Kazakhstan Campaigns to Win EXPO

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The Astana Times
Monday, 5 March 2012
№ 2 (13)
Kazakhstan Wants Global Politics to Be
Fair, Transparent, Tolerant, Nazarbayev Says
Astana, Berlin Socio-Economic
Enter New Modernisation
Defined as Next
Stage of
Partnership Main Vector of
By Gulnaz Kalikhanova and
Altair Nurbekov
President Nursultan Nazarbayev gives apples, famously domesticated in Kazakhstan, to foreign ambassadors as a
symbol of friendship at a reception following his speech on March 2.
By Danat Islambek
ASTANA – Kazakhstan will continue to play an active role in global
politics which in the 21st century
should be based on such principles
as “constructive multipolarity, transparency, trust and political tolerance, and a priority of evolutional
development,” President Nursultan
Nazarbayev said March 2 during an
annual meeting with the Diplomatic
Corps in the capital.
His wide-ranging remarks encompassed all foreign and domestic
policy priorities of the country but
also pointedly included harsh criticism of the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
for lack of balance between its dimensions and lack of progress, and
especially the group’s election ob-
servation missions for prejudices in
assessing the plebiscites in states of
the former Soviet Union.
Addressing the gathering of
more than 70 ambassadors and heads
of missions of international organizations in Ak Orda, the president’s
residence, Nazarbayev said Central
Asia has great potential to become
one of the world’s energy centres.
“We see the future of the region
Plans Are Afoot to Boost Energy
Investment in Kyrgyz Republic
By Madi Akan
ASTANA – Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev and
Prime Minister Karim Massimov
met Kyrgyzstan Prime Minister
Omurbek Babanov during his working visit in Astana on February 22.
The two sides discussed bilateral
relations in trade and economic affairs. They also explored increased
cultural and humanitarian cooperation and international affairs.
Nazarbayev congratulated Babanov on becoming the Kyrgyz
prime minister.
“Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
are close countries, with similar
languages and culture and we are
ready to render all-round support to Kyrgyzstan,” Nazarbayev
said.
Nazarbayev said Kazakhstan
would build a new modern school
in the Kyrgyz city of Osh to support the development of southern
regions of the country. Osh was
rocked by serious ethnic riots in
2010.
“This is good for our economy
and for our mutual cooperation,”
Babanov said.
“We have reached a series of
agreements,” Babanov said after
meeting the Kazakh president. “In
March we will register and open
a Kazakhstan Investment Fund in
Kyrgyzstan. Kazakhstan is considering constructing a new electrical power line from Almaty to
Kemin. This spring Kyrgyzstan
will start construction of the
Datka to Kemin electrical power
line. We welcome Kazakhstan’s
participation in the new HPP
(hydro power plant) construction
projects.”
Babanov also thanked President
Nazarbayev and the government of
Kazakhstan for supporting Kyrgyz
agricultural exports to their country.
“We support all the initiatives of
Nursultan Nazarbayev on Eurasian
integration and the Single Economic Space,” Babanov said. “First of
all, (these initiatives) concern Central Asian security. They also raise
the competitiveness of our companies. Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the
Customs Union is (only) a matter of
time,” he said.
Speaking to the media at a joint
news briefing with Kazakhstan’s
Prime Minister Massimov, Babanov said his “negotiations have
been successful and we have received the unconditional support of
President Nazarbayev”.
The leaders agreed that all legal procedures to register the new
Kazakh-Kyrgyz investment fund
could be completed in March.
“The visit of the Prime Minister
of Kyrgyzstan to Kazakhstan was
substantive and fruitful,” Massimov
told the press conference. “I believe
the people of our countries will experience its positive results very soon.”
The two sides concluded new
agreements on migration, finances,
agriculture and energy. As a result,
Kyrgyz citizens will be allowed to
stay in Kazakhstan without having
to re-register for a period of 90 days.
Two more cross-border checkpoints
will open in the Talas and the Issyk
Kul oblasts in Kyrgyzstan.
Continued on Page
A8
in the development of a system of
oil and gas pipelines which would
export our hydrocarbon resources
to Europe and Asia,” President
Nazarbayev said, calling upon his
neighbours to combine efforts and
solve all disputed water management
issues on the basis of mutual benefit
and equality.
Continued on Page
www.astanatimes.kz
President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s
visit to Germany on February 7-8 resulted in fifty contracts worth more
than 4 billion euros and a number of
important inter-governmental and
inter-ministerial agreements that
opened a new era of partnership between the two countries.
“We have signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement, which did
not exist before, and 50 commercial
contracts worth more than 4 billion
euros. Thus, Germany and Kazakhstan enter a new level of strategic
partnership with great prospects,”
the president said at a press conference in Berlin.
Nazarbayev explained in detail
the interests of both sides: “We are
interested in German technology
while they are interested in our resources, that is, those resources that
we are not exploring yet.”
Another area of interest for Kazakhstan is technical education, the
president said. He instructed the
minister of education to analyse and
learn from the German experience.
The new Inter-Governmental
Agreement on partnership in the resource, industrial, and technological
sectors was signed following a meeting between President Nazarbayev
and German Chancellor Angela
Merkel in Berlin on February 8. Continued on Page
A2
A3
Development
By Gulnaz Kalikhanova
Kazakhstan has identified social and
economic modernization as its main
vector of development for the next decade, President Nursultan Nazarbayev
said as he outlined the major priorities
of this new direction in his state-of-thenation address on January 27.
“New tasks to strengthen the
economy and improve people’s welfare represent the new stage in Kazakhstan’s development,” the president told members of parliament, the
government, and the people of the
country during his live, nationallytelevised address.
He went on to note that finding
the optimal balance between achieving economic success and providing
for public good is vital for Kazakhstan. For this, the country needs to
implement a set of tasks in ten directions, he said.
Nazarbayev named employment
as the first direction. “On my instruction, the government has approved a
fundamentally new employment programme,” the president said. The programme targets tasks such as creating
an effective system of training and employment assistance, providing greater
support for entrepreneurship, and increasing labour mobility. The largescale implementation of the programme
will begin this year, the president said.
Continued on Page
A2
New Industries and Services Will
Bring Prosperity to Zhanaozen,
Public Commission Head Says
By Natalia Butyrina
AKTAU – The Kazakhstan government has sought to maximize
the opportunities of each region of
the country. Construction of factories and infrastructure, development
of business and agriculture are all
aimed at improving the social wellbeing of citizens and providing them
with jobs.
Issues of employment are especially relevant for Zhanaozen,
the site of violent disturbances in
December 2011. After that unrest,
President Nursultan Nazarbayev instructed the government to restore
the city and to solve its urgent problems.
Omirzak Ozganbayev, chairman of the regional council of veterans under the regional governor
and head of the Public Commission
on Zhanaozen spoke to The Astana
Times about the situation in the town
two months after the disturbances
there.
You headed the public commission formed on the President’s instructions after the dramatic events
in December. What exactly has been
done in the city during this period?
Within the past two months
much work has been done. The public commission was formed to facilitate the activities of the law enforcement agencies. The commission’s
members accept applications from
citizens and forward them to the appropriate authorities after processing
and analyzing. Our objective is to
ensure transparency of investigation
and to observe the health conditions
of suspects detained by the law enforcement bodies.
The commission includes respected elders, prominent citizens,
representatives of various political
parties, lawyers and economists,
trade unionists from different cities.
We respond to everything, including
complaints and rumours.
The members of the commission
have met with the investigation team
of the Prosecutor General’s Office
and the commandant of Zhanaozen.
Our public offices were set up in the
cities of Aktau, Zhanaozen and the
village of Shetpe. We also met and
talked to people and advised them.
On December 26, we submitted all
the information and data we had
gathered to the government commission.
We forwarded our request to the
law enforcement officers working
in the area asking them to treat the
detained suspects with humanity and
greater understanding. We appreciate every citizen. Justice must be
transparent to prevent miscarriages
of justice and the conviction of the
innocent.
It is impossible to turn back time.
Having analysed the causes of the
unrest, we must move forward, overcome difficulties and not repeat our
mistakes.
Continued on Page
A2
Kazakhstan Campaigns to Win
EXPO-2017 for Astana
By Nurgul Alipinova
An international commission is
to visit Astana in mid-March to assess its readiness to host the EXPO2017 world’s fair.
The location for the exposition
will be decided by the International
Exhibition Bureau (BIE) and a BIE
delegation will visit Astana on March
12-17, 2012.
The expert commission will meet
Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim
Massimov, the heads of the Senate
and the Majilis and will be shown
presentations displaying Astana’s
plans for the EXPO, which have the
theme “Energy of the Future.”
The commission will be shown a
master plan, a feasibility study, and a
programme for further utilisation of
the facilities to be built to house the
exposition.
The commission will assess As-
tana’s preparedness to host EXPO
and make a decision on Kazakhstan’s
continued participation in the bidding.
The heads of the ministries, state
bodies and state regional administration of Astana will have the opportunity to present their vision of
the EXPO. Their goal is to attract
millions of visitors from around the
world to the EXPO.
Rapil Zhoshybayev, the Foreign Ministry’s Executive Secretary and the National Coordinator
of the EXPO-2017 project told
The Astana Times Astana plans to
present a master-plan for the EXPO
emphasising the themes of “originality, democracy and the desire to
surprise.”
He said the city would organise
an EXPO that would “demonstrate
innovation.” EXPO-2017 “should
become a true adventure for guests,
representing the cultural, political
and economic life of Kazakhstan and
other countries,” he said.
“New discoveries and a huge
amount of positive emotions – this
is the impression people should get
after visiting the exhibition. EXPO2017 in Astana should be imbued
with this very atmosphere. We have
every precondition to create it. We
are going to show our full potential
when the expert commission arrives,” Zhoshybayev said.
“We think we have several reasons which give Kazakhstan an advantage over competition to host the
EXPO,” Aydar Kazybayev, Chairman of the Bidding Committee and
Chairman of the Trade Committee
of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, told The Astana
Times.
Continued on Page
B8
Inside
NATION & EURASIA
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
EDITORIALS
Human Rights, Disarmament Should Be
UN Priorities, FM Says in Geneva;
Foreign Minister Visits Washington,
Brussels to Strengthen Dialogue with US,
Europe.
Pages A3
G-Global Offers Platform for Answers to
International Economic Woes;
Financial Sector Plans to Boost
Investment in Small Businesses.
Building an International Nuclear
Security Edifice;
Pages A4-A5
Young girls in Kazakh national costumes pose for a picture in front of Astana’s
Expo-2017 bid stand in Paris.
Kazakhstan Celebrates 20 Years of
Partnership with the UN.
Page A6
OPINIONS
NATION & CAPITAL
YUMKELLA: UNIDO Is Well Placed to
Support Kazakhstan;
BHAN: Elections: Did Nazarbayev
Deserve Victory?
Pages A7
Int’l Women’s Day Awaited with Great
Anticipation;
New Ski Resort at Tekeli Seen as
Trailblazer for Small Towns’ Future;
American Wife of Barys Captain Sees
Untapped Opportunities in Astana.
Page B1-B7
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The Astana Times
А2
Monday, 5 March 2012
Nation
Socio-Economic Modernisation Defined as
Next Main Vector of Development
From Page A1
Affordable housing was named
as the second direction. Each year
Kazakhstan commissions six million
square metres of new housing. However, more than half a million young
families still need their own homes.
To solve the problem of housing,
President Nazarbayev instructed the
government to develop and adopt a
state programme named “Affordable
Housing – 2020” by July 1.
