between the populations of the
two partners.
Perhaps the most interesting subject the
poll covered were statements presented
about Kazakh government initiatives to
change respondents’ views about Kazakhstan. Subjects were more willing to improve
their opinions of Kazakhstan in this year’s
poll, and responded most positively to being
told that Kazakhstan was a global leader in
nuclear nonproliferation, with 34 percent
of respondents saying that make them feel
much more positively about the country.
Taking steps to increase water levels
in the Aral Sea also caused a significant
leap in perceptions of Kazakhstan among
respondents. Other big opinion-makers
included being told that Kazakhstan was
cooperating with NATO on democratic,
institutional and defence reforms; that the
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government intends to transform the country into the education hub of Central Asia;
and that the country has a long tradition of
religious tolerance.
With EXPO 2017 coming up, Kazakhstan has a chance to make good on its
burgeoning image as an environmentally
conscious young country, balancing its
hydrocarbon reserves with a commitment
to sustainability and renewable resources.
With construction underway, the Expo City
housing the event infrastructure is intended
to be the world’s first energy-positive city,
a great achievement in an oil-dependent
nation.
Kazakhstan has recently set the relatively modest goal of getting 3 percent of
its energy from renewable sources by 2020
and a much more significant 50 percent
by 2050. Trumpeting its environmental
achievements would seem, at least according to this poll, to be as effective a way to
burnish the country’s international image as are its efforts in the nuclear safety
sphere.
However, wind farms in Kazakhstan are
being commissioned even as the massive
Russian-Kazakh Eurasia hydrocarbon
exploration project is being launched in
Kazakhstan’s oil rich Caspian region. With
the recent government restructuring splitting the functions of the former Ministry of
Environment and Water Resources between
the Ministry of Agriculture and the new
Ministry of Energy, questions remain as to
how some environmental protection activities will now be undertaken.
In an Oct. 31 article for the International
Institute for Environment and Development, researcher Saule Ospanova, a
World Bank consultant and former UNDP
programme coordinator, asks how key economic decisions will be assessed for their
social and environmental impact, given
the lack of instruments and existing agencies tasked with doing this job, and how
dissolving a state environmental agency
will affect the establishment of a cadre of
environmental professionals, among other
questions.
The Ministry of Energy is responsible
for implementing the road map for the
country’s transition to a green economy,
Ospanova noted. “To what extent its activities, decisions and processes will be accessible or transparent to the public, including
community and wider range of civil society
organisations, remains to be seen.”
Given that environmental initiatives in
Kazakhstan, like rehabilitating the Aral
Sea, are a potent tool for elevating international opinion, it must be hoped that these
efforts will be genuine, effective, and not
only transparent, but publicised.
The fact that the country has nearly 40
billion barrels of oil in reserves, while
clearly of great interest to energy companies the world over, was not a great source
of goodwill among the European public,
who were less positively moved by that
fact than by learning that the country has a
thriving film industry. Forums, chairmanships, conferences and athletic competitions were also least likely to have a
positive impact. This finding dovetails with
recent discussions in the Kazakh media
and legislature about the efficacy of hosting large forums and conferences.
The poll shows that Kazakhstan is having some success in drawing the world’s
attention to its remarkable transition from
a struggling, post-Soviet state to a middleincome country currently developing
its own official development assistance
programme. The country has taken a clear
moral stand on nuclear nonproliferation,
and is beginning to reap the dividends
from that decision. As it seeks to take a
larger role on the world stage, publicising
similarly humane, transparent and effective
policies on environmental, educational and
democratic development can be expected
to have the same results.
Taken together, the results of the poll
show that Kazakhstan is making some, if
not yet definitive, progress in making people in other countries more aware of what
it does for the world, or, as Simon Anholt,
the author of a Good Country Index puts
it, what it does as a good country. Clearly,
more work needs to be done both in terms
of contributing more for the common good
of the world and in terms of telling others
what Kazakhstan is doing.
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By Nikolay Radostovets
The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)
will undoubtedly enhance Kazakhstan’s
economy. However, it will not happen
overnight and experience so far demonstrates that competition is increasing in
the common market.
The lack of fair competition and equal
opportunities are what is most concerning to the National Association of Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises. For
instance, Russia has more large industrial enterprises, which generally have
much higher productivity at lower cost
per unit of output. Therefore, those
companies can afford to reduce prices
by 30 to 40 percent, thereby squeezing
out competitors from adjacent markets,
while Kazakh producers may lose their
niche and consumers.
Moreover, Kazakhstan’s antimonopoly service continues counting share
dominance subjects exclusively in the
national market, neglecting the need
to conduct calculations in the common
market or at least in cross-border territories. I believe that the competition
authorities of Kazakhstan, Russia and
Belarus should focus on holding joint
anti-dumping investigations, as the
common economic space presents a
real opportunity to use antitrust regulation. Even a slight change toward fair
prices will benefit individual enterprises and significantly increase budget
revenues.
External conditions have also not
been in favour of Kazakhstan’s mining
and metallurgical complex, with world
prices decreasing for metals. In addition, while large Russian companies
are increasing their product supplies to
Kazakhstan, they are not as keen to actively construct new plants here. In my
opinion, it is high time for Kazakhstan’s
government and National Chamber
of Entrepreneurs to start negotiations
with major companies to undertake
obligations establishing conditions under which enterprises would build new
plants in Kazakhstan on the basis of the
recently adopted law on investment.
However, we do observe some improvements. The government has established the Council for Mining and Metallurgical Complex (MMC), headed by
Prime Minister Karim Massimov. The
idea of creating a council was initiated
by the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs and in particular its leader, Timur
Kulibayev. The MMC is primarily a tool
to facilitate communication between
business people and the government to
examine problems affecting companies
and the region.
In April, the government revised its
policy concerning business support and
discounts for individual companies.
When the Sokolov-Sarbai Production
Association (part of the Eurasian Group
ERG) exported only 350,000 tonnes of
iron ore to China in January instead of
the planned 430,000 tonnes, supplied
170,000 tonnes in March and did not
conduct any shipping at all in April due
to the fall in the demand and price in
the targeted Chinese market, the government provided support in the form of
reducing differential freight rates. As a
result, Sokolov-Sarbai quadrupled the
volume of transportation in June. Addressing critics who insist that discounts
for individual companies are not welcome in the negotiations on the accession to the WTO, I want to use Russia as
an example of a World Trade Organisa-
tion (WTO) state that uses exclusively
applied tariffs.
At the same time, I am still convinced
that Kazakhstan urgently needs to stimulate an investment activity system. I
want to appeal to the head of state and
the deputies to adjust the law on the
government regarding the empowerment of the cabinet in the field of economy, allowing it to enter into agreements
with investors and referring to the tax
and other preferences for the implementation of investment projects. On one
hand, we will achieve the common denominator of the EEU legal base and on
the other, take care of business’ shortage
of “long” money, as the maximum taxfavoured policy will attract more investors to Kazakhstan. It will also expand
the tax base.
Generally, tax cuts on extraction of
natural resources, for example by 50 percent, can be one of the key incentives to
revive investment activity in the MMC.
Another stimulus may be the elimination of discrimination by industry when
dividends of subsoil industries are additionally taxed at 5 percent. Meanwhile,
Kazakhstan can use the tax incentives
to convert the economy to high technology. In this respect, the association
proposes to extend the new construction benefits presented to investors in
April for modernisation and technical
re-equipment of existing enterprises.
Experts estimate that it would increase
production, reduce costs and improve
product quality. Moreover, similar benefits are used in all developed countries.
Business people investing in production
get preferences.
If the government continues expanding the practice of systematic consultation with the business community,
Kazakhstan will be able to provide an
adequate response to business challenges and needs and achieve total efficiency.
The author is the Executive Director
of the National Association of Mining
and Metallurgical Enterprises.
A Look at Astana from Bishkek
By Elmira Nogoibayeva
There is a saying “Kyrgyz and Kazakhs are brothers,” yet we still live
with myths and stereotypes. Generally,
we know a little about one another.
Especially now, just like those neighbours in the apartment where you live
for years and decades, but still do not
know of those behind the wall.
Each of us already has our recent
history; our parallel history does not
even stretch back a quarter of a century. There is still much hidden. Talks
and research are only beginning to be
formed. There was a time when we
were connected with common history,
troubles, sorrows and destiny.
Today, each of us builds our nation
in its own way, with different sets of
resources and our own models and perceptions.
So, here I am for the first time in
Astana. I can say that I have seen many
cities, states and models of development. But this is a good old neighbour
or brother whom you have known from
childhood but ran away from to discover distant, exotic and big cities, in order to open something new for yourself
away from your homeland.
Almaty is not far from Bishkek. It
is a much acquainted, cozy and disciplined city. We are like classmates:
different, but close and always within
sight of one another.
And now Astana! I associate it with
an unattractive little girl whom you
knew in the past whom you suddenly
meet again and she astonishes you with
her beauty and majesty. Honestly, I
had heard different opinions about the
complexities, construction, wind and
frost, the difficulties of moving around
and so on. Having half an ear on it, you
do not understand fully until you see it
for yourself.
Our trip was spontaneous and unplanned. On the way from the airport,
after a long journey while looking at the
view from taxi, I questioned myself:
With what can it be compared from all
that I have seen? Probably with Shanghai. Yes, by the level of ambitions. An
Asian city that woke up, stretched and
cheered immodestly, without complexes, and in full power.
If it is true that appearance reflects
the inner self, the capital would be a
city of a nation that builds and lives
there. Astana and Kazakhs do not inhibit the scope of their dreams. In this
city that is rapidly expanding geographically and vertically, a trend can
already be seen. In my view, it is an
ambition, a rational ambition of people
who confidently claim greatness in the
past and future. That is not easy to do.
And it is twice harder for Kazakhs who
as a nation survived the long colonial
era, the tragedy of the Aral Sea, test
sites and experiments with the cosmos.
It is twice harder for a nation that first
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declared of itself and its being AZ-i-IA
(a book of Kazakh author Olzhas Suleimenov) in what was then another, bigger country.
Here in Astana, I have a feeling that
it is an architectural oasis in a desert
steppe that escaped after a long, loud
and powerful roar: a roar that reveals itself and its past. Only the strings of the
dombyra (the national instrument) remembered and carried this voice, rolling and echoing through the steppes, in
order to realise it later in this way.
From an academic point of view,
Astana surprisingly combines two approaches: primordialist and constructive.
Its primordialism is expressed in the
visual appearance of the city, its conceptual vision of itself as part of the
great history of the steppe. The great
steppe as a God-given promised land
to Kazakhs and all that it consists of,
including history, people, hoofs of
horses, Zhuses (divisions of Kazakh
khanate) and the epics of ancestors
have been demonstrated in details and
arrays.
Constructivism is the idea itself, its
embodiment. The main objective of
the entire project, in my opinion, is the
refraction of almost age-old attempts
to relegate these people to secondary
roles, both internally and externally. It
is an attempt to return former prowess,
right and nation.
I think they succeeded. Kazakh
brothers, I can sincerely say, viewing
the city from the plane, that I, a Kyrgyz woman, was proud. It is an amazing feeling of admiration and pride for
your blood brother. Yes, we are different, but we are family.
The author is head of the Polis Asia
Analytical Centre.
The Astana Times is published since November 2010. The Astana Times is
re-registered by the Ministry of Communications and Information of the Republic
of Kazakhstan under the registration No. 14037-G of 20 December 2013.
The newspaper is typed and made into pages at the computer centre of “Kazakhstanskaya Pravda”. Published biweekly, the size of 8 pages.
Order: 1036
Print run: 6,000
A7
opinionS
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
Training Kazakh Youth in High-Demand Fields
at World’s Top Universities Is a National Priority
By Aslan Sarinzhipov
Utilising world-leading universities to prepare Kazakh youth for
leading positions in the Kazakh
economic, education, science,
welfare, national culture and artist
spheres remains one of Kazakhstan’s top priorities in education
and science.
More than 20 years ago, in 1993,
President Nursultan Nazarbayev
launched one of the most important strategic initiatives – creating highly qualified professionals
at an international level under the
Bolashak presidential scholarship
programme. According to foreign
experts, the programme has become a model for countries aimed
at developing human capital.
This year, the Bolashak scholarship was named the best academic
mobility programme, according to
the results of the comparative analysis of 11 programmes of different
countries, presented at the eighth
International Going Global Conference in Miami (USA). Kazakhstan’s experience is being examined by countries such as China,
Poland, Finland and Ukraine and
formed the basis of the Russian
“Global Education” programme
for 2014-2016.
In general, being a reliable
source of progressive knowledge
and world technologies to the
economic and social sphere of the
country, the programme is considered to be the leading engine
of the national education system.
Precisely due to the programme’s
potential, we have entered the international system of global elite
training and set new objectives
in the context of global development and the Kazakhstan 2050
Strategy. The goal of becoming a
developed, competitive state with
a highly educated population has
established new development directions for the entire educational
system. Simple literacy is not sufficient today. Our citizens should
be prepared for the constant
adoption of new skills related to
the most advanced equipment
and modern enterprises. The state
provides opportunities and instruments for achieving this goal
and the national education paradigm is aiming towards satisfaction of the current and perspective national economy’s demand
in professionals.
For more than two decades, the
Bolashak presidential scholarship has been contributing to this
process. More than 7,000 professionals have been trained within
the programme, every second of
which works for Kazakh organisations in both public and private
sectors. One-fourth represent governmental organisations and public
agencies, 20 percent are employed
in national companies and more
than 4 percent in international and
non-governmental organisations.
Considering the existing demand for specialists, the Bolashak
scholarship has prepared a lot of
specialists, among those are 2,736
engineering staff practicing in the
field of innovation projects and
technologies, the oil and gas sector, metallurgy, telecommunications and energy. Five-hundredthirty-nine are practicing staff in
the medical sphere, about 300 are
civil servants, more than 2,000
specialists represent the education and science system, 1,200 of
which work in Kazakh universities, about 400 are in schools and
colleges, whereas 52 form the
pedagogic and administrative staff
of the five Nazarbayev Intellectual
Schools. Seventy-seven are Ph.Ds,
76 are specialists who conduct
scientific and research activity in
higher education institutions and
major scientific-research centres
of the country and about 300 are
specialists on the scholarly staff of
Nazarbayev University.
Every professional has his own
path and success story. Many of
them have realised their professional potential and continue to
make feasible contributions to
the development of the economy’s real sector and social fields
on a daily basis. Here are some
examples: Aizhan Dzhusupbekova – graduate of prestigious
Texas University in Oil and Gas
Engineering, now serves as oil
and gas exploitation engineer at
the Kashagan project; Kuanysh
Zhasymbek – upon receiving education in Malaysia, specialises
in core analysis; Aigul Brimova
– a doctor from Hannover Medical Institute and an oncologist applies her knowledge in oncology;
Askar Bakhtiyarov is the head of
the Neurosurgery department at
Shymkent Clinical Hospital; the
youngest Bolashak scholar Mariya Mudryak is considered one of
the world’s top 10 sopranos and is
in great demand by world-leading
stages.
Obviously, the scope of the Bolashak programme makes it impossible to talk about every scholar in
particular, but in general, it is a
great team of professionals forming a strong human resource capacity for the state to realise its priority objectives. The indication of its
effectiveness underlays the establishment of the Kazakhstan 2050
Strategy movement on the basis
of the Bolashak programme. The
nationwide movement is aimed at
clarifying basic objectives of the
state on its way to becoming one
of the world’s most-developed nations.
It is necessary to mention that
the programme itself transforms
both quantitatively and qualitatively in accordance with the
country’s needs, and every transformation is based on the cumulative experience which sets new
strategic perspectives. First and
foremost, it is the termination of
bachelors training since 2011 and
the focus shift to master and doctorate programmes, along with
the introduction of internships
for engineering and medical staff,
that have marked recent transformations. Second, the programme
has strengthened requirements
for foreign partner universities
where we send our students. The
number of such universities has
been reduced to 200 that hold top
positions in international rankings. Third, the programme has
also shifted to a fundamentally
new format of alumni employment. This was preceded by a
transfer to a programme-oriented
approach to training staff, and
since 2012, experts leave for
training only in accordance with
the target application with job retention and mandatory five-year
work obligations upon graduating.
Special attention is also being
paid to expanding access to the programme. The President’s initiative
of funding up to 3,000 scholarships
every year, introduced publicity in
2005 in his state-of-the-nation address, reduced the disproportion in
specialists’ professional training
and resulted in a significant increase in Bolashak resources. For
a number of years, the programme
has been expanding its format and
providing opportunities for foreign
education for our citizens. First,
special quotas and categories have
been established for applicants: rural youth, civil servants, scientific
and training staff, medical and engineering specialists, professionals
of art and mass media. Collateral
requirements, which presented a
major barrier for regional and rural youth, were revised. The problem was solved. Furthermore, the
application process was greatly
simplified. Applicants received
opportunities to submit documents
via an e-government portal and
Population Service Centres. As a
result, the annual index of regional
participation has increased up to
40 percent.
Consequently, after strengthening its capacity, the programme
is focused on the goal-oriented
implementation of Kazakhstan
2050 Strategy objectives. First
among those objectives is to provide regions with highly-qualified
professionals in accordance with
the needs of the national economy
and the arrangement of professional internships abroad. Preparing high-demand specialists in
the fields of culture, journalism,
information technologies, housing
and communal services reform,
a number of technical and political majors and national security
is also a central focus. The need
for specialists is determined in
conjunction with public authorities and relevant agencies. The
Bolashak list of priority majors is
compiled with their direct participation. Current statistics show the
following: 2,132 scholarship holders are studying in 30 countries
around the world, 785 of them are
scientific and teaching staff from
educational institutions and research centres, 708 are engineers
and technical workers, 313 are
civil servants, 265 are economists
and managers and 61 represent art,
mass media and medicine.
It is also important that under the
accelerated industrial-innovative
development of the country, the
emphasis has been put on the support and provision of specialists
for the realisation of a second fiveyear plan of the State Programme
of Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development
Kazakh companies in cooperation with the National Chamber of
Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan offer
professional internships for engineers and technical workers under
the Bolashak programme. Consequently, effective partnerships
have been established with foreign
organisations, such as Saekyung
Itech Co., LTD in South Korea,
European Test Center-Intespace
Company, ASTRIUM Space Developments in France, German
An Illustrated History of Kazakhstan:
Asia’s Heartland in Context
By Jeremy Tredinnick
The genesis of the book An Illustrated History of Kazakhstan:
Asia’s Heartland in Context was
an exhibition titled “Nomads and
Networks: The Ancient Art and
Culture of Kazakhstan”, organized by the Institute for the Study
of the Ancient World at New York
University in 2012. The exhibition was a great success, receiving critical acclaim from scholars,
and Odyssey’s publisher Magnus
Bartlett, who was interested in the
event, bought a copy of the beautiful accompanying publication
– Nomads and Networks: The Ancient Art and Culture of Kazakhstan – that was available after the
exhibition.
Even though that publication provided solid academic research for the ancient Iron Age
history of Kazakhstan (when the
Scythian and Saka tribes came
to prominence), what was strikingly apparent to him was the fact
that there was no comprehensive
English language chronicle of
Kazakhstan covering all its human history right up to the pre-
sent day, especially one in accessible terms rather than through
academic channels. Thus, a book
project was initiated to try and
create a single publication covering Kazakhstan’s history across
the ages. Having previously
worked on a number of publications about the region, including a
cultural and historical guidebook
to Kazakhstan, I was asked to be
managing editor and main author
of the book.
The primary aim was to produce an informative but entertaining book that was easily accessible and appealing to a mainstream
audience. However, a balance
needed to be struck between readability and academic credibility.
I therefore prepared a plan for a
book structure that included essays by renowned palaeontologists, archaeologists, historians of
the ancient and medieval world,
experts on more recent historic
events, as well as authorities on
modern politics and economics.
Each chapter would contain an
expert essay (edited and reworked
where necessary) on that particular historical period, along with
my own linking text to include
any uncovered but relevant or important information, and to help
the book’s narrative to “flow”
through progressive eras.
Images and maps were, of
course, of great importance, and
a great deal of time and effort
went into sourcing the best possible material from museums and
organisations across the world.
Pictures were sourced from Russia, China, Turkey, France, the
UK and USA – and, of course,
from many Kazakhstan-based institutions. Augmented by a broad
variety of imagery and attractive
maps, the “story” of Kazakhstan’s
rich past – ranging from pre-human times right through to the
modern day – could at last be told
in a way that would capture the
imagination of the general reader.
What became apparent fairly
quickly were the many significant
roles Central Asia has played in human history, from its position as a
fulcrum for early human migration
throughout Eurasia to its importance as both a centre of Bronze
Age metallurgy and a crucible for
the Iron Age nomadic warrior societies of the steppe regions that
would change the world order. The
book also provided an opportunity
to dispel a few myths and put right
some common but erroneous preconceptions about the territory of
Kazakhstan.
For example, for many years
the classical Silk Road of antiquity was considered to pass in the
main through lands to the south of
the Kazakh homeland. Certainly
everyone knew that the Silk Road
comprised a multitude of trade
routes, some of which passed
north of the Tien Shan, but little attention was given by international
Society for International Cooperation GIZ, Hewlett Packard (HP),
Aleadership in the United States,
and others. A lot of senior engineers and technicians of regional
enterprises are actively involved
in internship programmes. Sixteen
specialists from Kazakhstan Temir
Zholy and 15 specialists of the
Galam Kazakh-French enterprise
trained in the field of control and
testing of aircraft and systems, as
well as 10 experts in the field of information technologies have benefited from these internships. Today, in accordance with a Ministry
of Investment and Development
of the Republic of Kazakhstan
request, 19 specialists are taking
internships in mechanical engineering, 13 scholars are studying
the theory of flight and spacecraft
design, energy conservation and
energy efficiency, five and six specialists are training in the fields of
chemistry and mining respectively,
while six others are studying the
field of electronics and electrical
engineering. Overall, 292 specialists took internships last year and
after two stages of competition this
year, 136 internships have been
awarded. About 3,500 engineers
and technical workers are also expected to be trained from 2014 to
2017.
Increasing the need for ideas and
innovations expands opportunities
for our young scientists as well.
More than 70 Bolashak alumni
who received Ph.Ds, are successfully applying their knowledge in
the leading scientific centres of our
country such as Nazarbayev University, National Science Cardiac
Centre, Centre for Earth Sciences,
National Centre for Biotechnology, National Medical Holding,
Lev Gumilyov Eurasian National
University, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, S. Asfendiyarov
Kazakh National Medical University and the M. Aykimbaev Kazakh
Scientific Centre for Quarantine
Infections. Bolashak alumni are
contributing to the creation of innovation clusters around research
centres aimed at developing zones
of high-tech, knowledge-intensive
companies that perform the most
complex cardiac surgeries. Nowadays, about 1,500 scholars are
studying in the leading universities
and research centres of the USA,
the UK, Germany, France, Japan,
South Korea and Russia within
specified academic directions.
Furthermore, in partnership with
Nazarbayev University, the pilot
project on split-Ph.D. programme
implementation was launched this
year. The project is targeted at
young scientists seeking to obtain
archaeologists or historians to this
region or the lands farther north.
However, in recent decades much
excavation has been carried out in
the Tien Shan’s northern foothills,
along the ancient courses of the
Syr Darya river and elsewhere,
and it can now be conclusively
shown that the southern cities of
Kazakhstan’s territory were vital links along the trade routes
between East and West, many of
them – Taraz, Ispidzhab, Sauran
and Otrar, etc. – large and wealthy
urban centres that could rival contemporary cities to the south such
as Samarkand or Bukhara.
In fact, far from being a region
devoid of settled civilisation and
populated only by wild, roaming
nomads, our understanding of
early nomadic history now shows
that the nomads operated under a
highly developed sociopolitical
system and had a symbiotic relationship with the sedentary urban
societies that was highly beneficial to both. We now also know
that many nomadic groups did
actually farm land, where the soil
was conducive to agriculture.