The development of regions and
small towns is the third direction.
The country should build new plants
and create industrial jobs and social
infrastructure in economically promising areas. President Nazarbayev
highlighted the development of
small single-industry towns as a separate issue. As the Zhanaozen disturbances last December have shown,
single industry towns are vulnerable
to social risks. The government was
instructed to prepare a special programme on the development of onecompany towns.
The fourth direction concerns improving the quality of public services.
“It is an important aspect of combating
corruption and enhancing public trust
in the activities of state bodies,” the
president stressed. For this, the country needs to develop e-government,
simplify administrative procedures,
and improve the computer literacy of
the population, he continued.
As the fifth direction, Nazarbayev
named the improvement of human resource capacity. “Our most important
task is to prepare a skilled political class
of managers. I instruct the government
and the presidential administration to
prepare proposals on candidates for
the Presidential Personnel Corps by
the end of the first half of 2012,” he
said. This body will form the basis of a
new managerial elite, which will lead
the country in the 21st century. The president identified modernisation of the judiciary and law enforcement systems as the sixth direction. The procedure for the formation
of the judiciary needs to be radically
revised, the new Criminal and Procedure Code needs to be completed,
and a bill on private detective activity
is to be prepared. Another important
task is to update the personnel of law
enforcement and special bodies.
Qualitative growth of human capital in Kazakhstan is the seventh direction, which concerns the improvement
of education and health. The country
needs to introduce advanced techniques and technologies in its education process, improve the quality of
teaching staff, and increase access to
education for young people. Another
important task is to increase the availability and quality of medical services,
as well as to promote healthy lifestyle.
The eighth direction relates to the
pension system. Nazarbayev instructed the government and the National
Bank to develop proposals to improve
the pension system, especially as far
as the oversight of the pension funds
is concerned. The industrial and innovation projects must continue to be
implemented, the president said next.
Therefore, he said the Programme of
Accelerated Industrial and Innovative
Development will remain the benchmark of economic modernisation. He
also outlined several major multi-billion-dollar projects that the government is to implement within the next
few years, including the construction
of a power station in Balkhash, a
petro chemistry plant in Atyrau, a gas
processing plant at the Karachanganak field and a set of gas pipelines
throughout the country, including a
pipeline to ship gas to Astana.
Last but not least, President
Nazarbayev listed the development
of agriculture. Kazakhstan will introduce mechanisms of state support for
retailers without intermediaries, create a single grain holding, and establish a state system of guarantees and
insurances to reduce risks of private
investment in agricultural production,
the president said.
President Nazarbayev stressed that
the government needs to strengthen
the innovation system of the country. Diversification of foreign direct
investments in Kazakhstan remains
an important issue as well. Foreign
investment must be directed to promising industries such as tourism, the
president said as he called for the development of ski resorts near Almaty.
He also went over key aspects of
Kazakhstan’s foreign policy for the
decade ahead. “We have responded to
the global challenges of the 21st century by deepening integration on
the Eurasian stage. As a responsible
member of the international community, Kazakhstan will continue
to actively seek ways to strengthen
peace and security. Kazakhstan will
remain committed to a balanced foreign policy, interacting both with the
Domestic
News in Brief
West and Asia,” Nazarbayev said.
He listed several key events foreign
policy events for the coming year,
including the 20th anniversary of the
Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures, which now
brings together 24 states from Israel
to Iran to India to Pakistan to China
and Vietnam. The anniversary is to be
marked on October 5, 2012.
“Today, the whole world and
every state need to find answers to
powerful global and domestic challenges. By performing these tasks in
ten directions of the socio-economic
modernisation, we will strengthen the
economy, make our society stable,
and improve the well-being of our
people,” the president said.
President Nazarbayev called social modernization the central issue
for the new Parliament and the government, as well as all responsible
forces such as Kazakhstan’s political
parties, public associations, creative
and professional unions, and media.
“We must unite all the forces for
the benefit of our motherland. I call
on all citizens of Kazakhstan to take
active part in the work to achieve the
identified goals,” the president concluded. Kazakhstan Wants Global Politics to Be Fair,
Transparent, Tolerant, Nazarbayev Says
From Page A1
Addressing the gathering of foreign diplomats, Nazarbayev listed
several priorities of Kazakhstan’s
foreign policy, including non-proliferation, Central Asian integration, security in Asia, the Common Economic Space with Russia and Belarus,
information security, and sustainable
development with a specific focus on
energy and the environment.
As a consistent proponent of Central Asian integration, Kazakhstan
views integration as a means to foster opportunities to implement largescale joint projects. In this regard,
the President proposed establishing
a regional free trade zone in Central
Asia, adding that the countries of the
region should “create and develop a
single Central Asian network of railway and motor roads.”
Reflecting on the region’s energy and food resources, Nazarbayev
suggested the countries of the region
should also work closely to establish
a common regional food pool.
“We see great potential for the
countries of the region to become
an international community’s collective outpost in the fight against
international terrorism and extremism, illegal migration, drug trafficking and other modern challenges,”
Nazarbayev said, expressing Kazakhstan’s readiness to strengthen interaction on a wide spectrum of regional security issues.
Recalling that this year marks the
20th anniversary of the initiative to
set up the Conference on Interaction
and Confidence-Building Measures,
Nazarbayev said the process, in fact,
has come to a point when its participation in international relations in
Eurasia and globally should translate into more effective actions. He
called upon CICA participants to
work jointly to advance the forum as
a new full-fledged international Organisation for Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia.
Turning towards the European
sphere, Nazarbayev lamented the
lack of dynamics in implementing
the Astana OSCE Summit Declaration of December 2010 noting that
“the ship called ‘the OSCE’ runs
lurched on the humanitarian dimension as before.”
“Again, we observe unproductive attempts to use such a mechanism as missions of observers over
national elections to exert pressure
by one group of countries upon others… This draws us back into the
past and undermines OSCE’s importance as an institution of mutual
trust,” Nazarbayev stated, warning
that if this trend persists, Kazakhstan
will stop inviting OSCE monitoring
missions for all types of elections.
“This is not only my own opinion, but one that is expressed in the
entire CIS,” the President added.
“At the same time, the OSCE
failed to become a platform for finding solutions to the economic ‘stupor’ in which all participating states
are finding themselves, and which
continues to encompass new countries in the area of its responsibility,”
he continued.
Staying on the subject of the
OSCE, President Nazarbayev said,
“It is obvious to everybody that the
global currency system is deficient.
Its deficiencies threaten to invite the
repeat of the global crisis, even more
powerful than two years ago. However, issues of economic security are
still outside of the priorities for the
OSCE.”
“The military dimension of the
OSCE also remains stalled. Equally
stalled is the Corfu Process. Kazakhstan’s proposals to expand the
number of baskets within the organisation are also not being implemented,” Nazarbayev stressed, asking the
diplomats to relay these concerns to
their respective governments and international organizations.
Turning towards integration in
Eurasia, he characterised the establishment of the Common Economic
Space as “an important factor of regional stability, our economies’ competitiveness and their technological
breakthrough.”
Speaking on global developments, Nazarbayev called the political practice of “externally whipping
up” unprepared political changes in
some societies as unproductive for
the twenty-first century.
Instead, he said, global politics
in the twenty-first century should be
based on such principles as “construc-
tive multipolarity, transparency, trust
and political tolerance, and a priority
of evolutional development.”
Pointing out the common responsibility of all states for the fate the
planet, Nazarbayev said Kazakhstan
will put forward its Green Bridge Initiative for discussion at the Rio+20
conference later this year, which,
according to him, pursues “green”
technologies and the creation of
man-planted forests.
Remarking that the work of
the Diplomatic Corps is of great
importance for Astana, President
Nazarbayev concluded the meeting by saying that despite the harsh
winters of the country’s young capital, “Kazakhstan’s relations with all
countries always stay warm.
New Industries and Services
for Zhanaozen...
As normality is restored in Zhanaozen, authorities
propose big future plans for the town.
Secondly, there is a possibility for progress in the untapped
As the saying goes, “Time agriculture sector. Watermelons,
heals all sorrows”. We need pa- melons and gourds can be raised
tience now. The independence that by building greenhouses along
we gained after so many years of the Kigach–Zhanaozen water line.
hope requires unity, cohesion and Kenderli Bay has all the necessary
ability to forgive... The ability to conditions for breeding salmon,
forgive has always been a sign of and catching asp, mullet and sprat.
wisdom...
There are also good opportunities in Kenderli to set up desalinaIn his state-of-the-nation ad- tion plants, agro-complexes and to
dress the President instructed the develop alternative energy. Using
government to solve the problems of the infrastructure along the railway
regional development and employ- line from Uzen to the state border
ment, including those of Zhanaozen. with Turkmenistan, we could deHow, in your opinion, should these velop cattle breeding, including
problems be addressed?
sheep, camels and horses.
There are now 120,000 resiThirdly, today we talk a lot about
dents living in a
the development
town designed
of a tourism infor 60,000 peo- “Construction of
dustry. Here, on
ple. The social new enterprises and
the shore of the
problems
that
Caspian Sea are
accumulated in the development of
all the prerequiZhanaozen, in- agriculture and tourism sites to do that.
cluding unem- industries will help
In Kenderli Bay
ployment, have
the Ada sandbar
become particu- address the problems
can become an
larly urgent. Our of the region”. –
excellent recreascientists
and Omirzak Ozganbayev
tion area where
other members
underground
of the commissources of fresh
sion believe the town today has water are found at a depth of 0.5-1
an opportunity to curb unemploy- metres.
ment. Having studied the situation,
Fourthly, I believe it is high
we have advanced several propos- time to renew the construction of
als to address this issue.
an oil refinery and to establish reFirst, we need to develop the pair works for oil and gas equipsocial sector, encourage small and ment in Zhanaozen.
medium-sized businesses and the
Finally, we need to open vocamanufacturing industry within the tional schools to train professionframes of the multi-vector econo- als for the service industry.
my.
I think it is also expedient
We need to modernise the work to form a special working team
of bakeries, dairy production and to deal with the development of
the town’s sewing factory. We need Zhanaozen and to prepare concrete
to set up the production of tiles proposals for the government.
from stone chips using the wastes
If all these issues, including urof stone quarries.
gent problems, are addressed and
It is necessary to construct inte- the welfare of the population imgrated plants, improve the work of proves, the Mangistau region will
the Kazakh Gas Processing Plant, not only produce oil, it will also
and to start development of casing- become a research and industrial
head gas.
processing region.
From Page A1
● Kazakhstan’s population in
2011 increased by 233,000, or 1.4
percent. On January 1, 2012 it reached
16,675,000, the government said.
● Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev received Chairman of the Supreme Court Bektas
Beknazarov in his Ak Orda residence
on Feb.29. They discussed amendments to the new legislation on the
judicial system that are to be introduced through a presidential decree
in February. Beknazarov said the
amendments will significantly expand the power of the Court of Appeal but the Supreme Court will
remain the highest court under the
Constitution. The new law is also
expected to increase popular confidence in the judicial process and in
the system’s ability to provide fair
court decisions.
● Deputy Prime Minister Kairat
Kelimbetov ordered the customs authorities to simplify customs registration procedures at an enlarged session
of the Finance Ministry’s Customs
Control Committee on Feb.13. “Today, a businessman has to interact
with 15 public bodies and submit
up to 40 documents to register an
export-import operation,” Kelimbetov said. He said this contributed to
Kazakhstan’s poor standing in global
ratings for conducting business. The
World Bank 2012 Doing Business report published in October 2011 ranked
Kazakhstan 176 out of 183 countries
for regulating external trade. It takes
an exporter up to 81 days to clear all
procedures compared to 27 days in
European Union nations. Kelimbetov instructed the customs authorities to explore introducing electronic
exchange of information with each
state agency involved and to develop
a framework for electronic customs
suitable for businesses.