Another interesting element to
Ph.Ds. It will provide the opportunity to accomplish research requirements in Kazakhstan, while
studying abroad. The main idea
is to conduct national academic
research in partnership with leading research centres of the world in
many fields of science and breakthrough technologies. In the case
of the successful realisation of
the project on the split-Ph.D programme at Nazarbayev University,
the programme will be applied in
other universities as well and will
explore new areas of real innovation.
Another important aspect of the
Bolashak programme’s modernisation is the improvement of the
quality of the applicants’ selection process. Much has been said
about the significance of shifting
programme indicators from quantitative to qualitative. As a result,
English and Kazakh language proficiency level requirements have
been raised this year. This enabled
applicants to apply for top universities with sufficiently high quality
requirements. Moreover, in a short
time, language training processes
are expected to be optimised as
well as new English learning centres will be opened in Astana and
Almaty. Beginning in 2015, language courses will be held within
a 6+6 model, according to which
the first six months of training will
take place in Kazakhstan and the
next six abroad. This necessity is
explained by the intention to integrate into the process of forming a
local language basis with international standards.
The visible result of the programme is expressed in the increasing number of successful,
educated people that form the
Bolashak alumni. It is well known
that the Bolashak programme has
generated social lifts and continues
to form a body of talented Kazakh
youth. High-quality education,
professionalism, mobility and language skills are keys to their competitiveness and relevance in all
areas, whether it is politics, economics or the social sphere.
Overall, it is evident that the
initiative of the head of state is
paying dividends. By entering the
international system of global elite
training, Bolashak has become a
breakthrough educational project
in the field of human capital development and the landmark of
Kazakhstan in the humanitarian
dimension of the global area.
The author is the Minister of
Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
emerge as the book came together
was the way modern Kazakhstan
is echoing its past. President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s much-praised
“multi-vector” approach to foreign
policy has a precedent that reaches
back to the 18th century and the
rule of Ablai Khan. This renowned
leader of the Kazakh people deftly balanced relations with China
and Russia in a political juggling
act designed to keep control of
the steppes for the Kazakhs – and
more than two centuries later the
president of a nascent Republic
of Kazakhstan employed similar
diplomacy on many fronts whilst
building its solid and lasting economic and political foundations.
A “Modern Silk Road”, too, is
now becoming a reality, as Kazakhstan makes use of its position between East and West to
establish itself as a centre of international cross-continental commerce, building railway lines and
roads linking Europe and the Far
East. For me, these links to the
past formed a satisfying “closing
of the circle” within the framework of the book, but I also believe that a nation that understands
its own history and draws strength
from its roots, is better positioned
to meet its potential in the future.
The author is a writer and
managing editor of An Illustrated History of Kazakhstan:
Asia’s Heartland in Context.
A8
eurasia&world
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
Indonesian Ambassador Praises Kazakhstan 2050
Strategy, Encourages B2B and G2G Cooperation
By Dmitry Lee
Since the most recent visit of
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to Indonesia in 2012, Kazakhstan and Indonesia have seen a
trade surge that has tripled the two
countries’ mutual imports and exports and has increased the number
of the countries’ joint projects.
Recently, Ambassador of Indonesia to Kazakhstan Foster Gultom
discussed his professional journey
to Kazakhstan and relations between
the two countries.
“In my opinion, the most important cooperation between Kazakhstan and Indonesia involves joint
business deals. Encouraging businessmen to be more active in the
two countries’ relations is our current
top priority. Since 2012, we have
concluded about 10 agreements, including establishing joint stock companies in the food, medical and tire
industry, amongst others, but many
of these joint stock companies are
still in their infant stages.”
The trade turnover between
the two countries has been steadily growing; in 2010 it amounted to
$23.8 million. It reached $35.1 million in 2011, $57.3 million in 2012
and $171 million in 2013. Most activity takes place in the oil and gas
commodity exchanges. Kazakhstan
generally imports manufacturing
equipment and electronic spare parts
Foster Gultom
while Indonesia buys minerals and
processed products.
“We have also established an intergovernmental joint commission
focused on economic cooperation to
find solutions to problems in mutual
trade. Transportation will be a major
focus of this commission, as our two
countries are separated by [quite] a
distance. This is a hurdle for businesses, as distance greatly affects
transportation costs and delivery
times.”
According to the ambassador, lack
of connections is the biggest challenge faced by businesses conducting trade between Kazakhstan and
Indonesia. There is no direct flight
yet between Indonesia and Kazakhstan.
“Another area our two countries
could improve ties in is tourism, as
well as in person-to-person contacts,”
he said. Direct flights from Kazakhstan to Indonesia could be put forward. This is vital for the population
of the two nations to encourage more
visits to boost tourism. Every day, we
issue about 20 to 30 visas to Kazakh
citizens. The number of tourists is
increasing because more Kazakhstan
citizens are learning about Indonesia,
especially our world famous tourist destination, Bali. Costs are competitive, traditions are intriguing and
there are many things to do in nature,
making the archipelago an interesting place for Kazakhstan citizens to
take honeymoons.”
“Kazakhstan is also becoming
more well known in Indonesia,” the
ambassador explained. “Kazakhstan
used to be a part of the USSR, which
in turn had tight relations with Indonesia.
Today, Kazakhstan is appealing
to Indonesians because of its many
Islamic sites. Kazakhstan is also
becoming well known in the sports
world, as well as in chess; Indonesia
invites many coaches from Kazakhstan and other sports too. We are also
developing sports relations between
the countries.”
“[Indonesia] is a multicultural nation, we are used to being a community of many ethnic groups with
their own [cultural] values and languages,” the ambassador explained.
“In total, we have about 300 ethnic
groups and Indonesia is the fourth
largest country by population in the
world. It is home to 250 million
people, excluding foreigners and
visitors. The country is the largest
archipelago nation in the world, consisting of 17,508 islands. Kazakhstan
has at least 130 ethnic groups. We
share a respect for diversity.”
“Also, the symbol of Indonesia is
an eagle, the Garuda, just like Kazakhstan’s symbol, the Samruk. Ironically, not long after independence,
Indonesia’s main industries were oil
and gas. [Our] country is also rich
in natural resources like zinc, gold,
iron, coal etc. We realise that these
resources are finite, so we are working on developing our market share
in textiles and household equipment
and increasing the number of plantations, expanding the high-tech sector
and automotive and electronic industries as well as cocoa and rubber production, amongst other things, with a
focus on our maritime industry,” he
explained.
Garuda Pancasila holds the five
principles of Indonesia’s national
philosophy and the scroll in the
Garuda’s talons bears the national
motto ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika,’
which means ‘Unity in Diversity.’
“This means that both nations, cultures and countries have similarities.
We are also both establishing our national identities in a manner that accommodates our diversity. In order
to do this, we established one official
state language to unite all Indonesian
Kazakhstan, Brazil Hold Similar Positions
on Int’l Issues, Says Kazakh Ambassador
By Nurgali kuanov
The Astana Times recently interviewed Kazakh Ambassador to
Brazil Bakytzhan Ordabayev who
also represents the country in Argentina and Chile.
How do you assess the current
status of bilateral relations between
Kazakhstan and Brazil and what
has been achieved since the opening of the first Kazakh embassy in
Latin America?
In recent years, Kazakh-Brazilian relations have been developing
quite dynamically. Kazakhstan and
Brazil have similar positions on
major international problems and
events. Significant efforts by the national leaderships of our countries
are equally purposed for promoting
economic development of the states
and for international economic and
humanitarian cooperation targets.
The visit by Kazakh Minister
of Foreign Affairs Erlan Idrissov
to Brazil on Oct. 2-3, 2013 gave a
significant impulse to bilateral relations. During the visit, both sides
signed several important documents,
such as a joint statement reflecting
bilateral issues and the positions of
the two countries on global and international issues, a memorandum
on bilateral political, economic,
trade and investment dialogue and
a memorandum on cooperation in
the field of sports, as well as the
agreement on a visa-free regime for
holders of ordinary passports of both
countries.
A historical event in the framework of his visit to Brasilia was the
official opening ceremony of the first
Kazakh embassy in Brazil, which
is also the first Kazakh embassy in
Latin America.
Therefore, Kazakh-Brazilian relations and the further development of
bilateral cooperation can safely be
called a success.
Since its opening, the embassy of
Kazakhstan to Brazil has organised a
variety of activities on different levels,
as well as more than 80 meetings and
bilateral negotiations at various levels,
both in the capital of Brasilia as well
as in the regions of the country.
Particularly, on a regular basis the
embassy organises special briefings
and roundtables on the annual message of the President and on International Day Against Nuclear Tests, as
well as on other important events.
One of those we can mention is the
briefing on the occasion of the signing of the treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
The Brazilian audience paid attention to the fact that the union offers
great opportunities for the Brazilian
business community, providing per-
spectives and access to a market that
has population of more than 170 million. Guests of the event noted that
there is a unique opportunity to establish close economic relations between the EEU and MERCOSUR,
which is one of the major economic
alliances in Latin America.
Bakytzhan Ordabayev
Brazilian business people also noted the special importance of the Eurasian Economic Union to the southern
hemisphere. They offered an idea of
signing the memorandum of cooperation among the embassies of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus in Brazil and
the Chamber of Commerce of San
Paulo aimed at creating the Chamber
of Commerce Brazil plus EEU, which
will strengthen and develop economic and cultural relations among our
countries. Nowadays, we are completing the preparation works on the
way to signing this memorandum.
The opening of our embassy in
Brazil, as well as our accreditation
to Argentina and Chile, certainly
gave dynamism to the development
of bilateral cooperation with these
countries.
As a successful event for the further promotion of trade cooperation
between Kazakhstan and Argentina,
we can also mention the inauguration of the Kazakh-Argentine Chamber of Commerce in August 2014,
the office of which has been opened
in a prestigious district of the Argentine capital.
Through the chamber, we intend
to develop our business cooperation
between Kazakhstan and Argentina by signing bilateral agreements
between the chamber and business
partners in both countries. In addition, the chamber will hold a series
of activities, both in Kazakhstan and
in Argentina, as a way to search new
markets on commercial lines.
I want to also point out the work
that has been undertaken for the
liberalisation of the visa regime between the two countries. In November, citizens of both countries will
be able to make short trips without
visas, which will also greatly contribute to the further development of
bilateral relations.
How do the Latin American countries view Kazakhstan’s intention to
become a non-permanent member
of the UN Security Council for 20172018?
One of the main goals in the implementation of the Foreign Policy
Concept of Kazakhstan for 20142020 is the promotion of the candidacy of our country to the non-permanent seat in UN Security Council
for 2017-2018 years.
In this regard, we actively promote
the important issues of the current diplomacy of Kazakhstan, which bring
us their benefits. I would like to emphasise that we have received and
continue receiving positive feedback
on this important initiative. Most of
the Latin American countries give
positive views and express support.
During special meetings and discussions with partners in the region,
we are trying to inform them in detail
about the vision and approaches of
Kazakhstan that prompted our candidacy for a non-permanent member of
the Security Council. Particularly, we
voice Kazakhstan’s position on UN
reform and expansion of the UN Security Council by increasing the number of permanent and non-permanent
members.
Additionally, our colleagues from
these countries are aware that Kazakhstan has never been a member of
the UN Security Council, but we have
solid experience in the most demanding and complex areas of the international agenda.
The deep involvement of our country in a variety of regional and global
processes provides a unique opportunity of ownership of diverse information and various approaches to solving international security problems
faced by the UN Security Council.
Furthermore, I want to point out that
most Latin American countries have
already been nonpermanent members
of the UN Security Council many
times.
Two seats as nonpermanent members of the UN Security Council are
reserved for Latin American countries. These seats are now occupied by
Argentina and Chile.
The Latin American countries also
show very positive interest in Astana
EXPO 2017.
Are political and social circles and
the media interested in events in Kazakhstan?