● The Samruk Kazyna National
Welfare Fund (NWF) and the Atameken National Economic Chamber
signed a memorandum on cooperation for 2012 on Feb. 29. The document was signed by NWF deputy
board chairman Kuandyk Bishimbayev and Atameken board chairman
Ablay Myrzakhmetov. Myrzakhmetov said the two bodies had agreed to
create a new action plan to develop
industrial projects.
● Transport and Communications Minister Askar Zhumagaliyev
briefed the Government on Feb. 28
about plans to set up specialised public service centres (CPS) to deal with
vehicle registration and issuing driving licenses. He said the new centres would be able to issue driving
licenses in only one day and would
only require an ID card as identification. Zhumagaliyev said the ministry
is planning to digitise another 15
public services including registration of citizens by place of residence,
issuing passports identity cards and
driving licenses electronically, the
state registration of real estate rights
(encumbrances) and the provision of
land inventory information.
● Car owners in Kazakhstan will
be able to choose their own registration plates from an electronic database in the near future by paying
a special extra rate, Transport and
Communications Minister Askar
Zhumagaliyev told the Cabinet on
Feb.28. The new service will require
minor changes to the Tax Code, he
said.
● In 2013 the Kazakhstan Air
Force will receive two new Airbus
C-295 military air transports. The
supply contract was signed between
the Kazspetsexport Republican State
Enterprise, an authorized agency of
the Ministry of Defence of Kazakhstan for export and import of arms
and military equipment, and Airbus
Military, a business unit of Airbus. A
Memorandum of Understanding was
also signed to buy six more C-295’s to
be operational by the end of 2018s.
● Hilton Worldwide will open its
first hotel in Astana in summer 2014.
The new Hilton Garden Inn Astana
Hotel will make a management contract with the Astana Development
Group. The new hotel will be located
on the waterfront of the Yessil River.
It will be conveniently located for
travel to Astana International Airport
and will be built close to the Opera
House and the Khan Shatyr shopping centre.
● The International Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN) has approved the
.қаз domain for the use of to the Kazakhstan Association of IT Companies. “The registration of one more
domain that uses the Cyrillic alphabet is of vital importance for global
network development in general,”
Coordination Centre Director Andrey Kolesnikov said. There are less
than 30 countries which have their
own internationalised high level domain name, he said.
Cyan Yellow Magenta Black
The Astana Times
Monday, 5 March 2012
А3
Eurasia & World
External
News in Brief
● British Secretary of Defence
Philip Hammond’s visit to Astana
resulted in the signing of an agreement guaranteeing the transit of
British military property and personnel across Kazakhstan’s territory. During his first official visit to
Kazakhstan, Philip Hammond met
President Nursultan Nazarbayev,
his counterpart, Minister of Defence
Adilbek Dzhaksybekov and other officials. In a Feb. 27 meeting in Akorda, President Nazarbayev said the
two countries have established close
political and economic contacts. He
also noted that this year Astana and
London will mark the 20th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.
● Bilateral consultations chaired
by Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister
of Foreign Affairs Amangeldy Zhumabayev and Belarus’ First Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Petrischenko took place in Minsk on
Feb. 27. The delegations discussed
a wide range of bilateral and multilateral cooperation issues, including
implementation of earlier agreements; trade, economic, cultural,
humanitarian, scientific and technical issues; and interaction within the
CIS, the OSCE and the SES.
● Kazakhstan Minister of Foreign Affairs Yerzhan Kazykhanov
presented the Order of Dostyk of the
second degree to Ambassador Lee
Byung-hwa of the Republic of Korea on February 24. The order was
awarded by President Nazarbayev
in connection with the completion
of Ambassador Lee’s three-year
diplomatic mission in Kazakhstan
and recognizes the ambassador’s
outstanding contribution to strengthening Kazakhstan-South Korean
friendship and cooperation. The new
ambassador from the Republic of
Korea will start his diplomatic mission in Kazakhstan in March, Lee
said at the ceremony.
● Kazakhstan Senate Chairman
Kairat Mami met Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly
President Petros Efthymiou as part
of his visit to Austria on Feb.23.
During the meeting, Mami emphasised Kazakhstan’s interest in further
developing constructive cooperation
with the OSCE PA and thanked the
OSCE Election Observation Mission
for monitoring the parliamentary
election in Kazakhstan on Jan.15,
2012. In turn, Efthymiou acknowledged Kazakhstan’s chairmanship
of the organisation, “which was very
successful and productive”. “Your
country has been playing an important role in the region of Central Asia
in the areas of peace and stability,”
he added.
● Kazakhstan became the 24th
member of the G8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Nuclear
Weapons, Kazakhstan MFA said
in a press release on Feb. 24. By
joining the Global Partnership, Kazakhstan will further advance its
activities aimed at strengthening
national, regional and international
security.
● The first meeting of defense
and diplomatic experts of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia
(CICA) took place in Almaty on
Feb. 8. Representatives of the foreign and defense ministries of 15
countries discussed the implementation of confidence-building measures in the military-political dimension of the CICA. Within its session,
the Kazakhstan Ministry of Defense
organised a visit to the Military Institution for Ground Troops, where
guests were acquainted with the
educational and material resources
of the institution.
● The Saudi Arabian Embassy
in Astana has simplified visa procedures for Kazakhstan’s pilgrims desiring to visit sacred places as part
of the Hajj. The Embassy announced
that Hajj and Umrah visas will be issued from February 7, 2012 to August 3, 2012 in Astana on a free of
charge basis.
● Orders by the Organization of
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for the purchase of Russian military equipment have doubled over the past year, amounting
to $492 million by January 1, 2012.
Russian arms supplies to CSTO
member states also increased twofold over the last year and amounted
to $80 million. Among the large supplies of arms are S-300PMU2 “Favorite” air defense missile systems,
Mi-17-1B helicopters, Su-30MKI
aircraft, Yak-130 training planes,
Pantsir-C1 air defense missile-gun
systems, new T-90 tanks, infantry
combat vehicles, Smerch multiple
rocket launcher systems, and Cheetah patrol vessels.
Astana, Berlin Enter New Stage of Partnership
From Page A1
Under the agreement, German
companies will be able to carry out
exploration and production in Kazakhstan’s mineral deposits and build
plants for developing and processing
raw materials, as well as producing
goods for exports, including in the
markets of the Customs Union and
the Single Economic Space. Germany will use its latest technology,
which is important for Kazakhstan to
implement the national programme
on industrial and innovative development.
“Germany has sent a
clear message that it
views Kazakhstan as a
strategic partner. This
is even more significant
given the unpredictable
situation on
international markets
of rare earth metals,
and the agreements
reached in Berlin mean
the Germany, and, by
extension the European
Union, see Kazakhstan
as a reliable and
predictable partner.” –
Bolat Sultanov
Both Nazarbayev and Merkel
praised the results of the visit.
“I am very glad for President
Nazarbayev’s visit to Germany. We
have established diplomatic relations
between our countries 20 years ago
and, looking back, we can say that
we have achieved a great deal,” Merkel said after the meeting. “However,
there is more work ahead for us. We
plan to cooperate not only in mining.
Thus, Germany will provide technology and high knowledge. Mutually
beneficial relationships will be the
key to success for our countries.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed President Nursultan Nazarbayev to Berlin as the
two countries signed a breakthrough agreement guaranteeing German companies
access to Kazakhstan’s mineral riches.
The President’s visit included a heads of Germany’s leading business
As part of the visit, on February
7, Nazarbayev attended the opening full agenda of meetings with politi- associations, banks, and companies,
ceremony of a Berlin Eurasian Club cal leaders and business representa- which are actively involved in bilateral
held in the German Council on For- tives in Germany. On February 8, trade and economic cooperation. And
he met German President Christian he attended an exhibition of the Kazaeign Relations.
The Berlin Eurasian Club was cre- Wulff. Two leaders discussed efforts khstan-German economic projects.
Famous German companies such
ated as a dialogue platform to discuss to support international security and
a wide range of social and political exchanged views on key regional as Siemens, ThyssenKrupp, Metro,
BASF, and others presented their
issues between Kazakhstan and Ger- and global issues.
During the visit, President projects at the event, which had the
many, as well as the European Union.
In his speech, Nazarbayev said the Nazarbayev also met former Ger- goal of expanding bilateral economopening of the Berlin Eurasian Club man President Horst Kohler, leaders ic cooperation and increasing the
met his vision of Eurasian integration of Social-Democratic Party Frank- involvement of German businesses
and was aimed at finding effective Walter Steinmeier and Gernot Erler in Kazakhstan’s national programme
ways of cooperation between Europe and the Chairman of the Committee on industrial and innovative develand Central Asia. “I believe the inte- on Eastern European Economic Re- opment.
Nazarbayev said Kazakhstan was
gration of Europe and Asia is only a lations Eckhard Cordes.
President Nazarbayev also met interested in new technologies and
matter of time,” he said.
invited the European corporations to
invest in the country’s economy.
“This is a breakthrough… for our
two countries. We offer to work with
our mineral resources, rare metals,
chemicals, pharmaceuticals, metallurgy, oil and gas, and we ask the
German side to come to Kazakhstan
with its technology and equipment,”
Nazarbayev said at the exhibition.
Nazarbayev said Germany was
a leading trade partner for Kazakhstan. The trade turnover between
the two countries in 2011 exceeded
5 billion euros. Germany’s direct
investment in Kazakhstan’s economy amounted to more than 825
million euros, of which 40 percent
came in the last three years, the
president said.
“This was the first presidential visit abroad after the January
15 parliamentary election, and it
is significant that the president
visited the leading country of the
European Union which has traditionally looked towards the east,”
Bolat Sultanov, director of the Almaty-based Kazakhstan Institute
of Strategic Studies said in an interview. “Germany has sent a clear
message that it views Kazakhstan
as a strategic partner. This is even
more significant given the unpredictable situation on international
markets of rare earth metals, and
the agreements reached in Berlin
mean the Germany, and, by extension the European Union, see Kazakhstan as a reliable and predictable partner.”
According to Sultanov, the visit
also signaled Kazakhstan’s continued intention to develop its ties with
the West following the successful
completion last year of its three-year
programme, “Path to Europe”. “We
would also expect that Europe would
build on its strategy for the development of cooperation with Central
Asia, adopted, by the way, during
the German EU presidency in 2007,”
Sultanov said.
Human Rights, Disarmament Should Be UN
Priorities, FM Says in Geneva
By Gulnaz Kalikhanova
The international community,
with the UN at the forefront, should
keep human rights and disarmament
at the top of its agenda, while Kazakhstan stands ready to help in every
way it can. Foreign Minister Yerzhan
Kazykhanov delivered this message at
the meetings of the UN Human Rights
Council and the Disarmament Conference in Geneva on Feb. 27 and 28.
Thanks to the United Nations,
the world has seen remarkable
progress on human rights since its
creation over six decades ago, Kazykhanov said speaking at the 19th
HRC session on Feb. 27.
“Many hundreds of millions
of people live in greater prosperity, security and freedom than ever
before, their intrinsic dignity as
human beings respected and with
the chance to improve the lives of
their families and communities,” he
said.
Yet there are new challenges
such as climate change, increasing
energy concerns, water and food
shortages, armed conflicts and terrible famines. “This calls for the
international community, with the
UN at the forefront, to keep human rights at the top of its agenda
in a fair and equal manner. Kazakhstan, as a country that has come
a long way over its 20 years of independence, stands ready to help
in every way it can,” Kazykhanov
added.
He said the Council needs to
continue improvements in its working methods. “The selection of candidates for the position of Special
Rapporteurs still does not reflect a
fair geographical representation...
There is room, too, for improved
co-ordination between the HRC and
other human rights bodies within
the UN system,” he said.
Kazykhanov stressed that Kazakhstan welcomes the implementation of the Universal Periodic
Review and has almost realised 88
percent of the HRC recommendations. He also urged the member
states to consider making voluntary contributions to the HRC to
strengthen its capacity.
Continued on Page
A8
Foreign Minister Visits Washington, Brussels to
Strengthen Dialogue with US, Europe
By Altair Nurbekov and
Gulnaz Kalikhanova
Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister
Yerzhan Kazykhanov has visited
Washington, DC, and Brussels for
talks with high level officials on
ways to expand and strengthen the
country’s multi-faceted relationships with the United States and
Europe.
Nonproliferation of nuclear
weapons, stabilizing the situation
in Afghanistan and simplifying visa
regulations were among the many issues Kazykhanov and U.S. Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton discussed at
a bilateral meeting in Washington on
February 1. The meeting took place
as part of Kazykhanov’s first official
visit to the United States as the Kazakh foreign minister, which began
on January 30.
“Kazakhstan has served
in recent years as the
chair of the OSCE, the
chair of the OIC and
has been very helpful in
our efforts to stabilize
Afghanistan.” – Hillary
Clinton
Prior to the meeting, both Kazykhanov and Clinton expressed satisfaction with the progress achieved
by the two countries in recent years
in strengthening their bilateral strategic partnership.
“Kazakhstan and the United
States have covered a lot of ground
in the first 20 years of cooperation, and we look forward to even
stronger relationship in the future.
Our two countries share commitments to fundamental values and
principles of freedom and opportunity, peace and cooperation,
dialogue and understanding,” Kazykhanov said.
“I’m delighted to welcome
my colleague, the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, a country with
whom we have very friendly relations and work together on a whole
range of issues, both bilaterally
and regionally and globally,” Clinton said. “Kazakhstan has served
in recent years as the chair of the
OSCE (Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe), the
chair of the OIC (Organisation for
Islamic Cooperation) and has been
very helpful in our efforts to stabilize Afghanistan. So I am pleased
to have this opportunity to discuss
at length some of the issues that
we’re working on together.”
During the talks, Kazykhanov
conveyed a reply message from
President Nursultan Nazarbayev to
U.S. President Barack Obama which
expressed gratitude for the warm
words of congratulations Obama
had sent in December 2011 on Kazakhstan’s twentieth anniversary of
independence.
Looking ahead to the Second
Summit on Nuclear Security in
Seoul in March 2012, Kazykhanov
and Clinton discussed joint Kazakhstan – U.S. efforts to ensure global and regional security. They also
agreed that President Nazarbayev
and President Obama will hold a bilateral meeting at the summit. “We
believe this meeting will be a milestone in cooperation between our
countries,” Kazykhanov said following the talks.
To further facilitate travel between the two countries, the sides
agreed to exchange as soon as possible diplomatic notes solidifying the
agreement to issue five-year visas
and unify visa fees.
Continued on Page
A8
Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton hold a bilateral meeting at the Department of State in February.
Cyan Yellow Magenta Black
The Astana Times
А4
Monday, 5 March 2012
Economy
G-Global Offers Platform for Answers
to International Economic Woes
By Zhanna Abdullina
A new communication platform,
created at the initiative of President
Nursultan Nazarbayev in January, has brought together more than
500,000 people in 128 countries in
their search to find ways out of the
global economic crisis.
The platform, called G-Global,
has been set up on the website http://
g-global.aef.kz and it is visited by
more than 3,000 people a day. The
site holds the second position in the
list of economic and analytical sites
and is more sought after in the web
search engines than other economic
web forums.
Murat Karymsakov, chairman of
the Association of the Eurasian Economic Club of Scientists (EECS),
presented the G-Global communication platform at a press conference
on February 15. The meeting was
attended by government officials,
representatives of non-government
organisations (NGOs), research institutions and business circles, as
well as diplomats, international experts and reporters.
Among the guests representing
the academia were Hanon Baraban-
er, rector of the Institute of Economics and Management from Estonia,
Nuriddin Kaumov, director of the
Economic Research Institute of the
Ministry of Economic Development
of Tajikistan and Mikhail Fedorov,
head of the Ural State Economic
University from Russia.
The G-Global international virtual project was established under the
aegis of the Astana Economic Forum
(AEF). The AEF is a dialogue platform where competent parties discuss key issues of global economic
trends, prospects of economic development, stability and security, along
with instruments and methods to
strengthen integration processes.
G-Global aims to promote effective on-line discussions on how to
develop appropriate mechanisms to
overcome global financial and economic challenges. It allows Internet
users worldwide to share their views
on the website, embracing expert reviews, debates, business projects and
polls. It also hosts a general discussion forum.
“G-Global is a multifunctional
platform creating conditions for the
global expert community for interactive, open and public deliberations
on critical issues of the world economy,” Karymsakov said.
Karymsakov also discussed preparations for the 5th Astana Economic
Forum to be held on May 22-24. He
urged the attendees to become active
members of the G-Global community in their search for solutions to the
global economic problems.
Anatoly Spitsyn, first vice-president of the International Academy of
Investments and Director of the Institute for Strategic Research in Integration Problems of the EurAsEC
told the press cofnerence that through
two decades of reforms Kazakhstan
has demonstrated efficient social and
economic policy, and had increased
the role of government.
“Developments taking place in
Kazakhstan can serve as an example of a creative and unique breakthrough when national interests are
pursued while the country is integrating into the world economy in a
very difficult period of its development,” Spitsyn said.
Hanon Barabaner, the head of the
Institute of Economics and Management in Tallinn, said the G-Global
communication platform was based
on a thorough analysis carried out
KazEnergy Conference Maps
Out Oil, Gas Development
during and after the last Astana Economic Forum.
“G-Global is distinctive for its
democratic character. Anyone can
express their opinion, ranging from
housekeeper and engineer to president. What is more important, their
thoughts will be heard and discussed… (including on) the reform
of the world’s financial system.
Greece’s debts, crisis of the middleclass borrower in the United States,
as well as instability in general, are
the things experts and non-professionals discuss on the web site,”
Barabaner said.
“The decision-making within the
G20 (Group of 20 major nations) involves a limited number of countries.
The creation of a new world order
should involve as many countries and
people as possible. It is important to
talk about democratisation at the national level. President Nazarbayev’s
proposal to form a new institution of
G-Global is a manifestation of both
his wisdom and courage,” Barabaner
added.
In Brussels, the former president
of the European Investment Bank
(EIB) Philippe Maystadt said during
a meeting with Kazakhstan’s Ambas-
sador to Belgium Yerik Utembayev:
“I think G-Global is a very good
idea and I fully support it. Despite
the existence of such instruments as
the G20 and the G8 (Group of Eight
major industrialised countries), there
exists a necessity to create a more
global mechanism to analyse and
work out effective solutions to counteract the global crisis.”
“All countries of the world should
cooperate on this issue, while Kazakhstan, located between Europe and
China, plays a strategic role in this respect. Europe is interested in strategic
relations with Kazakhstan and is ready
to invest into innovation projects that
are important for both Kazakhstan
and Europe,” Maystadt said.
The G-Global project was supported by seven Nobel Prize winners
who participated the AEF in 2011 -Robert Mundell, John Nash, Roger
Kornberg, Eric Maskin, John Aumann, James Mirrlees, and Finn Kydland. It was also supported by the
United Nations European Commission, the Reinvented Bretton-Woods
Committee, the Club of Madrid and
representatives of international organizations, business, education and
scientific circles.
Global Thinkers
to Attend Astana
Innovation Congress
By Stepan Lemeshev
KazEnergy’s new strategy will be revised to include intra- and inter-sector
cooperation, building a partnership with the state and fostering favourable
conditions for businesses.
In 2012, the commission will structures and apply a professional
By Assel Mukanova
address the development of com- standard nationwide.
Special tools have been developed
ASTANA ­– The KazEnergy As- mercial oil production in the Kashasociation (KEA) held its general gan field, the creation of a compre- for projecting the number of specialist
meeting and the 12th session of its hensive gas power grid for central workers and the time required to train
and northern Kazakhstan including them and allow them to acquire adecouncil in Astana on February 21.
Over the past seven years, the Astana, programmes to process Ka- quate experience in the industry, KaraKEA developed into a major branch zakh oil at domestic refineries and balin said. It had been estimated that a
association with a leading position in customs and tariff policies for oil second category worker needs 17 years
the oil and gas industry. KazEnergy and gas within the Single Economic before being ready to take a leadership
has successfully engaged in legis- Space (SES) of Kazakhstan, Russia position provided he continues working at the same organisation, he said.
lative activities to ensure effective and Belarus.
Karabalin said he believed the
interaction between the government
structure of the national qualificaand the industry.
tion system designed for the oil and
The meeting was chaired by Over the past seven
gas industry could also be applied in
KazEnergy Association Chairman years, the KazEnergy
other industries. He proposed creatTimur Kulibayev. It discussed or- Association developed
ing an independent centre to confirm
ganisational issues, the results of the into a major branch
and evaluate professional qualificaKEA’s activities since it was foundassociation with a
tion in other industries based on the
ed in 2005 and plans to implement
KazEnergy model.
its updated development strategy in leading position in the
oil and gas industry.
Karabalin said that in accord
the next four years up to 2015.
with the law on subsoil extraction,
Kulibayev said the KEA’s found- KazEnergy has
mining companies are required to
ing strategy had served its intended successfully engaged
provide funding for research, scipurpose. Now it will be revised to inentific, technical and development
clude intra- and inter-sector coopera- in legislative activities
works to be carried out by local
tion, building a sustainable partnership to ensure effective
producers to the amount of one
with the state and creating favourable interaction between
percent of their gross annual inconditions for its priority industries.
the government and the
come from contracted activities.
KazEnergy
General
DirecThe conference was told that intor Dzhambulat Sarsenov said the industry.
dustry leaders held high expectations
purpose of the organisation was to
Uzakbai Karabalin, the general for the research and innovation policoordinate the priorities of the government and those of the oil and gas director of the Kazakhstan Institute cies of KazMunayGas. Since 2011,
sector. He said the association had of Oil and Gas, told the conference KMG has been involved in a major
ensured greater involvement of the that the development of the nation’s restructuring of its research and demining industry in planning their fu- oil and gas industry depended on velopment procedures.
The conference also discussed
many factors but the most importure development.
Sarsenov also reported on the as- tant of them was the availability of social assistance to communities in
sociation’s new membership in the highly qualified personnel and the emergencies, a draft project of the
National Board of the Extractive In- increased application of science and Kazakhstan Institute of Welding
dustries Transparency Initiative and the innovative introduction of new and the KazWeld Association and
the statute governing the work of
the reorganization of its coordinating technologies.
Karabalin said Kazakhstan’s the Technical Committee of Kazacouncils.
Deputy Oil and Gas Minister oil and gas industry now employed khstan’s oil and gas operators.