Sure, especially in some activities
undertaken by the embassy I noted
above. Additionally, we can mention
the special briefing that the embassy
organised on Jan. 22, 2014 concerning the address of President Nursultan
Nazarbayev to the people of Kazakhstan, “Kazakhstan’s Way 2050.”
Participation in the event by government officials and diplomatic missions,
as well as social and political activists,
says that while Kazakhstan is so geographically distant from Brazil, citizens
of Brazil are interested in events that are
happening in our country.
The participants in the briefing
showed keen interest in the message
lines, like economy, energy, innovation and science. Many of them
noted the relevance and timeliness
of its tasks and the specific principles of achieving them, as well as
emphasising the ambitious task of
entering the Republic of Kazakh-
people. While English is becoming
a widely understood language in Indonesia, French and Dutch are also
common.”
The ambassador feels very upbeat
about the cultural exchange between
the two countries and vowed that the
Indonesian mission will take more
exciting steps to unveil Indonesian
culture to the people of the steppe.
“Every year, the Indonesian government offers two types of non-degree scholarships with six-month to
one-year programmes, the first being focused on Indonesian arts and
culture and the second is a multidisciplinary science including an
Indonesian language programme,”
he said. “We have established a cultural centre for students who have
returned from these programmes,
in hopes of attracting more students
in the future. We are also planning
to launch a youth exchange programme to give young people the
opportunity to travel to our country
and stay with Indonesian families
for a few months so when they return, they can also meet amongst
one another, dance traditional dances and play traditional musical instruments like the Gamelan, which
is a traditional ensemble music from
Java and Bali, and the Angklung –
a musical instrument made from
bamboo tubes.”
“We also would like to establish
language exchanges as some words
in Kazakh and Indonesian are the
same. Both languages have inherited
words from Arabic, we say ‘kitap’
for book for instance just like Kazakhs. ‘Zhuma’ means Friday in both
languages,” he said.
Prior to his present assignment,
Ambassador Foster Gultom served
as Secretary of the Directorate General of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the
Director of the ASEAN Economic
Cooperation Section at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia.
“I didn’t have any prior knowledge of Kazakhstan before my posting here,” Gultom said. “When I
first arrived in Astana, I was really
impressed by the city’s rapid growth.
The city is extremely well organised.
The only thing Astana is lacking is
green space and mountains. Now, it
is growing even faster than at that
time because of the upcoming EXPO
2017. Astana can easily become the
country’s business hub, while Kazakhstan could become a regional
hub and broker relations between,
Europe, Asia and Russia.”
“Kazakhstan is the binding link between these countries and we know
about connectivity in Indonesia, as
we are a collection of thousands of islands,” the ambassador said. “In reading the Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy, I
see that the country has put forward
plans to implement a long-term strategy to become this vital link, while still
emphasising its own internal human
resources. Indonesia is also focusing on its human resources because
a country’s citizenry is the only thing
that determines if it thrives or fails.”
Ambassador Gultom joined Indonesia’s diplomatic service in 1985
and has served in his country’s embassies or missions in Washington,
D.C., Geneva, Canberra and Seoul.
stan in the top 30 most-developed
countries.
In addition, during the briefing,
participants praised the achievements
of Kazakhstan in its short period of
independence, noting that Kazakhstan is one of the leading countries in
the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS), showing an example of
a balanced and forward-looking approach in the implementation of political and economic reforms. Particularly, many of them pointed out the
functioning of the EEU in the future,
which opens up great opportunities
for Brazilian entrepreneurs in expanding business and trade relations with
Kazakhstan and its identified partners.
I also want to emphasise that Brazilian radio and television channels
are increasingly beginning to cover
events related to Kazakhstan.
In particular, concerts of People’s
Artist of Kazakhstan Aiman Mussakhodzhayeva that have been conducted
in the best theaters of Sao Paulo, Brasilia
and Rio de Janeiro have received a very
wide response in the Brazilian media.
In addition, with the assistance of
our embassy the main Brazilian TV
channel TV Globo, which is the mostpopular Portuguese speaking telecommunications company in Brazil,
transmitted a one-hour special report
on Kazakhstan in October where the
Brazilian TV audience met Kazakhstan and its people, its culture and traditions, regions and nature. This year,
Brazilian reporters traveled to Kazakh
cities for the filming of the documentary and viewers became acquainted
with the architecture of the major cities. The audience had the opportunity
to see the rich natural landscape of our
country, the Baikonur Cosmodrome,
the problem of the Aral Sea, sports
and many other things. In the near
future, we are planning to transmit a
similar report on the famous TV channel TV Supren.
B
Nation&Capital
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
B3
B5
Abai Opera Gets Warm Reception in Paris
Culture
society
Sports
Award-Winning Kazakh Film Shown
at London Festival
Foreign Universities to Participate
in Upcoming Bolashak Conference
Debate Continues over Benefits of
Hosting 2022 Winter Olympics
By Malika Orazgaliyeva
As part of Kazakhstan Culture
Weeks being held in France, the
“Abai” opera was performed at
the Theatre des Champs-Elysees
by Abai Kazakh State Academic
Theater of Opera and Ballet on
Oct. 26.
Kazakhstan Culture Weeks in
France are being held via a mutual agreement between the two
nation’s governments.
“Abai” is an older piece written by famous Kazakh composers Akhmet Zhubanov and Latif
Khamidi.
Honoured Arts Worker of Kazakhstan, Principal Conductor of
the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland), Principal Guest
Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Osaka (Japan) and the
Bolshoi Theatre of Russia Alan
Astana Club Wins First Ever
Kazakh National Football Title
By Dmitry Lee
ASTANA – The capital’s football club Astana defeated Kaisar
from Kyzylorda 3-0 on Nov. 1
to capture their first Kazakhstan national title early with one
game left in the regular season.
Astana’s Patrick Twumasi of
Ghana opened the scoring at
the 14th minute followed by
goals from teammates Foxi Kéthévoama and Dmitri Shomko.
“It’s not important who
scores,” Astana Captain Tanat
Nuserbayev said after the game,
according to uefa.com web site.
“The main thing is that we were
united from beginning to end –
that’s how you win titles.”
“We deserved this title,” said
Astana Coach Stanimir Stoilov,
47, and a two-time title winner
in his native Bulgaria. “I want to
thank my players, my assistants,
the club staff, sponsors and stadium staff. The work we all put
in together made us champions.
We were very well organised
and disciplined. We were one
of the best performing sides
throughout the season.”
“It was an unbelievably difficult season for me,” said Astana
midfielder Guy Stéphane Essame from Cameroon, who took
away a bit of the goal net as a
souvenir. “Who knows? It might
be the only title I win so it is nice
to have something to remember
it by apart from photos.”
“It is an experience I had almost forgotten about. I won
this title with [the Irtysh Pavlodar football club] in 2003, and
while I’ve won some cups since,
[I’ve won] no more titles until
now. I am so glad to be experiencing this again,” said Astana
midfielder Kairat Nurdauletov.
ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s multivector foreign policy has long roots
in history, as Kazakhs throughout
time have been hospitable and giv-
ing. Even today, the country maintains a balanced stance among the
Central Asian countries located
among such diverse nations as
China, Russia and, via the Caspian
Sea, Iran. So Kazakhstan’s efforts
By danna bupezhanova
to maintain a multicultural policy
within its borders have historical
precedent.
There are more than 130 nationalities living in the country. Among
these nationalities are Greeks, who
Buribayev conducted the performance.
“I believe that Abai’s success
is not just a victory for me, but
also for Kazakhstan as a whole. I
think that this classic and beautiful creation finds its origins with
four of our country’s geniuses,
Abai, whose songs and educational ideas can be heard in the
opera, Mukhtar Auezov, the author of libretto, and the great
composers Khamidi and Zhubanov,” said Buribayev. Previously Buribayev, a great grandson
of Zhubanov, made the European
premiere of “Abai” in 2012 in
German, on the stage of the State
Opera of South Thuringia, for
which he offered his own version
and recreated the original ideas of
the authors.
Continued on Page B3
Astana Ballet Wraps
Up Well-Received
World Tour
Greek Association President Calls Kazakhstan
‘Unique Place’ for Its Hospitality
By Dmitry Lee
B7
The Astana Ballet wrapped up
its 2014 world tour recently with
a performance of “Alem” in Seoul,
South Korea.
The tour included performances at the Mariinsky Theatre in
Saint Petersburg, the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko
Music Theatre in Moscow, Gala
au Palais des Congrès in Paris,
Museums Quartier Wien in Vienna and the Yeouido KBS Hall
in Seoul.
“Alem” is the touching story
of the birth of the soul and its
path through the torments of
love based on an ancient Kazakh legend about the origin of
life. The Astana Ballet’s one-act
“Alem” was created by composers Bulat Gafarov and Armand
Continued on Page B3
Things to Watch
November
since Kazakhstan’s early independence years have established their
own association under the auspices
of the Assembly of the People of
Kazakhstan (APK).
Continued on Page B2
Amar, and directed by famous
Russian choreographer Nikita
Dmitrievskiy.
“It is a delicate and careful synthesis of the current world trends
and traditional motives of the Kazakh dance culture. Its peculiarity
is, first of all, a combination of the
Kazakh epos and Kazakh culture,”
Dmitrievskiy said.
The production also included unique 3D effects, computer graphics and a video series filmed in the steppes of
Kazakhstan.“I work with light
and light effects; my instruments
range from simple flashlights
to large projectors. I have been
fond of this occupation since my
childhood. I see it as creating a
parallel world with different atmospheres and moods.
Congress hall
November 4 at 19:30
A concert by Elena Vayenga,
a Russian singer
KOrme exhibition centre
November 6-9 at 10:00
SuluExpo 2014 Beauty Exposition
November 19-20 at 11:00 KazAvtoDor 2014 auto Exhibition
November 19-20 at 11:00 KazTraffic 2014 Exhibition
Zhastar theatre
November 12 at 18:00
First Love, comedy
November 13 at 11:00
Cinderella, fairy tale
Maxim gorky state theatre
November 13 at 19:00
Stepan Mezentsev Violin Concert
November 16 at 11:00
Little Red Hood, fairy tale
Palace of school students
November 16 at 18:00 Asauga Tusau, spectacle
Members of the Filiya Greek association sing traditional Greek songs at a community event.
B2
Nation&Capital
people
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
Greek Association President Calls Kazakhstan
‘Unique Place’ for Its Hospitality
Continued from Page B1
Like many nationalities in Kazakhstan, the Greeks have a unique
and yet somewhat story to tell
about their lives and history in Kazakhstan as ethnic groups such as
Germans, Koreans, Chechens, and
many others found themselves in
this country also through Sovietera deportations. And Pavel Feodoridi, president of the Greek Association of Kazakhstan “Filiya”
recently sat down with The Astana
Times to tell the story of Greek
culture and history in the Kazakh
steppe.
“The largest number of Greeks
arrived in Kazakhstan during
the deportation in 1944,” said
Feodoridi referring to the eviction from the Caucasus in southern Russia and Crimea. “About
60,000 Greeks faced deportation,
and back then they were settled
in the Pavlodar and Kyzylorda
regions.”
“After WWII there was a second wave of deportees in 1949 and
also some from the Stavropol and
Krasnodar regions in Russia, Abkhaziya and Georgia. These people mostly settled in the southern
areas and the Kentau settlement
was mostly built by Greeks. Seventy percent of the population of
Kentau used to be Greek. There
was also a third wave in 1951 from
today’s territory of Chechnya, but
the numbers were small.”
According to Feodoridi, they
were mostly descendants of the
Pontic Greeks, who lived in Turkey and then fled to Russia to avoid
genocide in early 20th century.
“Kazakhstan was not ready to
receive such large numbers of set-
Pavel Feodoridi
tlers. There were no proper living
conditions and no housing for the
newcomers and they were spread
out to live with local families. At
first, of course, this news was taken as a challenge but afterwards
Greeks realised that these people
[Kazakhs] were very hospitable,
hardworking and had a similar
mentality,” said Feodoridi.