The KazEnergy Association is an
Bolat Akchulakov discussed the role more than 100,000 people, most of
of the Interdepartmental Commission them engineers and technicians. He independent non-commercial union
in developing the oil, gas and other also informed the meeting of new of legal entities which aims to proenergy industries under government government-initiated amendments to mote favourable conditions for dynamic and sustainable development
leadership. He said the commission the Labour Code.
Karabalin said these changes of the nation’s energy sector. The
considered problems of gas exports
and utilization, the regulation of the included the creation of a national KEA now has 50 member companies
internal oil and lubricants market system of qualification, which will and organisations involved inoil, gas
include the national and regional and other energy.
and other issues.
Economic
News in Brief
Global experts will be flying
to Astana to participate in the annual Innovation Congress which
will be held within the framework
of the 2012 Astana Economic Forum (AEF) which this year will take
place on May 22-24.
The Ministry of Industry and
New Technologies, the National
Innovation Fund and the Eurasian
Economic Club of Scientists will
organise and administer the Innovation Congress. It has already become a key annual event at the AEF
to promote scientific and industrial
innovation and will be attended by
prominent politicians, statesmen
and economists form around the
world.
In just two years, the Innovation Congress has established itself
as an event of international importance. It has contributed to ensuring
the recognition and participation of
the international community in Kazakhstan’s initiatives to diversify its
economy and ensure its sustainable
growth through industrial and innovative development.
Alexander Idrissov, Managing Partner of Strategy Partners,
First President of the Guild of Investment and Financial Analysts
of Russia, a member of the Council for Private-Public Partnership
of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP):
“The biggest advantage of the
Congress is the opportunity it offers
to meet people who have already
created an innovative system in their
countries, ensured improvements in
national welfare and very effectively
managed their economies during the
recent years of international crisis.
The Congress offers participants the
chance to learn from this invaluable
expertise. That is the most important
thing.”
Olivier Darrason, President of
the European Company of Strategic Intelligence, CIES, France:
“I am interested in this Congress
because it involves a large number
of recognized experts in the field
of innovation, they are the people
who set directions in this area. I am
impressed with the presentations of
the representatives from Kazakhstan
who explained how they manage the
process of innovation development
in their country and their experience
working in this direction in specific
areas.”
Malcolm Perry, Chairman of
the British Association of Science
Parks and Business Incubators,
Director of the Surrey Scientific
Park:
“I think that the outcome of the
Congress in the business sense of
the issue is the fostering of a technology of entrepreneurship, which
is important for young people with
little experience in enterprise activity or for those who are going to start
their own businesses. If you pursue
this policy in order to inspire them
to do business, it will be great.”
Burghard Scheel, Vice Chair-
man of the Advisory Board of the
Fraunhofer IFF:
“The Economic Forum and the
Innovative Congress associated
with it are the most important communication venues for representatives of real economics and science
in Central Asia. The specific activities of the forum and the number,
qualifications and nationality of its
participants confirm the great interest in the processes of economic
development of Kazakhstan and
Central Asia as a whole. The Forum
provides large and varied opportunities to exchange experience and ideas, and most importantly to establish
new contacts.”
Nikkonen Albin, Executive Director of the Russian Association
of Venture Capital:
“An important purpose of participating in the Congress and the
Forum, in addition to learning about
economic and political trends, is to
establish new contacts and to determine new frameworks for further
cooperation. In the past year such
contacts, of course, were formed,
and I hope that soon my colleagues
and I will take practical steps. One
example is the Kazakhstan Venture
Fair, a specially organized contact
site for venture investors and entrepreneurs.”
In just two years, the
Innovation Congress has
established itself as an
event of international
importance.
It has already become
a key annual event at
the AEF to promote
scientific and industrial
innovation and will be
attended by prominent
politicians, statesmen
and economists form
around the world.
It has contributed to
ensuring the recognition
and participation of the
international community
in Kazakhstan’s
initiatives to diversify
its economy and ensure
its sustainable growth
through industrial and
innovative development.
Over the past two years, the largest number of foreign speakers at
the Innovation Congress came from
South Korea and Germany.
Participants in the Innovation
Congress last year included one
Nobel laureate, three ministers of
national governments, six deputy
ministers and 66 speakers from 15
countries around the world. On
the sidelines of the last forum ten
memorandums on cooperation with
foreign partners were signed and 12
meetings of foreign experts with officials from Kazakhstan’s Ministry
of Industry and New Technologies
and the National Innovation Fund
were held.
● Kazakhstan’s GDP growth is
projected to be six percent in 2012,
government officials told an enlarged meeting of the Nur Otan parliamentary faction in late February.
The meeting also discussed amendments to the country’s main financial
document.
● Kazakhstan will begin 11
major investment projects in 2012
worth over 4.5 billion tenge creating
more than 150,000 new jobs, Prime
Minister Karim Massimov told the
Cabinet on February 21. The Cabinet also discussed priority measures
to implement them.
● The Council on managing the
National Fund of Kazakhstan chaired
by President Nursultan Nazarbayev
took place on Feb.29 in the Ak Orda
to discuss a proposed increase in the
guaranteed transfer to the national
budget by 15 percent (180 billion
tenge) in 2012-2013. The decision
to increase the transfer from the National Fund and to use the anti-crisis
funds again was made in response to
the need for additional funding of investment projects that the President
noted in his 2012 state-of-the-nation
address. The Council accordingly
decided to approve a new KazMunayGas bond issue worth $4 billion
to further fund development of the
Kashagan super oil field in the north
Caspian Sea. The bonds will be issued in two tranches in 2013 and
2015.
● The government has decided
to cut more than 25.5 billion tenge
from the budget for celebrations,
conferences, parades and meetings in
response to criticism from President
Nursultan Nazarbayev, government
officials told a meeting of the Nur
Otan parliamentary faction in February. Officials will also be banned
from buying foreign cars.
● The National Bank of Kazakhstan is sticking to its forecast corridor of inflation in the range of six
to eight percent in 2012, its chairman
Grigory Marchenko said. In 2011,
annual inflation was 7.4 percent and
in January 2012 its rate in annual
terms fell to 5.9 percent, the lowest
figure since November 2009.. Starting from Feb.14, the National Bank
reduced the official refinancing rate
from 7.5 percent to seven percent in
response to financial trends and to
the fall in the annual inflation rate.
● A Government meeting in Astana on February 14 chaired by Prime
Minister Karim Massimov discussed
industrialisation issues and the protection of consumer rights. Industry and New Technologies Minister
Asset Issekeshev told the Cabinet
that 130 projects would be commissioned this year as part of the State
Programme for Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development’s
Industrial Map. He said special attention would be paid to developing
industry in the regions.
● Kazakhstan’s foreign trade surplus rose to $50.08 billion in 2011,
a 170 percent increase on 2010. The
volume of foreign trade in 2011 rose
by 40.2 percent compared with 2010
to $126.2 billion. Exports reached
$88.1 billion in 2011, a 48 percent
increase on 2010. Imports amounted
to $38.04 billion in 2011, a 25 percent increase on 2010. The main customers for Kazakhstan’s exports in
2011 were China with 18.5 percent,
Italy with 17.1 percent and Russia
with 8.5 percent.
● Kazakhstan exported 4.8 million tonnes of grain during the four
month period from October 2011 to
January.2012, the government said.
● On February 1, the total assets
of banks in Kazakhstan amounted to
12.988 trillion tenge, an increase of
1.3 percent in one month, the government said. On February.1, the
total estimated equities of the banking sector amounted to 1.982 trillion
tenge, an increase of 1.4 percent in
one month. Assets in foreign currency amounted to 35.1 percent of total
assets. The total loan portfolio of the
nation’s banks, including interbank
loans, on Feb. 1 totalled 10.446 trillion tenge, a decrease of 0.3 percent
in one month. On February 1, loans
granted in foreign currency amounted to 43.9 percent of the total loan
portfolio. The aggregate income
of the nation’s banks amounted to
324.9 billion tenge. Total expenses
were 360.3 billion tenge, excluding
income tax that amounted to 3.4 billion tenge. Losses of banks amounted
to 38.7 billion tenge. As of February
1, 2012, Kazakhstan’s banking sector contained 38 second-tier banks.
● In 2011, 274,700 new jobs
were created in Kazakhstan, including 128,200 in rural areas, the government said. The largest number
of jobs was created in the industrial
sector – 32,400.
Cyan Yellow Magenta Black
The Astana Times
Monday, 5 March 2012
А5
Business
Business
News in Brief
● Gas sales of KazTransGas Aimak JSC (KTGA) in 2011 amounted
to 7.66 billion cubic metres, up 57
percent over 2010. The volume of
gas transported rose by ten percent
from 2010 to reach 5.19 billion. The
length of KTGA’s distribution pipelines reached 18,949 km, 8,159 more
than in 2010. Capital expenditures
of the company amounted to 7.995
billion tenge, 1.56 times higher than
in 2010. That includes 5.450 billion
tenge spent on investment projects.
In 2011, KTGA paid 6.265 billion
tenge in taxes and other obligatory
payments to the budget, 2.3 times
more than the amount paid in 2010.
Annual revenue rose to 83 billion
tenge, 60 percent more than in 2010.
Over the past year in the country’s
six regions, KTGA provided gas to
29,966 additional houses and apartments in the area of its operation.
Thus during the reporting period the
total number of subscribers reached
687,195 (an increase of 4.6 percent).
● Kazakh and French business
representatives discussed plans for
further cooperation at the KazakhFrench Business Council meetings
in Astana on Feb.15-16. The French
delegation included 70 businessmen
from top-50 companies. Among them
were such major players as Alstom,
EADS, Total, AREVA, Electricité
de France, Gaz de France, Schneider Electric, Thales, Bouygues and
Sanofi Aventis. The main issues of
the meeting were technology transfer and human resource development
as well as the development of local
content. The delegations also discussed prospects for bilateral business development after Kazakhstan’s
entry into the Customs Union and the
Common Economic Space.
● Germany’s largest listed specialty chemicals group, LANXESS,
and Kazakhstan’s mining group Kazphosphate signed a non-binding
Memorandum of Understanding on
February 8 in the presence of Germany’s Vice-Chancellor and Minister for Economics and Technology Philipp Rösler and Kazakhstan’s
Minister for Industry and New Technologies Aset Issekeshev. According to the Memorandum of Understanding, both parties have agreed to
mutually explore the possibility of
working together in the field of phosphorous-based downstream products
in the future.
● According to results from
2011, Kazakhstan produced 19,450
tonnes of uranium, nine percent
more than in 2010. This means that
more than a third of natural uranium
produced globally, or 35 percent of
the 55,400 tonnes, was mined and
produced in the country. In 2010,
the Kazatomprom national nuclear
company produced 11,079 tonnes of
uranium, or 20 percent of the world’s
production. In addition to production,
Kazatomprom is the national operator of Kazakhstan for exports of uranium and its compounds, rare metals,
nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants,
special purpose equipment, technologies and double-use materials.
● Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s flagship airline, struck the biggest deal
in the history of Kazakhstan’s civil
aviation on February 4 by signing
a contract with The Boeing Company to buy four Boeing 767-300ER
and three Boeing 787 Dreamliner
planes. The total cost of the contract amounts to $1.3 billion. As
explained by Nurzhan Baidauletov,
chairman of the board of Air Astana,
the first Boeing-767 planes will be
shipped by 2013, and the supply of
Boeing-787 aircraft will be provided
by 2017. Negotiations about aircraft
construction for Kazakhstan preceding the deal lasted for five years. The
Boeing 767 winglet-equipped airplanes will replace the same type of
aircraft already operating in Air Astana’s fleet, and gradually replace the
Boeing-757 planes.
● Insurance companies in Kazakhstan collected premiums totaling
22.3 billion tenge in January 2012,
7.7 percent more than in the same
period in 2011. The volume of premiums for compulsory insurance
amounted to KZT 2.9 billion (a decrease of 9.4 percent), on voluntary
personal insurance, 8.4 billion (an
increase of 40 percent), on voluntary
property insurance, 11 billion (a decrease of 3.5 percent).
● The Savings Bank of Russia
opened a credit line of $2 billion for
a period of five years to Kazakhstan’s
metallurgical corporation Eurasian
Natural Resources Corporation Plc
(ENRC). The credit line was opened
for general corporate purposes, including funding the group’s investment
programme. The ENRC is a diversified group in the field of mining and
mineral processing, as well as one of
the largest electricity providers in Kazakhstan. It operates in Kazakhstan,
China, Russia, Brazil and Africa.
Financial Sector Plans to Boost
Investment in Small Businesses
By Gulnaz Kalikhanova
Kazakhstan has always considered the promotion of small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) a
priority that can determine the country’s further economic and political
development.
In his state-of-the-nation address last year, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that by 2014
the share of SMEs in the nation’s
gross domestic product (GDP)
should increase from the current 30
percent to 40 percent. To achieve
this, the country needs to further
improve its financing environment
for businesses. Today, government
subsidies and bank loans remain
the country’s main financial instruments.
Kazakhstan’s leading bank – and
the largest one in Central Asia – Kazkommertsbank – has 14 years experience of success in working with
small businesses. In an interview
with The Astana Times, the bank’s
managing director Adil Batyrbekov
discussed the role the Kazkommertsbank plays in improving the financing environment for SMEs.
In 1998, Kazkommertsbank with
several other banks joined a smallbusiness loan programme supported
by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD).
“This was the beginning of financing entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan, which led to significant development. However, the domestic
banking system was not yet ready to
fully serve the real economy without
losses,” Batyrbekov said.
“In addition, representatives of
SMEs did not have any experience in
high-quality work with banks: most
of them did not conduct a standard financial accounting and had no skills
in preparing business plans. All of
this complicated the banks’ work on
assessing creditworthiness of potential borrowers,” he added.
Therefore, the financial services and techniques that the EBRD
provided for financial institutions
working with entrepreneurs were
timely and of great importance, the
Kazkommertsbank executive said.
“In fact, the bank helped us to create the business lending culture. All
Adil Batyrbekov
in all, together with the EBRD, the
banks contributed greatly to the development of small business in the
country,” he said.
The ERBD completed its programme with Kazkommertsbank in
2005, after which the bank began
to develop own programmes for
SMEs.
Banks in Kazakhstan are often
criticised for their weak financing
for SMEs engaged in manufacturing
and production. However, Batyrbekov said the issue was not a matter
of banks’ preferences, but of their
economic structure.
“Today, about 50 percent of active small businesses are engaged in
trade and services, 14 percent in construction, 12 percent in real estate
operations, and only slightly more
than 10 percent are engaged in industry,” he said. “The lending period
for SMEs to acquire working capital
does not exceed a year, while production requires funding from three
to five years with capital investment
of at least $1 million to $2 million,”
he said.
Therefore, the state has undertaken special programmes to support
SMEs in production such as those
administered by the Damu (Development) Entrepreneurship Development Fund and within the Business
Road Map. When banks were unable
to obtain foreign loans during the
global financial and economic crisis,
the state assumed the role of financing the real economy.
“Measures adopted by the government provided major support for
Kazakhstan businesses, including
SMEs,” Batyrbekov said.
The SMEs “turned out to be the
most vulnerable to changes in market conditions,” he said. Therefore,
“Kazkommertsbank, along with other
major banks, became an operator of
state financing programmes.” This
cooperation and the continuing support from government institutions ensures further sustainable financing of
projects of small and medium-sized,
as well as large businesses, he added.
Kazkommertsbank was one of the
first banks to participate in all major
programmes to support the economy.
The setting up of the Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund that
offered loans to small, medium, and
large businesses (under the so-called
tranches 2, 3 and 4) was the first such
project, Batyrbekov said.
In November 2008, the government issued a set of regulations for
its action plan for 2009 – 2010 to
stabilize the economy and the financial system. Since then, Kazkommertsbank has provided loans under
preferential terms in partnership
with the Samruk-Kazyna National
Welfare Fund, the Damu Fund, and
the Stressed Assets Fund in order to
promote SMEs, Batyrbekov said.
The total amount of funds allocated for the three programmes
amounted to 22.34 billion tenge, including 2.7 billion tenge in the second
tranche, 16 billion tenge in the third
tranche, and 3.64 billion tenge in the
fourth tranche, the bank’s executive
said.
To date, Kazkommertsbank has
returned 4.92 billion tenge of the
third tranche and 1.18 billion tenge
of the second tranche. As for the
fourth tranche, the money has been
placed in the bank under the terms of
a bank deposit,” he said.
By December 1, 2011, Kazkommertsbank had released second
tranche loans amounting to 6.998
billion tenge, third tranche funds
worth 19.743 billion tenge and
fourth tranche funds worth 6.591 billion tnege, Batyrbekov said.
Since September 2011, Kazkommertsbank has participated in
the Investment Programme of the
Asian Development Bank (the ADB
Programme) to promote SMEs. The
Damu Fund has assumed the role of
agent and coordinator for the ADB
Programme. The fund implements
this programme by providing capital
to partner banks under certain conditions to be lent to SMEs.
The total funding for the ADB
programme amounts to $500 million,
or 74 billion tenge. Funding is available in tenge, but the number and
size of the tranches can be changed
by the Asian Development Bank.
“Since 2011, lending to SMEs
has been carried out by means of
the first tranche of the ADB loan
amounting to 22.2 billion tenge. This
loan is unique as it is the first loan in
Kazakhstan attracted from international financial institution in tenge:
This eliminates the risks of loss due
to foreign exchange and interest rate
differences,” Batyrbekov said.
Kazkommertsbank is one of the
partner banks to administer funds
from the first tranche as it received
7.4 billion tenge from the ADB.
Batyrbekov also discussed another major state programme to support the economy called the Business
Road Map – 2020. This programme
is one of the mechanisms of the state
Programme of Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development
(PAIID) in the period 2010-2014.
Kazkommertsbank implements
this programme in three directions,
Batyrbekov said. “First, it supports
new business initiatives by providing government funding for new
projects,” he said. “The programme
includes interest rate subsidies on
loans at a rate of seven percent per
annum and partial security on new
loans granted for investment projects
to modernize and expand production,
as well as loans to refinance loans
taken after January 1, 2010.”
The second direction boosts the
business sector by supporting entrepreneurs facing difficulties in repaying loans and paying their taxes. This
part of the programme includes interest rate subsidies on existing loans
at a rate of five percent per year and
extends the period of tax payment
for up to three years, the Kazkommertsbank chief said.
“Third, the bank provides support for entrepreneurs whose foreign
exchange earnings constitute more
than 10 percent of the total cash receipts for the relevant financial year
in order to reduce exchange risks
of entrepreneurs,” Batyrbekov said.
The programme provides interest
rate subsidies on existing loans at a
rate of eight percent per annum, he
added.
In terms of subsidy, the loan
amount should not exceed 4.5 billion tenge with the period of subsidy
ranging from one to three years with
the possibility of further extension,
the bank chief said.
“Business representatives implementing investment projects or
working in the priority sectors of the
economy can become participants of
the programme,” he said.
Kazkommertsbank also participates in the Ministry of Agriculture’s
programme to support agricultural
sector projects.
“The amount of loans (or leasing), which are used to subsidise interest rates, cannot exceed 3.5 billion
tenge for one borrower,” Batyrbekov
said. “Subsidies from the national
budget are provided in the amount of
up to 80 percent of an interest rate.
Here, the limited interest rate on the
loans (or leasing) is 20 percent per
annum,” he added.
Interest rates are subsidized for
existing and new loans (or leasing)
for a period of one year, Batyrbekov
said. The purpose of the loan is to
acquire working capital and equipment for manufacturing agricultural
products and refinance previously
received loans, he added.
“According to the preliminary
results of the first eleven months of
2011, the lending of Kazkommertsbank to SMEs has doubled,” Batyrbekov said. “Taking into account
the increased demand for loans from
the SMEs and the retail sector of the
economy, we can expect an intensified growth in lending to this sector
in the near future; however, Kazkommertsbank is constraining this
growth strategy in order to improve
the overall quality of assets,” he concluded.
Arnasay’s Successful Development of Irrigation
Leads to Return of Gardens
By Bakbergen Amalbek
One of projects in the field of industrial and innovative development,
which will significantly change the
appearance of Kazakhstan’s economy, was launched last May in the Arshaly district of the Akmola region.
Its main goal was to implement a
water-efficient irrigation technology
to save water and establish a sustainable system. The foremost support of
the project has been provided by the
Akbota Public Foundation and communities of the district’s six villages. A
total of 16,000 people are involved in
the implementation of the project now.
The project also includes training offered to residents of the three districts
of the Akmola region who are taught
new technology basics and directions
of how to save drinking water.
In the future, the project organisers aim to inform at least 30,000
people living in the villages around
Astana.
“Sometimes mistakes open up
the doors for new beginnings,” Tatyana Nemtsan, the head of Akbota’s
project department, said.
Due to the lack of water, gardens in the villages have disappeared
very fast. In the Arnasai village, for
instance, in 2009 there were 14 hectares of garden areas while in 2010
this area shrank twice. Today, there is
nothing but empty space there.
During the summer when water
discharge from the water reservoir
discontinues, the amount of water
coming to the Arnasay village water
system decreased three times. In addition, this water is not suitable for
irrigation.
According to simple calculations,
every family has to pay US$ 5 for
just 0.12 hectare. This amounts to
US$ 120 a month, and to around US$
400 over the summer season. Water
provision and expensiveness brought
the Arshaly region’s villages to a
deadlock.
This is when the Akbota Public
Foundation made a good effort and
gave support with its brave actions.
During 2009-2010 academic
years, the Akbota Foundation took
charge of two school greenhouses
with an area of 300 square metres
and open area sectors adjacent to the
Vyacheslav Secondary School in the
Arnasay village. As part of an experiment, the foundation introduced new
technology to turn the greenhouse
drip-irrigated.
The Arnasay village also explored the possibility of establishing a school for climate changing on
the basis of the 35-member Young
Farmers School for 10-16 year old
students and introducing a drip irrigation technology to grow vegetables
in villagers’ gardens.
The results of the work which in-
To date, there are 160 greenhouses with drip irrigation
in the Arnasay village.
A school greenhouse with drip irrigation in the village of Arnasay, Akmola region.
volved participation of famous scientists and specialists have proved that
even in the northern part of Kazakhstan water consumption can be reduced by 50% and that productivity
in special areas can be considerably
increased.
The efforts have been welcomed
by the Akmola regional community
and the administration.
The project is worth US$ 155,600,
including US$ 100,000 which will
be asked from the government. The
remaining part is contributed by the
project organisers whose bravery can
be truly commended since the project
has to be completed in one year.
The Akbota Public Foundation
which clearly understands the responsibility of the project has managed to
unite reliable partners in implementing this very important undertaking.
Apart from Young Farmers School
volunteers who are engaged in the
supervised installations, the “Kaisar”
JSC which represents some 300 residents of the Arnasay village are also
actively involved in the project. Since
the living standards in the village are
quite low, they support families with
many children or single parent families by providing them with three
cubic metre water collectors, water
sucking devices and hoses.