Feodoridi explained that the first
Greek settlers in Tsarist Russia
were mostly tobacco merchants
but after the Soviet deportations
they were engaged in all areas to
literally help build Kazakhstan,
as many took up professions in
construction and as medics and
teachers. Among them was the
prominent Akim Atmachidi (19372013), Kazakh national hero, honoured construction worker and
honoured citizen of Semey.
Throughout the Soviet years,
Greeks were a well-recognised
and respected community known
for their hard work. They managed
to live through the communist Perestroika in the late 1980s, but then
in the early 1990s “Greeks started
going back to Greece. Although
Greece didn’t have a supportive
repatriation programme, such as
the Germans, some 31,000 of them
departed for their motherland;
20,000 of them were from southern Kazakhstan, the largest concentrated population at the time,”
Feodoridi said.
Facing the challenge of long
distances in Kazakhstan, the ninth
largest country by territory in the
world, Greeks had to stay connected to keep their community
and identity, to continue the legacy
of their ancestors and most importantly, retain their language.
“In 1993, we established the
Greek association based on three
communities in Almaty, Shymkent
and Taraz. Today, the association
counts 17 city communities across
Kazakhstan with on average about
10,000 Greeks still living here,”
said Feodoridi.
The association participates in
APK’s events and runs Sunday
Greek language schools within
city communities.
“Before the crisis in Greece, we
were supported with books and
finances from Greece. We even
published our own community
newspaper, but now unfortunately
we don’t get as much support,” the
Greek association president said.
“I am the second generation
Greek in Kazakhstan and I am fluent in Greek. I have four children
and the youngest don’t speak as
well. But my oldest daughter lives
in Greece and from time to time
she returns to Kazakhstan. One
should see her eyes when she visits
her old school; they are full of joy
and then nostalgia,” he said.
“It is hard to explain. I have
been to Greece on numerous occasions. But I must say, we are,
perhaps, Soviet people,” he continued. “Greeks in Greece have a
different mentality. It was hard to
understand them at first, as it was
hard to get used to the country in
general. My children might want
to move but it’s their business and
I won’t stop them. But we [the generation born in Kazakhstan] will
stay here, this is our home no matter what happens,” Feodoridi said.
“Look at the Ukrainian crisis right
now. It all started because of the
ethnic-belonging issues. Kazakhstan is a unique place, so many
people were deported at one point
to the steppes here and all nations
got along well with one another
and all respected each other. I am
sure there are certain cases but it
doesn’t reflect the whole situation
in the country. I would say that the
creation of the APK by President
Nursultan Nazarbayev was the
right step in internal policy.”
The Filiya Greek association also regularly organises cultural events to promote community spirit.
B3
Nation&Capital
Culture
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
Award-Winning
Kazakh Film Shown
at London Festival
Zhanna Issabayeva, director of “Nagima,” at the BFI London
Film Festival in October.
By Julia Rutz
“Nagima,” a film by Kazakh
director Zhanna Issabayeva, was
presented during the recently completed BFI London Film Festival
2014. The heart-breaking story
tells the tale of two girls who grew
up in an orphanage in Almaty.
“This is an art house film from
my perspective. The plot is about
discovering dark corners of our
soul, extreme feelings and emoti-
ons, as well as about overcoming
ups and downs and dramas in our
life,” explained Issabayeva.
The debut run of “Nagima” took
place in Busan, South Korea in
October 2013. The film was also
awarded a grand prix during the
Asian Film Festival in Deauville,
France and a special prize at the
Moscow International Film Festival. The Kazakh film also garnered
positive reviews in Berlin and received a Fokus prize.
“‘Nagima’ is a special film, very
emotional and honest. It allows
us to get to know the harsh realities of an unknown country for
a European audience. I was glad
to watch this film at the London
festival,” said Edward Lorenson,
a member of the BFI organising
committee.
The 57th London Film Festival
programme included about 250
films, documentaries, shorts and
animated videos of all possible
genres, as well as presented 16
world and European premieres.
Not long ago, this festival was
called “the festival of festivals,” as
films presented there had already
aired during other film events. However, this tradition has changed
recently and the London festival
is now approaching the same reputation as the Cannes, Venedig and
Berlin festivals.
The Best Film 2014 award was
given to “Ida,” directed by Pavel
Pavlikovsky, which tells the story of the occupation of Poland by
Nazi Germany during World War
II.
The Kazakh premier of “Nagima” will close the Nov. 6-9 Clique
youth film festival, the first festival
of its kind in Almaty.
Abai Opera Gets Warm
Reception in Paris
Continued from Page B1
“Abai” is considered one of the
best achievements in Kazakhstan’s
artistic tradition. The premiere of
the opera was staged for the first
time on Dec. 24, 1944 in the Abai
Kazakh State Academic Theatre of
Opera and Ballet. In 1958, a new
version was introduced. The names
of actors who performed in Abai in
the past were inscribed in gold in
public memory; they include Rishat
Abdulin and Kanabek Baiseitov (as
Abai), Kulyash Baisseitova and
Shabal Beissekova (as Azhar) and
Anuarbek Umbetbayev (as Aidar).
Critics from around the worldhave
called Abai bright and brilliant.
During its rich 80-year history,
the Abai Opera and Ballet Theatre
has many times toured Europe and
Asia. With great success, classical
musical performances were held
by the theatre at opera houses in
Germany, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia,
Turkey and China to name a few.
Theatre artists, winners of the
most prestigious competitions for
vocalists and ballet dancers, have
a huge audience all over the world.
Jewish Children’s Band
from Kazakhstan Performs
in New England
By Daniel Massow
BOSTON – Prahim, a youth
dance and vocal group comprised of talented Jewish teenagers from Kazakhstan, has been
performing in New England as
part of a delegation representing Kazakhstan’s Jewish community.
After arriving on Oct. 23, the
group performed several concerts for Boston’s Jewish community, including on the stage of
the Makor Jewish Cultural and
Educational Centre of Boston.
An additional concert is scheduled in New York City later this
week.
Prahim’s repertoire includes
30 famous songs in Kazakh,
Russian, English, Hebrew and
Yiddish. Composer Edward Bogushevsky, who emigrated from
Kazakhstan to Boston, has written a children’s song exclusively
for the group.
Alexander Baron, president of
the Mitzvah Association of Jewish National Organisations of
Kazakhstan and the head of the
delegation, said the purpose of
the visit was to familiarise the
Jewish community in Boston
and New York with the culture
of Kazakhstan and contemporary
Jewish arts as seen by the people
of Kazakhstan.
“The highlight of Prahim’s
repertoire is the popular Yiddish song, ‘Bei Mir Bistu Shein,’
which the band performs in four
languages: Kazakh, Russian,
Members of Prahim perform in New England.
Astana Ballet Wraps Up
Well-Received World Tour
Yiddish and Hebrew,” Baron
said. Concerts by young performers like these are part of Kazakhstan’s people’s diplomacy,
Baron added.
This cultural project, the first
of its kind, is bilateral in nature:
a reciprocal visit by American
Jewish youth performers to Kazakhstan is planned for spring
2015.
The Prahim group was created
at the Rimon Jewish Community Centre in Almaty in 2007 by
chorus master Lyudmila Samsonova and choreographer Anna
Yeremina. Since then, Prahim
has won several international
song contests, including the Jerusalem of Gold contest, the
Central Asian Freilehe Kinder
contest, and others.
Continued from Page B1
I have a great team and we have
nothing to do but embody our
ideas and thoughts into reality. We
shoot a film in the studio and outside. We even had to shoot a herd
of horses crossing the steppe for
specific moments of the performance. Therefore, the audience
enjoys a film, a ballet and a laser
show, all in one performance,”said
Dmitrievskiy.
The tour was well received internationally. In Paris, Princess
Marie of Liechtenstein praised the
performance saying, “It was very
poetic, full of wonderful, different scenes and had brilliant ballet
dancers.” And after the final Seoul
performance, audience members
said they had not seen such a high-
tech performance in South Korea,
where advanced technologies are
common.
“Alem” is the first major independent work of the young troupe
from Kazakhstan. The Astana
Ballet was founded in 2012 as a
unique dance troupe that combines
classical traditions and up-to-date
trends of folk and modern choreography.
B4
Nation&Capital
COUNTRY
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
Aktobe Development Plans Updated Government
to Reflect Population Growth
Announces Plans
to Boost Light
Industry Sector
By malika orazgaliyeva
By Julia Rutz
A new plan to develop the western Kazakhstan city of Aktobe
was approved by the maslikhat
(regional assembly) during its
27th session on Oct. 15. The plan
was forwarded to the government
for further approval.
According to the Director of
the Municipal Architect’s Office
Nurlan Buranbayev, the first version of this plan was approved in
2006. However, rapid population
growth required an update to the
plan.
“The new plan lays the framework for the city’s development
until 2030. It is expected that the
city population will be 625,000
at the time. In 2040, there will
be one million citizens in Aktobe
city,” Buranbayev said.
The director of Gradcomplex
Ltd, Nurbek Auzhanov said that
the large amount of construction
in the area will help modernise
the regional construction industry.
“Aktobe will become a modern
city of high rises, the total area
of the city will reach 71,708 hectares. Now, it is only 27,600 hectares,” Auzhanov explained.
A large traffic artery will also be
constructed to reduce congestion
in the downtown area. It is also
planned to move the city railway
station to the Moscow District as
part of the future Moscow City
Business Centre.
“We will further develop our
system of city districts by adding
scientific and sport complexes, as
well as shopping centres in each
of them. Today, Aktobe is divided
into two parts – the old and the
new city,” concluded Auzhanov.
ASTANA – The Kazakh government has developed a plan
to increase the competitiveness
of the country’s light industry
while enhancing its social efficiency from 2015 to 2019, announced Amaniyaz Yerzhanov,
chairman of the government’s
Committee for Industrial Safety
and Industrial Development at a
briefing in the Central Communications Service at the end of
October.
The plan calls for modernising the productive sector, implementing economic measures,
particularly in the improvement
of local content, improving public procurement and human resources availability, enhancing
innovative and scientific development and taking measures to
ensure the financial rehabilitation and recovery of the industry.
“These measures will allow
the textile industry to increase
the volume of annually processed raw cotton from five to
50,000 tonnes. The task in the
leather production sector is to
increase the processing of raw
materials to 500 million square
inches, that is, by 50 percent of
the current annual volume of
cattle hides. Finally, plans are
afoot to bring the annual volume
of fine wool primary processing
to the level of 15,000 tonnes by
means of introducing new facilities,” Yerzhanov said.
The plan also improves the
industry’s legal framework and
provides economic incentives
for light industry. “Support to
companies will also be rendered
in the form of accommodating
the necessary working capital
funds,” Yerzhanov added.
“The dynamics of the industry are positive. Output of light
industry was 46 billion tenge
(US$254.2 million) during the
first nine months of this year.
Processing of skins increased
3.5 times. Fourteen projects
and production of new products
were implemented within NP
FIID (Programme of Industry
Development of Kazakhstan) in
the field of light industry in the
current year. We expect to enter
the targets despite some drops,”
Albert Rau, vice minister of investment and development, said
during the drafting of the law
“On Comprehensive Plan for
development of light industry in
2015-2019.”
Asian Companies to Invest
Kа-226Т Helicopters to be
in Kazakh Chemical Industry Constructed in Almaty
By Julia Rutz
Chinese and South Korean companies are said to plan to invest in
a recently opened special economic
zone, the Taraz Chemical Park,
which was initiated by the United
Chemical Company.
Taraz chemical park will be located
15 kilometres from Shu in sыouthern
Kazakhstan’s Zhambyl Region. Chief
Manager of the Technical Development Office of the United Chemical
Company Timur Ualiyev noted that
the location was chosen because of
Zhambyl’s vital role in Kazakhstan’s
chemical industry.
At least 16 new chemical manu-
factuing centres will be built in the
park. They will be worth $2.7 billion. The new chemical enterprises
will create 2,400 jobs.
According to Managing Director
of the Economic Zone Gabdi Bekbautov, Taraz Chemical Park will
begin operations in 2017. However,
two state-owned corporations have
already joined the project. Park administration is also leading a dialogue
with European partners on possible
cooperation. Those involved in the
special economic zone will be exempt from customs duties and other
charges. Privileges will be granted for
25 years. The export-import process
is going to be simplified as well.