To date, there are 160 greenhouses with drip irrigation in the Arnasay
village, another ten experimental
plots have been set up in the villages of Zhibek Zholy, Volgodonovka,
Mikhailovka, the Babatai station, and
Arshaly.
Inspired by the hard work and the
results of the project, a total of eight
workshops have been conducted,
a film featuring the success of the
project, 12 paper journal published in
three languages, a photo exhibition
and two types of calendars showcasing the Arnasay greenhouses have
been produced since. The outcomes
are indeed in tune with efforts put for
the achievement of the Millennium
Goals.
“In 2004, the Akbota Public
Foundation set up at the Vyachaslav
Secondary School in fact happened
to be the pioneer of many excellent
accomplishments,” Arshaly district’s
akim (mayor) Yermek Marzhykbayev
said.
They gave an impetus to the
region’s social-economic development by implementing “Children
Ecological Cultural Formation”,
“Alternative Technology to Increase
Steamed Land Productivity” and
other projects.
The new aims of the Arshaly
community were widely discussed
at a recent regional administration
meeting upon which interested parties and government bodies were
given further tasks.
The drip irrigation technology applied at school, village greenhouses and residents’ gardens is of
significant educational importance.
Undoubtedly, it has also given a new
drive for entrepreneurship.
The holder of the grants from the
Foundation of Kazakhstan’s First
President, the Government of Japan,
and UN small grants, the Akbota indeed should be praised for the aspiration to improve the quality of life,
resilience strength and vitality of
communities in the country.
Cyan Yellow Magenta Black
А6
Monday, 5 March 2012
The Astana Times
editorialS
Building an International Nuclear
Security Edifice
Two years ago the Washington Nuclear Security Summit gathered nearly fifty world leaders
with the goal of raising nuclear security issues to
the highest level.
The summit has since served as a driving
force within governments on the issue and has
helped to foster specific national commitments.
Kazakhstan, for one, has undertaken tangible
steps to improve security in pursuit of the global
objective of securing the world’s vulnerable fissile materials.
First, Kazakhstan has placed a high value on
its commitments. Kazakhstan became one of
the first countries to live
up to its pledge by transporting and safeguarding
nearly 800 bombs’ worth
of fissile material on its
territory. This is an invaluable success in locking
up weapons-usable spent
fuel from a nuclear plant
that the country can now
share with the international community.
Second, last December the country
successfully completed
the blending down of
highly-enriched
uranium from a research
facility in Almaty to
its low-enriched form,
meaning the material no
longer has any use as a
potential component of
a nuclear weapon.
Third, Kazakhstan
has offered to host on
its soil the IAEA’s lowenriched uranium bank in support of the international community’s efforts to create new mechanisms to guarantee safety of the global nuclear
fuel cycle. Kazakhstan is undoubtedly a logical
place to host an international fuel bank. Wellknown for its non-proliferation and disarmament
record, Kazakhstan enjoys wide credibility across
the globe. Equally important is its position as the
world’s top uranium producer. It is also home to a
well-developed nuclear infrastructure with solid
research and production capacity.
Fourth, Kazakhstan recently joined the G8
Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. The
country is determined to play its role in ensuring that nuclear energy is used safely, securely
and peacefully.
Fifth, Astana, the Kazakh capital, hosted a
Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism
in September 2010 and a successful Forum
for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World in Octo-
ber 2011. The events urged the international
community to take actions to reduce the global risks of nuclear weapons and were part of
Kazakhstan’s broader efforts to exercise global leadership on one of its principal foreign
policy themes.
Looking forward to the next Nuclear Security
Summit in Seoul on March 26-27, its goal should
be to move beyond what was agreed to in Wash-
ington rather than simply enumerating the progress
made since the Washington summit.
An ambitious but achievable goal would be to
introduce incentives, including economic preferences, for the commercial nuclear industry to end
the use of highly enriched uranium in civil applications.
The agenda should include the ultimate goal of
reducing the available supply of highly enriched
uranium to zero, which would be a material contribution to international security.
Given the diverse interests of the various governments invited to the
summit, establishing an
international
consensus on nuclear security
measures is difficult.
But in light of the
Fukushima nuclear disaster, it is vital that governments reassess safety
and security policies to
prevent nuclear catastrophes, whether caused by
an accident or a terrorist
act.
Success in this endeavour will require
responsible national actions and effective international cooperation.
The people of Kazakhstan, like few other nations in the world, know
the grim price of failure:
radiation caused by the
Soviet Union’s nuclear
testing poisoned its soil
and sickened hundreds
of thousands.
Looking into the future, Kazakhstan proposes one big idea – to adopt
a UN Comprehensive Declaration of a Nuclear
Weapons-Free World. The document, the country
believes, will set a benchmark for good global citizenship.
As global citizens, we must support governments’ efforts to reduce nuclear arsenals, and ultimately eliminate them. No nation should be complacent about the status quo.
Kazakhstan Celebrates 20 Years
of Partnership with the UN
On March 2, Kazakhstan celebrates the 20th anniversary of its membership in the United Nations.
On that day in 1992 the Republic of Kazakhstan
became a member of the UN with the unanimous
approval of its member states at the 46th Session of
the UN General Assembly.
The United Nations is the only international organization in the world that is truly global in terms
of its membership and the scale of tasks assigned
to it. It seeks to maintain international peace and
security, develop friendly relations among nations,
promote cooperation in solving international problems and respect for human rights. It also serves
as a centre to harmonize the actions of nations to
achieve these goals.
Kazakhstan’s accession to the UN was of great
political significance for the country. It gave the
newly independent nation the opportunity to participate in discussions of global and regional issues and in the process of making important world
decisions.
“The significance of this fact is invaluable: we
not only reaffirmed our commitment to the fundamental principles of international law, but also
came under the protection of the most authoritative
international organization, which carries the major
task of ensuring security in the world,” President
Nursultan Nazarbayev said on this issue.
During its years of membership in the UN, Kazakhstan has successfully integrated into the international community and now participates actively
in all major political and economic developments.
Most of Kazakhstan’s international initiatives,
which are now being successfully implemented,
were first presented from the UN rostrum. These
include convening the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia
(CICA), launching the UN Special Programme for
the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA); and the
proclamation of August 29 as the International Day
against Nuclear Tests.
Important milestones in the growth of Kazakhstan’s cooperation with the United Nations came
with President Nazarbayev’s official visits to UN
headquarters in New York and the his participation
in the annual sessions of the UN General Assembly.
Other important milestones were the visits to Kazakhstan of U.N. Secretary-Generals Kofi Annan in
2002 and Ban Ki-moon in 2010.
Since joining the UN, Kazakhstan has actively
participated in all of its main events and hosted
some of the major international forums held under
its auspices.
Kazakhstan is a member of almost all UN specialized agencies, including the UN Functional
Commissions on Population and Development, on
Narcotic Drugs, and on Sustainable Development.
Kazakhstan participates in two UN Regional Commissions (ECE and ESCAP) and is a member of
the UNEP Governing Council, and the Executive
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Boards of UNICEF, UNESCO, the UN-Women,
the Committee for Programme and Coordination
and the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer
Space (COPUOS).
Kazakhstan’s prominent politician and diplomat Kassym-Jomart Tokayev became UN Deputy
Secretary General and Director General of the United Nations Office in Geneva (UNOG) in 2011. His
appointment confirmed Kazakhstan’s active role in
global affairs and the faith and trust that a young
country has earned from the world community.
The United Nations has recognized Kazakhstan’s leading role in the field of nuclear disarmament and in strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime. Kazakhstan enjoys authority in
the world because it unilaterally closed one of the
world’s largest nuclear test sites at Semipalatinsk
and because it voluntarily renounced the world’s
fourth largest nuclear arsenal which it inherited
from the Soviet Union.
It is symbolic that the International Forum for
a Nuclear Weapon-Free World held in Astana and
Semey on October 12-13, 2011 was dedicated to
the 20th anniversary of the closing of the Semipalatinsk test site.
Cooperation between Kazakhstan and the
United Nations in the field of ecology is steadily
growing, especially on issues of climate protection,
prevention of desertification, trans-boundary air
pollution, biodiversity preservation and protecting
the marine environment of the Caspian Sea.
Kazakhstan attaches great importance to cooperating with the UN to protect and promote human rights. The country has successfully passed
the procedure of the Universal Periodic Review,
and submitted to the appropriate UN bodies its
National Reports on the Implementation of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights.
Kazakhstan is committed to its obligations
to achieve the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and has already fulfilled several of them.
Kazakhstan has also begun to implement the
MDGs Plus agenda: The country’s priority issues
in this programme are to reduce poverty and unemployment, maternal and child mortality, achieve
sustainable development, improve the environment,
prevent HIV/AIDS and support gender equality.
Since February 1992, UN representations have
been actively working in Kazakhstan. The Resident
Coordinator heads the so-called ‘UN team’ in the
country, which is now represented by 15 organizations. They provide significant support to the government of Kazakhstan in addressing social, environmental and other issues.
These UN bodies are involved in developing
and implementing government and donor projects
to train professionals in different fields. They also
advise the Government of Kazakhstan on market re-
forms, administrative reforms, sustainable development, and rehabilitating the environmentally-damaged regions of Semipalatinsk and the Aral Sea.
UN agencies also address water supply issues
in remote settlements and help with public health
development in disadvantaged areas where they
help to combat the spread of viral infections, including HIV/AIDS.
Kazakhstan’s partnerships with the UN are now
rising to a new level of cooperation. The country is
moving from the category of a national recipient of
international aid to that of donor. This transformation has been marked by significant one-off contributions to other help other nations and the evolving
plans to create of the KazAid Agency.
The country’s cooperation with the United Nations is currently carried out in accordance with
the UN Development Assistance Framework
2010-2015 Programme.
Kazakhstan has submitted an initiative to establish a major UN Regional Centre for Multilateral Cooperation in Almaty.
“We have big plans for our further cooperation
with the UN. President Nursultan Nazarbayev has
set the goal of developing Almaty as a major regional centre for international financial and business activity. The Government’s plans to establish
a Centre for Multilateral Diplomacy in this southern city are very much in line with this task,” Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov
said on February 15 in a message for a conference
in Almaty that celebrated Kazakhstan’s two decades of UN membership.
“We have all necessary conditions to do this,”
the foreign minister said. “There are 26 representative offices of international organizations working in Almaty today and 15 of them belong to the
UN system.”
“Giving Almaty UN regional branch status
would contribute to the implementation of larger
scale regional projects which serve to strengthen
cooperation in Central Asia. It could also give
an impetus to the process of engaging the wider
region in the development assistance orbit,” Kazykhanov said.
The United Nations is relevant today like it has
never been before and there is no alternative to it.
It is obvious that only under the UN auspices can
the mankind develop collective and effective responses to global challenges. It is in the common
interests of the world to work towards strengthening the UN as the most important global treasure.
It is then in Kazakhstan’s interests that the UN
remains an effective and dynamic organization to
maintain international peace and security and to
promote the progress and prosperity of the community of nations. It is given this fundamental understanding that Kazakhstan should and plans to
continue its active participation in all aspects of
the UN’s activities.
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Having High Hopes for
Peace in Afghanistan
By Omirtai Bitimov
My appointment as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador
to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
was the continuation of my diplomatic
career which has been closely linked to
that nation.