“This zone is going to be enclosed
by a special sanitary area. Every possible safety and security concern will
be considered in the park’s construction. We will also build a firehouse in
the park,” said Bekbautov.
A new road up to the enterprise,
as well as a 6.4-kilometre long railway will be built in the future. The
Tasotkel Reservoir will supply the
complex with water.
It was also announced that Taraz
Chemical Park will produce rubber
and plastics, non-metallic mineral
products, fertilisers and other kinds
of chemical raw materials. The project was approved by a presidential
edict in 2012.
By Julia Rutz
Kа-226Т helicopters are expected to be constructed at Almatybased aircraft repair plant No. 405,
said Plant Director Konstantin
Ushakov. The announcement was
made by the Ministry of Investment and Development during an
event to mark the 75th anniversary
of the plant’s construction. During
the celebration, the best workers
were also awarded honorary certificates.
“We are also planning to establish a Ка-226Т aircraft repair platform in the future. The plant has
also concluded an agreement in
cooperation with Kharkov National Aircraft Enterprise to establish
AN-74 airplane service support,
which has strong demand in our
country,” Ushakov said.
According to him, the Ministry of
More than 80 Мi8/17 helicopters
were repaired and
more than 300
new technological
processes were opened
from 1992-2014.
Defence, the Committee for Emergency Situations of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs, the National Guards, the Border Service of the National Security Committee, Berkut
National Airline and the Administrative Affairs Office of the President,
as well as other national and private
companies, are clients of the plant.
“We are glad to mark that this
plant offers all kinds of services
for different types of helicopters
which lets national and merchant
enterprises to safely use their aircraft,” said the Chairman of the
Civil Aviation Committee of the
Ministry of Investment and Development Beken Seidakhmetov.
It was noted that the plant has
gained a good reputation for rendering aircraft repair services during the years of its existence. In
addition, the plant has mastered
new technological processes of
technical support and modernisation of new types of helicopters
produced in Russia. More than 80
Мi-8/17 helicopters were repaired
and more than 300 new technological processes were opened from
1992-2014. The plant is currently
working on the introduction of
Ка-3211ВС and Мi-26 helicopter
maintenance and repair services.
B5
Nation&Capital
SOCIETY
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
Foreign Universities to Kokshetau-born Painter Shares
Participate in Upcoming Kazakh Culture in Europe
Bolashak Conference
By julia rutz
By Bulat Ordabekov
ASTANA – The upcoming Bolashak Alumni Reunion
Conference and Education Fair
(BARCEF) 2014 is drawing the
support from universities critical
to the continued success of the
scholarship programme.
Philip Horspool,
Acting Director of ELTU
Leicester University seeks to
strengthen cooperation with Kazakh colleagues and is doing a
great job in this direction. Currently, we have students from Kazakhstan who have Internships or Fellowships and Language Training
Courses. We are proud that groups
from Kazakh universities chose us
as a reliable partner for their Language and Training programmes.
We were glad to receive an invitation ... and are ready to take part
in BARCEF 2014. We are glad to
take this wonderful opportunity to
establish new partnerships with
representatives of state structures
in education and private companies in Kazakhstan.
Natalia Evtikhieva, Dean of the
International School
of Business of the Russian Government Financial University
I am sure BARCEF 2014 will
lead to long-term partnerships
with education agents all over the
world.
Norman Parrington, Deputy Director
of the Centre for International
Development at Teesside University
Teeside University looks forward to BARCEF 2014. Our
university is a leading education
centre of the art industry and by
participating in the event, we
aim to establish cooperation with
representatives of the media and
the art industry of Kazakhstan
(animation, film making). During our presentations, we plan to
highlight technologies in such areas as multimedia and convergent
journalism, animation and game
technologies. We are interested in
discussions of our mutual collaboration in art, academic spheres
and research and exchange programmes in Kazakh educational
institutions.
Jon W. Stauff, Director of the
TCNJ Centre for Global
Engagement
The College of New-Jersey
(TCNJ) hopes to promote joint
partnership projects with a number
of universities in Kazakhstan and
other countries as well, study suggested professional and academic
programmes and language training
courses and present our scholarship for those Kazakh students
who want to study at TCNJ.
Kazakh education is of much of
interest for us and we are glad to
explore having Kazakh students
in TCNJ as well as to share our
knowledge and experience in education.
Donna Alexander, Director of the
Centre for English as a Second
Language, on behalf
of the University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is
looking forward to further cooperation with the universities and students of Kazakhstan. We are very
pleased to be invited to this important conference and look forward
to participating in the development
of the vision of education Kazakhstan has for itself and its peoples.
Kazakh artist and winner of
several international art awards
Bolat Mekebayev, who now lives
and works in Germany, bemused
spectators with his honest and
vivid paintings during an art festival at Kazakhstan National University of Arts in Astana in October, winning the award in the
category “Kazakh Art Abroad.”
The artist presented seven canvases telling stories from Kazakh
and German history that also raise
questions regarding some substantial social issues in a unique
symbolic manner of painting that
is associated with Mekebayev.
One of the canvases, “The Mystery of the Ancient Rune,” depicts
a dragon and a cross as a symbol
of religious conviction and hierograms, which are ancient German runes, referring to the wellknown Song of the Nibelungs
that describes the Viking period
of German history. Another canvas, “In anticipation,” shows the
mother of the artist standing with
a puppy – a symbol of his childhood.
Mekebayev was born in the
Kokshetau region in northern Kazakhstan but migrated to Germany 18 years ago. Right now, he is
a member of the Commonwealth
of Artists in Germany and has his
own art studio in Berlin.
According to Mekebayev, he
still remembers the harsh times
after Kazakhstan gained its independence in 1991. The family
did not have even enough money
to live, let alone support his art
career. The decision to migrate to
Germany was made to escape the
“wild 1990s” as people used to
call this period of time.
“I used to bear arms during
Communist times in Germany,
but I had never thought I would
ever come back to the country.
My wife Lena is a Russian of
German origins who was born
in Borovoe. She suggested that I
move to Germany because we believed that I had a chance at becoming a sucessful artist there,”
explained Mekebayev.
The artist also talked about difficulties he and his wife faced
during their first years after migrating. Their first destination
was the city of Osterwieck in
East Germany. The artist could
not speak German, he used to
work during the day and create
his paintings at night.
“It was hard for me to live far
away from my homeland. I remember my first art studio which
was a tiny room in the cellar, the
tiring room was right above. In
1997, the city church suggested
to me that I organise an art exhibition. I gladly accepted. More
invitations to present my paintings appeared soon after that,”
the artist said.
Mekebyev’s paintings are in
great demand among German poiticians and businessmen who are
ready to pay up to 10,000 Euro
for each canvas. Apart from art,
he also established his own silk
shawl business that uses unique
ornaments designed by the artist.
“I do not miss my homeland
too badly anymore, like I did in
the past. I live a good life together
with my wife and two children.
But I want to come back to Kazakhstan when I get old – I want
to be buried here,” the artist said.
In talking about Kazakh artists,
Mekebayev noted their high level
of professionalism. However, the
reason why so many talented local artists remain unknown is
their inability to escape the confines of reality. He also suggested
increasing cooperation between
European and Kazakh artists in
order to exchange experience.
“In Anticipation,” a painting by Bolat Mekebayev.
The artist is already awaiting
his next exhibition in Berlin. He
also plans to present his latest
20 canvases to audiences in several countries, including Britain,
France, Israel and Russia. The
main topic of the coming exhibit
will be the historical motives of
China, Egypt, Germany, Kazakhstan and the United States.
According to Mekebayev, he
uses his art to promote the culture of Kazakhstan among the
European public. He has already
organised 20 personal exhibitions
in several German cities such as
Berlin, Frankfurt, Hannover, Munich and Osterwieck. His art was
also shown in galleries in Poland
and Estonia.
The festival of arts organised in
Astana gathered more than 90 artists from Europe, China and Mongolia. The festival was divided
into three competitions: poetry, art
and storytelling (zhirshi).
B6
Nation&Capital
Tourism
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
Astana 2017 Company, Chinese
Air Astana Signs
Chamber of Tourism Sign Agreement
Code-Share
During Tourism Economy Forum
Agreement with
Air India
By malika orazgaliyeva
The third Global Tourism
Economy Forum (GTEF) took
place in Macau on Oct. 27 and
28. Kazakhstan’s delegation,
headed by First Deputy Foreign
Minister Rapil Zhoshybayev, reported on the upcoming EXPO
2017 and Kazakhstan’s tourism
potential.
A special session devoted to
tourism in Kazakhstan, as well
as information on EXPO 2017,
caught the public’s interest. Visitors were shown a special themed
stand where they had a chance to
learn more about the upcoming
international specialised exhibition and sights of Kazakhstan.
A memorandum of cooperation between the Astana EXPO
2017 National Company and the
Chamber of Tourism of China
was signed during the forum.
Membership of the state-owned
company in the Pacific Asian
Travel Association (PATA) was
agreed upon; a memorandum of
cooperation was signed as well.
Another point of interest at
the forum was the face-to-face
session, which puts global leaders fromthe private sector into
real-time discussion with tourism ministers from European and
Asian countries. At the session,
Zhoshybayev described trends
in world tourism and measures
undertaken by the government
of Kazakhstan to improve the
tourism climate as well as plans
to develop infrastructure. Zhoshybayev, who also serves as the
National EXPO 2017 Commissioner, stressed that EXPO 2017,
which will be held in Astana in
June-September 2017, is going to
become the locomotive driving
tourism in the country.
The forum plays a significant
role for a global tourism destination like Macau, with tourism being the pillar of the city’s
economy. Chief of Office of the
Secretary for Social Affairs and
Culture Cecília Cheung commented that “Macau has been
closely following the central
government’s twelfth five-year
plan to establish the city as a
world centre of tourism and leisure as well as a regional trade
and business service platform.”
“As Macau undertakes its mission to develop into a world tour-
ism and leisure centre, the city’s
need to remain abreast of global
affairs increases. We gathered
all of the tourism heavyweights
and experts who can share their
insightful perspectives,” said
Cheung.
At the forum, Zhoshybayev
also met with Vice President of
the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Soltanifar to discuss Iran’s
participation in EXPO 2017 and
cooperation in the tourism sector.
Also, Zhoshybayev held talks
with the ministers of tourism of
Cambodia and Croatia, as well as
Director of the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)
Ramada Plaza Astana
Is About to Come Back
in Style
By Anara Khabibullina
ASTANA – One of Astana’s
first top-flight hotels, Ramada
Plaza Astana, is ready “to rise
like a phoenix from the ashes,”
its executives say.
Ramada Plaza Astana was
built in 1998 as a hotel to represent a new capital of Kazakhstan, Astana.
According to executives,
in order to match its status,
the hotel is now renewing its
229 rooms, restaurants and
bars, also adding “fascinating” Royal apartments which
will be the largest in Central
Asia, a “magnificent” brand
new Ballroom ‘Abai’ and luxe
brand new SPA & Fitness centre opening in October and December correspondingly.
The location in the heart of
the revitalised city downtown
makes Ramada Plaza Astana
“an inspiring destination for
all kinds of travelers,” executives believe.
“Top priorities the hotel puts
for itself are outstanding guest
service, exceptional hospitality and upgraded comfortable
rooms with new touch of luxury which will absolutely differentiate the hotel from its competitors,” said Cem Ciritci,
General Manager of the hotel.
“The primary purpose of
our corporate architect Max
Kiki is to create completely
new facility to bring new life
to an existing building, combining tradition and modern
style by preserving the unique
atmosphere and charming
spirit of the hotel. At the same
time, one of the top goals is
to improve all technical char-
acteristics of the building in
accordance with up-to-date
standards of safety and comfort,” he continued.
“I am happy to say that the
legendary hotel will be given
a new birth soon,” said Ciritci.
“Ramada Plaza Astana will
open its doors as a brand new
hotel with new opportunities
for our guests to taste brand
new comfort and luxury. It is a
big project that will absolutely
be a pleasant surprise for all
our guests and Astana visitors.”
The good news is the hotel is
not fully closed and is operating even as works continue on
its refurbishment. The renovation at Ramada Plaza Astana is
being carried out step by step,
and will not affect residency of
the hotel’s guests.
One of the recently completed projects at the hotel is
a brand new elegant Ballroom
‘Abai’, equipped with hi-tech
modern equipment. It became
a place well suited for any type
of events from conferences
and exhibitions to weddings
and New Year celebrations.
The new ballroom is large
enough to accommodate up to
600 guests providing guests
with “maximum versatility by
offering the perfect venue for
high-class events, where the
guests are able to turn their
ideas into reality.”
“Having an event at a new
ballroom of Ramada Plaza
Astana will offer you a chance
to enjoy unique and exclusive
creations and unforgettable
culinary masterpieces of the
hotel’s new Executive Chef,
Bülent Yilmaz,” Ciritci added.
After travelling and working
around the world, which gave
him plenty of experience in
luxury international hotels,
Yilmaz is ready to present his
culinary classics to Ramada
Plaza Astana guests.
There is more to experience in a reborn Ramada Plaza
Astana hotel. A brand new
SPA and Fitness Centre that
will open its doors in early December this year is something
visitors and guests should
definitely try. With its original
concept and high-end equipment, the Spa and Fitness at
Ramada Plaza Astana will be
“an excellent place to rest and
relax after a workday.” The
hotel promises that, “as soon
as you step over the threshold
of the new SPA, you will find
yourself in the atmosphere of
hospitality and state-of-the-art
interior.”
Cem Ciritci also shared that
Ramada Plaza Astana is planning to complete a full upgrade
of hotel rooms by 2015 offering a new concept of guest
rooms and suites. New design,
new furnishings, and new
amenities will create “comfortable and superb experience
for all guests,” he said.
According to Anastassiya
Kim, Director of Sales and
Marketing, “We are working
on bringing new life to the
hotel. Existing, but soon-tobe a brand new hotel. Saying
it is a renovation, means saying nothing. It is a complete
change of the essence of the
hotel itself. New birth of Ramada Plaza Astana will become
a sensation. As we say at the
Ramada Plaza family of hotels, ‘You do your thing. Leave
the rest to us.’”
Márcio Favilla and Chairman of
PATA ScottSupernaw. Following the meeting, Zhoshybayev
invited participants to visit Kazakhstan in hopes of furthering
cooperation in the economic,
trade and tourism sectors.
Moreover, Kazakhstan and the
UNWTO agreed on a joint action
plan, which will include training
volunteers from Kazakhstan and
developing research to improve
the country’s visa policy.
The first two editions of GTEF
achieved phenomenal success
and earned the forum a solid reputation as an effective platform
that brings key decision-makers
in the global tourism industry to
Macau to exchange perspectives
with their Chinese counterparts,
explore business ideas and generate solutions to far-reaching
issues. Last year, the second
edition of GTEF attracted over
1,100 representatives from 29
countries and regions as well as
delegations from 10 provinces
and cities of mainland China.
Recognising the unique values
of GTEF and its growing momentum, many international organisations are building closer partnerships with GTEF. During the
forum in 2014, the UNWTO and
the coordinator of GTEF, Global Tourism Economy Research
Centre published their first report
of their joint research projects on
issues discussed during the past
two editions of GTEF.
Kazakhstan’s delegation included the heads of the tourism
departments of the Ministry of
Investment and Development
and the Astana EXPO 2017 National Company, as well as Kazakh diplomats.
By Danna Bupezhanova
Kazakhstan’s largest airline
Air Astana signed a free flow
code-share agreement with staterun airline and Star Alliance
member Air India on Oct.28 in
New Delhi.
“As a state-run airline and Star
Alliance member carrier, Air India feels honoured to enter into
this code-share agreement with
Air Astana. This agreement has
enabled Air India to reach out
to the CIS (Commonwealth of
Independent States) and eastern
European market,” stated Chairman and Managing Director of
Air India Ltd. Rohit Nandan.
A free flow code-share agreement implies pursuing joint marketing policy by two or more air
companies. As a result, a customer can purchase a flight ticket
from any of the parties to a codeshare agreement, while the flight
is conducted by only one of the
cooperating airlines, the operating carrier. It facilitates routing
for customers, as cooperating airlines strive to synchronise their
schedules and coordinate luggage
handling, which makes transfers
between connecting flights less
time-consuming. The cooperating airlines also share the responsibility for luggage misses due
to a delay of the first flight and
the second airline is unlikely to
charge extra fees or deny boarding in cases when the first cooperating airline caused a delay.
The agreement, which is sub-
ject to regulatory approvals,
was signed by Air Astana Vice
President for Sales Worldwide
Richard Ledgerin and Air India
Chairman and Managing Director Rohit Nandan.
Under this Agreement, Air India would codeshare as marketing carrier on flights operated
daily by Air Astana (KC) on the
Delhi-Almaty route.
“The agreement with Air
Astana is the beginning of the
partnership between the two airlines and both the carriers look
forward to an expansion of the
code share beyond Almaty and
New Delhi on each other’s extensive flight network. The pact
would benefit passengers across
Air India’s network as well as
Star Alliance carriers to travel
seamlessly between India and
Kazakhstan,” Rohit Nandan announced, adding that Air India
looked forward to expanding its
relationship with the Kazakh national carrier.
This code share will also facilitate the historically strong flow
of corporate traffic from the oil
and gas, pharmaceuticals and
information technology sectors
and could increase the number
of Indian students studying in
the Central Asian region.
Air Astana is the only carrier
in Eastern Europe and the CIS
flying with the SKYTRAX-4
star tag and the second air company in the Commonwealth of
Independent States region to cooperate with Air India, after Russian Aeroflot.
B7
Nation&Capital
Sports
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
World’s Best Wrestlers Battle for
First International Kazakh Kuresy
Title in Pavlodar
Oscar Brayson receives his first place prize at the first International Kazakh Kuresy in Pavlodar on Oct. 25.
By Dmitry Lee
Cuban judoka Oscar Brayson
won the first international Kazakh
kuresy tournament in Pavlodar on
Oct. 25, an event that drew fight-
ers from 35 countries that battled
for the international title and a
$150,000 prize.
“We gathered the best fighters
from around the world, the number ones on their teams,” said Ka-
zakh Kuresy Federation President
Arman Shuraev before the tournament. “Among them are the European, Australia and Oceania and
world champions. I think that it
will be a very serious, spectacular
battle. We want to hold the tournament for that purpose, to put
on a show and that the world witnesses our [national] martial art.
We were able to publicise it in a
short period of time and to raise
the necessary level of the Kazakh
kuresy in Kazakhstan and I think
in about five to six years, this type
of wrestling will be as widely
known as Japanese Sumo,” he
added.
Kazakhstan was represented by
four wrestlers: the holder of the
2012 title of Kazakhstan Barys
Beibut Ystybaev, the holder of
the 2013 title Aibek Nugymarov,
the finalist of the 2014 Kazakhstan Barys Asylkhan Barmenov,
and the bronze winner of the 2014
competition Ruslan Abdrazakov.
Other notable fighters who
participated in the event include
Beijing Olympic bronze medalist
Brayson and judo world champion
and top Czech fighter Lukas Krpalek, among others.
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, a famous Japanese-American actor
and martial artist of the Mortal
Combat, Pearl Harbor and Planet
of the Apes fame, graced the tournament with his presence.
Weightlifting World Championship
Almaty to Attract Almost 700 Athletes
By Dmitry Lee
Almaty is preparing to host 683
weightlifters from 75 countries for
the Weightlifting World Championship Nov. 8-16 which will determine the strongest men and women on earth and also determine six
Olympic slots for men and nine
for women in at the 2016 Olympic
Games in Brazil.
“This event is the most important sporting event in the world
of weightlifting, as a licensed
tournament for the 2016 Olympic
Games in Rio de Janeiro,” Executive Director of the Weightlifting
Federation of Kazakhstan Omar
Mustafin said during an interview
with sports.kz.
The Kazakh national team is
training at a facility in Tekeli in the
Almaty region, where they will remain until Nov. 7. Training in the
foothills of the Alatau mountains,
where the Tekeli facility is located, is thought to benefit athletes
in many sports. Kazakh athletes
trained there for the London 2012
Olympics.
Two-time Kazakh Olympic
weightlifting champion Ilya Ilyin and former world champions
Vladimir Sedov and Rustem Syban are also preparing for the Olympic qualifying event in Almaty.
“Good bonuses will be provided
by the federation that is worth the
hard athlete’s work,” Mustafin said.
Barys
North-Western
KHL Swing Yields
Three Points,
Mixed Results
By Yerlan Zhanayev
The Astana Barys hockey team
recently wrapped up a tour of
the North-Western countries of
the Continental Hockey League
(KHL), which included matches
against Finland’s Jokerit, Latvia’s
Dinamo Riga and St. Petersburg’s
SKA hockey teams. The tour produced mixed results and three tour
points.
The Barys’ match against Jokerit from Helsinki drew much
media attention and was one of
Jokerit’s highest attended games
in recent memory. News about
defender Kevin Dallman returning to Astana was published as a
separate story. A young man also
proposed to his girlfriend during
a commercial break in front of
10,000 spectators.
After the game, n coach Erkka
Westerlund said his club was able
to successfully neutralise the Barys first line.
The game was attended by Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Finland
Galymzhan Koishybayev, who
was seen with Jokerit General
Manager Jari Kurri and First Am-
bassador of Finland Mikko Kinnunen in the VIP box.
“Not bad, it will not be easy to
win,” said Kurri after the first period. Ultimately, the home team
prevailed over the visiting Barys.
After Finland, Barys traveled to
the Latvian capital Riga where they
were able to beat the home team
Dinamo Riga. Dinamo coach Artis
Ābols later said his team is undergoing a generational shift among
coaches, who are all young. He also
said he would like to see the top
five Barys players play for Dinamo.
The club then traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia to play SKA. The
home team took an early 4-1 lead,
but the Barys quickly battled back
and within five minutes had tied
the score. SKA, however, was later
able to regain the lead for good.
In related news, after the game
SKA player Patrick Thoresen was
asked about Oslo’s decision to pull
out of the running to host the 2022
Winter Olympics.
“Of course, I supported the idea
of holding the games in Norway,
but the majority has decided otherwise. Almaty is probably a better
candidate in this case,” said Thoresen.
Debate Continues over Benefits of Hosting 2022 Winter Olympics
By Dmitry Lee
ASTANA – The question of
whether or not hosting the 2022
Winter Olympics would be good
for Kazakhstan has been much debated in social media as the July
31, 2015 deadline for the decision by the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) on the host city
approaches.
The question is particularly
relevant as International Olympic Committee President Thomas
Bach said during a recent visit to
Almaty that the city’s hosting bid
is “strong.”While many local and
foreign experts and officials debate
whether the bid looks hopeful for
Kazakhstan or is even worthwhile,
Almaty stands a good chance of
hosting the historic games.
“Almaty’s
undeniable
advantage is its compact games
concept,”Aidar Makhmetov, public relations department director
of the Samruk Kazyna Sovereign
Wealth Fund said in an interview
with this newspaper. Makhmetov
is an avid supporter of the Almaty
bid. “For example, the maximum
distance between the proposed
Olympic village in Almaty and the
sports complexes is approximately
35 kilometres. In [another competitor] Beijing, it is 246 kilometres. This is important to the IOC.
Almaty also has a great advantage
in terms of availability of sports
facilities. There are eight sports
complexes today and there are
talks of building four more. Beijing only has three facilities and it
is required to have at least 12-14
facilities. That’s too many to build.
In addition, the major sports facilities in Almaty will be built by the
2017 Winter Universiade, which,
in the case of a positive decision
from the IOC, will be regarded as
a rehearsal for the 2022 Olympic
Games.”
Only two candidate cities are left
vying for the 2022 bid; Beijing,
China and Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Stockholm, Sweden; Krakow, Po-
land; Lviv, Ukraine and Oslo, Norway all dropped out. All of these
decisions were influenced by the
cost of the latest games in Sochi in
2014.They cost Russia a whopping
$51 billion.
“The enormous costs of the Olympic Games in Sochi seriously discouraged many countries from hosting the 2022 Olympics,”Makhmetov
said. “However, contrary to popular
belief, the high cost of the winter
Olympics won’t necessarily apply
to Almaty, as most of the sports facilities will be constructed for the
Universiade [by 2017]. I believe that
at this point, we have a real [good]
chance of winning the right to host
such a grand and complex event like
the Olympics. We have the chance
now and it will never come around
again, because the IOC is seeking
to seriously simplify the application
process for hosting the games. We
mustn’t miss this opportunity.”
Makhmetov believes that the
2022 Olympics could unite the nation and cause a welcomed wave
of patriotism and sense of community.
“This is our mostimportant national project. After the games,
everyone in the world will know
where Kazakhstan is. Who had ever
heard of Calgary, Nagano or even
Lillehammer before the Olympic
Games were held in them? Today,
these towns have a page in global
history. I’m sure that if we win [the
bid], we will execute the games in
a very organised manner and once
and for all put Almaty on the map,
which will provide a powerful impetus for the development of not
only the city but also the whole of
Kazakhstan,”Makhmetov said.
Kazakhstan blogger and President of the Republic-RegionDevelopment Fund, a non-governmental organisation, Galym
Baituk opposes the bid with a reasoning of his own.
“We do have facilities, but the
next question is; are they profitable? We don’t have a bobsleigh
track, curling stadium, etc. We
would need to build them, which
would require a lot of money. You
know how we hosted the 2011
Asian Games. We earned five billion tenge (US$27.6 million), and
spent nearly $1.5 billion.”
“We won only seven medals in
the six previous Winter Olympic
Games; hosts should want to win
too, right? So far, we can’t be contenders with only one gold, three
silver and three bronze medals,
though as hosts, we might win a
few more, but that is it,” Baituk
added.
Baituk’s worries also lie in matters pertaining to corruption, although as the blogger commented,
given various circumstances and
the state’s financial situation, he
wouldn’t mind the country hosting
the Olympics.
“I am a true patriot of my country; of course, I want Kazakhstan
to be a part of history, but not like
this. To be blunt, hosting such
events when we have other issues on the agenda is like ‘fiddling
while Rome is burning’,” he said.
“In terms of country branding,
this is not the kind of branding Kazakhstan needs, not the Olympics.
Businessmen and big investors
already know about Kazakhstan,
they will find us themselves; why
do we care if farmers in Australia
know about Kazakhstan? Or residents of Brazilian favelas?”
Baituk, who is full of ideas, proposed building a Boratland amusement park, or a museum, based on
the comic American fiction character near Astana instead of creating more buzz around the country
in hopes of boosting foreign tourism inflow.
“We are afraid to laugh at ourselves, but look at the new films in
Hollywood, they are full of people
making fun of themselves, watch
movies like Naked Gun for instance, we laugh at it but still can’t
laugh at ourselves. I think Boratland would attract more tourists,
we only need to learn to make fun
of ourselves and just embrace the
idea already,” he concluded.
“I would be very happy if the
Winter Olympics came to Almaty,”2012 long jump London
Olympics champion Olga Rypakova has recently told local
media.“For any athlete at the beginning of the four-year period,
just participation is a huge responsibility and honour and hosting the
games is a high joy and reward
for the work that we put in. The
Olympic Games is a portrayal of
the best holiday not only for the
athletes but also for each ordinary
Kazakhstan citizen. We, as athletes, at least have the opportunity
to participate in such activities.
However, it would be great for our
compatriots to experience this holiday as well. We want to show the
world our achievements, our lives
and all the beauty of Kazakhstan.”
B8
Nation&Capital
capital
Wednesday, november 5, 2014
New Park Zone Planned
for Astana’s Left Bank
Int’l Library Opens at Kazakh
Humanities Law University
A new park zone is planned for
Astana between Zhaukazyn and
Makatayev streets on the left bank
of the Yessil River. The tender for
park construction was announced
by the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental
Control on Oct. 2.
According to the official site
of the Astana city administration,
the new park zone next to the Arai
park is expected to cost 1.66 billion tenge (US$9.2 million) and be
completed by June 2015.
It has also been announced that
Astana’s central park will be modified. The Astana city Akimat (city
administration) plans to erect an
18-metre high ferris wheel as well
as build a large clock called “The
River of Time,” a fountain and a
Square of Olympians. Private in-
ASTANA – An international library, a concept sparked by a former cellmate of Nelson Mandela,
was opened Oct. 21 at the Kazakh
Humanities and Law University
(KAZGUU). Kazakh Minister of
Foreign Affairs Erlan Idrissov,
heads of diplomatic missions and
representatives of international
organisations participated in the
official opening ceremony.
The initial idea was communicated by Ahmed Kathrada, a
friend of the former President of
the Republic of South Africa who
spent 26 years in jail with Mandela. Kathrada visited Kazakhstan in 2012 and his lecture to
KAZGUU students was the first
speech in the country dedicated
to him.
As part of the July 18 festivi-
By Julia Rutz
vestors are also interested in constructing a heated pool and aquatic
area. The park will be divided into
a bathing beach, central alley, an
area with four mosaic grotto compositions, a fountain and a square.
American Documentary
Producers Tour Kazakhstan
with Film Showcase
By michelle witte
ASTANA – American filmmakers Andrea Meditch and Lisa Olken are travelling through Kazakhstan as part of the American Film
Showcase programme, participating in the red carpet premiere
of five award-winning American
documentaries in Astana, conducting classes with film students and
answering questions at screenings
of their films across the country
from Oct. 23 to Nov. 5.
American film showcase in AstanaTheir films have found receptive
audiences here, Meditch and Olken said in an interview with The
Astana Times on Oct. 24. “People
have pointed out certain things in
both of our films that really hit
close to home,” said Olken, executive producer for Rocky Mountain
Public Broadcasting System. Olken produced “Urban Rez,” which
traces the impact of the voluntary
relocation programme for Native
Americans in the United States
though Native American voices.
“Buck,” produced by Meditch,
tells the story of real-life horse
whisperer Buck Brannaman. It,
“Urban Rez,” “City Dark,” “Uranium Drive-In” and “The Medicine Game” were selected by the
American Embassy in Astana for
screenings in Kazakhstan. “City
Dark” explores light pollution,
“The Medicine Game” introduces
two Native American brothers
working to become professional
athletes and “Uranium Drive-In”
depicts a Colorado community
dealing with the consequences of
a nuclear fuel mill.
The five films are part of the
American Film Showcase, a partnership between the U.S. State
Department and the University of
Southern California’s School of
Cinematic Arts that brings contemporary American films to international audiences.
The equestrian culture in “Buck”
and the impact of the migration
of indigenous peoples in “Urban
Rez” seemed very relevant to Kazakhstan, said Drew Peterson, a
cultural affairs officer at the U.S.
Embassy in Astana. “We thought
that both of these topics would be
fascinating for people in Kazakhstan, where horses are such a big
part of the culture, where nomadic
life for a very long time was a big
element of the culture and where
resettlement programmes in the
20th century had such an interesting legacy.”
The embassy wanted to present
real voices rather than ideology,
Peterson said. The films, he said,
are “the unfiltered voices of the
American West that had stories to
tell to Kazakhstan about our tradition and ancestry and environmental sustainability and how all these
things play together in the American West.”
They also show some negative
stereotypes about the U.S. in a
positive light, Meditch said. “Buck
is really a new kind of cowboy.
He’s not a loner, he’s a family man.
He’s gentle, but willing to speak
out.” Cowboy stories are America’s mythology, she said, and Buck
is a more humane representation of
that mythology, a different way of
thinking about a national hero.
“There are so many negative,
depressing stories about Indian
boarding schools and the historical
traumas and the broken treaties,
but there are many positive stories
about native people, native lands
– I’m working on a film right now
about native energy on tribal lands
– that people don’t know about.
And it’s about time to tell positive
stories about our indigenous populations, not just about alcoholism,
casinos, things like that,” Olken
said.
The producers showed their
films and gave master classes at
Astana’s National University of
Arts on Oct. 23-24 and at the KazMediaCentre on Oct. 25. While
Kazakhstan has a tradition of fiction filmmaking, documentaries
are a relatively new genre here,
and the students have been keen to
learn about them, the film directors
said.
“It’s been a vibrant dialogue
[about] how you adapt fiction
techniques to telling stories about
the world you live in, telling true
stories. They’ve been very engaged and asked a lot of questions
and also we’ve asked them a lot of
questions, so we’ve learned a lot
from each other,” Meditch said.
“They’ve really asked some
profound questions, like ‘Isn’t
documentary filmmaking easier
than making a fiction film?’” said
Olken. “I’ve never been asked that
before. ‘Are documentaries all
real? They’re fact based, so can we
believe all documentaries?’ I said,
no. They’re fact based, but they’re
filtered through the director. So
then there was this big discussion.
… I think we’ve really helped to
open their eyes and they’ve really
helped to open our eyes.”
The producers have also brought
some harsh truths about the business of filmmaking. “There’s a
huge difference between how the
media business works in Kazakhstan and in the United States, so
we’ve been talking a lot about
what it means to work in a commercial business environment in
the United States, in a corporate
environment,” Meditch said. “In
the United States, you have to support yourselves somehow. … That,
I think, was something of a surprise, that you have to figure out
how to pay for your film. So we’ve
been talking about that, too.”
Meditch had always hoped for an
international audience for “Buck,”
she said, but Olken said she never
imagined showing her film outside
the U.S. Both found that their films
struck chords with students in Kazakhstan, however.
“I’ve been struck by how much
the students responded to what
they see as Buck’s spirituality, to
his philosophy of life. It was very
resonant to them and also, they
felt, was very much a part of their
traditional culture as well. It’s been
a very, very interesting dialogue,”
Meditch said.
Dialogue is what they were hoping for, the filmmakers said. “We
were absolutely looking to learn,”
said Meditch. The landscapes of
Kazakhstan and the U.S. west are
very similar, she noted, but what
about the cultures? “We both have
cowboys, we both have indigenous
peoples who have been here for a
very long time, but our histories
are different. So we’ve been talking about our different histories,
and that’s been very interesting
and engaging.”
The five films were shown at
Astana’s KazMedia Centre over
Oct. 24-25, with “Urban Rez” and
“Buck” premiering after a red carpet gala at the centre on Oct. 25.
The producers will also visit Kostanai, Karaganda, Shymkent and
later travel to Turkmenistan.
Filmmakers Andrea Meditch and Lisa Olken at the Kazakhstan premiere of
their films at Astana’s KazMediaCentre on Oct. 25.
By Dmitry Lee
ties celebrating Mandela Day,
South African Ambassador to
Kazakhstan Shirish Soni donated
450 books from his personal collection to the KAZGUU library.
Among them were books on law,
history, foreign policy and social
studies and many biographies
and autobiographies of world
leaders. In particular, the South
African embassy donated a number of books about Mandela’s
life. The books are in different
languages to support academics
and students in language studies
and some include topics on religious studies, yoga and meditation.
The initiative was supported by
the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and the diplomatic corps.
The library also received book
donations from the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the embas-
sies of Belarus, Greece, Hungary,
India, Kyrgyzstan, Netherlands,
Russia and Saudi Arabia.
The Kazakh foreign ministry will also encourage Kazakh
diplomatic missions abroad to
contribute books to the newlyopened international library. Receipt of these books is expected
throughout December.
Other
embassies in the city could also
contribute books to the library.
Idrissov also delivered a speech
to academics and students on the
theme of Kazakhstan’s foreign
policy and its role in international organisations. After the lecture, they asked questions on the
relationship among Kazakhstan,
the Eurasian Economic Union
and EU countries, Kazakhstan’s
view on the current situation in
Ukraine and how hosting EXPO
2017 would benefit Kazakhstan.