My acquaintance with Afghanistan
started in the 1980s when I worked at
the Embassy of the Soviet Union in Kabul, and later at the Soviet Consulate
General in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
After Kazakhstan gained its independence and statehood, I worked at our
Embassy in Ankara. During that posting
in 1993, I interpreted for President Nursultan Nazarbayev from the Dari language during his meeting with Afghan
President of the interim government
Burhanuddin Rabbani on the sidelines
of the summit meeting of the Economic
Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Istanbul.
Later I headed the division for Middle East and Africa of the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan and was in charge
of Kazakhstan-Afghan relations.
In 2010 I was appointed as the Ambassador-at-Large and Special Representative of Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry in Afghanistan, and dealt with the
issues of Kazakhstan’s participation in
the peace reconciliation in Afghanistan
at the international level.
Over all those years, I closely followed the developments in Afghanistan
that sometimes did not reflect the policy
line of the country’s leadership and were
not in the best interests of its people. In
most cases, Afghan society fell victim
to the “experiments” and political intrigues of foreign actors.
During this time the Afghan people
have experienced the rule of the People’s Democratic Party, the Taliban and
the Mujahedeen, and starting from 2001
– the counterterrorist operations of the
U.S.-led international coalition.
The country suffered significant human and material losses; nearly six million Afghans have been forced to flee
their homes as refugees. The society is
tired of a 30-year civil war and deserves
expeditious changes for the better.
In order to improve the situation
in the country and in line with the decision of the Bonn Conference and the
subsequent conferences on Afghanistan
of 2001-2011, the current Afghan government in cooperation with the international community is taking concrete
steps in this direction.
As a result, Afghanistan has democratically elected a parliament where
the number of women reaches 30 percent. Non-governmental organisations,
or NGOs have been created, including
those advocating the rights of women,
young people and others and various
political and cultural centres.
However, the so-called peace process is rather equivocal. Its most controversial process is the negotiations with
the Taliban movement. In particular, the
talks over presumable legal recognition
of the Taliban and their rise to power
have strengthened the idea of a federative Afghanistan. But the current Afghan government thinks this may lead
to a new wave of opposition.
Despite all this, the spheres of private entrepreneurship are gradually
emerging, while the national infrastructure, including transport and communications, is improving. The health care
system and social services are growing
stronger; education and culture are also
developing.
In 2011, the first group of highly
qualified government officials and businessmen graduated from the American
University of Afghanistan established
with the support of the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID).
The Istanbul process of regional cooperation in the Heart of Asia is gathering pace: Its agenda will be considered
during the ministerial meeting in Kabul
on June 11, 2012 where the Kabul declaration will be adopted.
Despite some serious differences
between the countries involved in the
settlement of the Afghan conflict, an
international conference on Afghanistan
was successfully held on December 5,
2011 in Bonn, Germany. Each of the
participants assured Kabul of its support. Afghanistan, together with the
world community, has started working
to achieve a new stage of its development through to 2024.
In particular, steps have been taken
to conduct peaceful negotiations with
the armed opposition represented by the
Taliban movement. To this end, the Supreme Council of Afghanistan has been
established and has already started its
work. The Afghan government agreed
to open a Taliban political office in Qatar, which may lead to their recognition
as a political and military partner and
accession of their representatives into
the ruling circles of Afghanistan.
In November 2011, a Loya Jirga
(Grand Council) was successfully held.
The participants supported the peace
process and the signing of the Agreement on strategic partnership between
the Afghan Government and the United
States.
The legal basis for long-term cooperation with the leading countries
of the world, stipulating the presence
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The Astana Times, and reference must be made to “The Astana Times”.
The Astana Times is printed at “Astana Poligraphia” JSC, 87 Brusilovski
Street, Astana.
of foreign experts and military men in
Afghanistan, was created on the basis
of Agreements on strategic partnership
with India, Britain, Italy and France
and later with the European Union. An
agreement with the United States is currently under consideration. This should
promote the maintenance of peace and
national accord in Afghanistan.
Another positive aspect in the social
and political life of Afghanistan is the
settlement of a political crisis that arose
from a conflict between the executive
and legislative branches about the election to the National Assembly in 2010.
At the same time Afghanistan is suffering the consequences of fratricidal
war and intertribal clashes. The Afghan
government faces challenges related to
the reconstruction of the national economy, the creation of an effective army
and law enforcement bodies and the
improvement of living standards of the
common people.
The transfer of responsibility over
ensuring security in the territories controlled by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to local authorities is rather painful. For these are not
ready to solve the issues of this kind.
The fight against drug trafficking has
not yet produced the desired results.
The Afghan government is still dependent on external financing and, above all,
that received from the United States.
As a responsible member of the
international community Kazakhstan
is actively involved in the Afghan settlement. In November 2011, Astana
provided a dialogue platform for a regular session of the International Contact
Group of Special Representatives on Afghanistan. An Educational Programme
for free training of Afghan youth in the
universities of Kazakhstan is under way.
To date, the total number of students involved amounts to 367.
Kazakhstan has allocated funds for
rendering humanitarian aid. As a result
of our efforts, the Taloqan–Kunduz–
Shirkhan–Bandar highway has been reconstructed and a new high school and a
hospital are to be constructed this year.
An office of Kazakhstan’s Chamber
of Commerce and Industry has opened
its doors in Kabul. The Intergovernmental Commission on trade and economic
cooperation is fully operational.
In line with the New Silk Road initiative, Kazakhstan is considering the
possibility of its participation in joint
projects in Afghanistan.
Great hopes are pinned on the 5th
Conference on Regional Economic Cooperation in Afghanistan (RECCA-V)
on March 26-27 in Dushanbe and the
International Conference on Economic
Development of the Islamic Relief Afghanistan (IRA) in Tokyo in July.
The political process in Afghanistan is objectively irreversible. During
all these years, the Afghan society has
changed significantly, including the
Taliban, representing the armed opposition to the official Kabul government.
The former Afghan Mujahedeen do not
represent a united coalition, like the
Northern Alliance used to be. Moreover,
the former associates are torn apart by
political and economic controversies.
However, there are no ways back to the
confrontation.
Even if external forces help the
Taliban to rise to power, obviously not
through a political transfer of power,
their participation in the governance
will be still limited. Undoubtedly, the
present government will have to give
their opponents a number of posts in
the central and local government. The
Taliban are not the same: they will now
come, as stated by some observers,
wearing ties.
All the above mentioned facts instill
significant optimism for the future restoration and development of Afghanistan
with the assistance of the international
community, including Kazakhstan.
I personally hope that I will soon
witness the normalization of the situation in Afghanistan, which will strengthen multilateral cooperation between our
countries.
Many years ago I witnessed the Soviet invasion into Afghanistan, and later
during my second diplomatic mission
I saw the withdrawal of Soviet troops,
and the subsequent coming to power of
the Mujahedeen. Now I hope that during my tour in Kabul this time around
the troops of the international coalition
led by the United States will withdraw
and the Afghan people will finally be
able to determine their own destiny.
The author is Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan.
The Astana Times is registered by the Ministry of Communications and
Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan under the registration number
N 11208-G of 1 November 2010.
The newspaper is typed and made into pages at the computer centre of “Kazakhstanskaya Pravda”. Published monthly, the size
of 8 pages.
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The Astana Times
Monday, 5 March 2012
opinions
UNIDO Is Well Placed to Support
Kazakhstan in Its Development
By Kandeh K. Yumkella
The United National Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO)
congratulates Kazakhstan on making
impressive economic and social advances over the past 20 years. UNIDO is pleased to have collaborated
with t Kazakhstan during this period
of rapid change.
Cooperation between UNIDO
and Kazakhstan began in 1995 with
a number of small-scale projects in
various industrial sectors and since
then cooperation has expanded significantly. Currently, UNIDO is
working closely with the Government of Kazakhstan to consolidate
the progress already made and to
develop new programmes to support
diversification and modernization of
the economic base of the country.
UNIDO is well placed to support
Kazakhstan in its development efforts
at various levels. At the strategic level,
the focus is on generating the necessary knowledge for industrial diversification strategies and governance
mechanisms to coordinate their implementation. At the functional level,
the emphasis is on promoting a business environment that is conducive
towards entrepreneurship, development of small and medium enterprises
(SMEs), investment in new industries
and environmentally-friendly technologies. At the sectoral level, there is
considerable technical knowledge that
can be leveraged from UNIDO work
in agri-food, textiles, leather, pharmaceuticals, and automotive industries.
Kazakhstan has made remarkable progress since independence. The
economy recorded double-digit growth
throughout most of the past decade;
GDP per capita and life expectancy
have risen; hundreds of billions of dollars have flowed in through foreign direct investment; and the economy is the
largest in the region. Kazakhstan is now
considered an upper middle-income
country that has significantly improved
its human development ranking.
The extractive industries and energy producing industrial sector are at
the core of this growth, generating the
bulk of FDI opportunities and export
earnings. At the same time, manufacturing and SMEs are hindered by a
number of challenges. A needs assessment of Kazakh industries, conducted
by UNIDO in collaboration with the
Kazakhstan Industry Development Institute (KIDI), stressed the importance
of increasing competitiveness and
trade capacity, and supporting stronger regional and international industrial
cooperation for economic diversification. Economic and industrial diversification is necessary for the creation
of new jobs, and is a precondition in
order to reduce the vulnerability of the
economy to external economic shocks
such as the global economic crisis and
commodity price fluctuations.
Backed by a strong resource base,
a skilled workforce and supported
by numerous national programmes,
Kazakh SMEs have great economic
potential in industrial development.
The Government has launched several policy initiatives to support SME
development, such as the DAMU
Entrepreneurship Development Fund
(DAMU Fund) to promote productive SMEs through the Centre for
Development of Industrial Enterprise
(CDIE). In 2010, the DAMU Fund
requested UNIDO assistance in improving the overall competitiveness of
industrial SMEs through the provision
of market extension services such as
training and information sharing, and
professional support in the acquisition
of high-tech equipment from abroad.
UNIDO has also worked with Kazakhstan on a regional Trade CapacityBuilding for Economic Cooperation
Organization project to help SMEs
meet international standards.
Kazakhstan is an active participant of the UNIDO regional project
to support the deepening of regional
economic integration between countries of the Eurasian Economic Community. This would facilitate investment and technology flows between
countries in the region, contributing
to the development of the common
market and integration into the global
economy. Following a request in 2011,
UNIDO has initiated the establishment
of the UNIDO Centre for International
Industrial Cooperation (CIIC) in Kazakhstan to support this initiative.
Energy diversification is also a
joint focus of cooperation between
Kazakhstan and UNIDO. Due to substantial reserves of oil, gas and coal,
the energy sector is one of the most
developed sectors of the economy,
but Kazakhstan also has significant
potential for hydro, solar and wind energy. Renewables currently represent a
small part of Kazakhstan’s energy balance, but the development of carbonfree energy is an important pillar of the
national energy strategy, and UNIDO
is well placed to support Kazakhstan
in these efforts. The 1999 Energy Sector Development Programme sets out
Kazakhstan’s energy policy, with the
main goal of achieving self-sufficiency
in energy resources, through a combination of energy efficiency of existing
and new power plants, and increasing
use of renewable energy.
On a personal level, cooperation between Kazakhstan and UNIDO has been
strengthened thanks to visits of highranking representatives from UNIDO
to Kazakhstan and personal contacts established in the country. In July 2010, I
participated in the 3rd Astana Economic
Forum, where I met government representatives and held inspiring discussions
regarding their vision for Kazakhstan.
This experience has strengthened my
confidence that we are on the right path
towards expanding our collaboration
and achieving Kazakhstan’s ambition of
economic growth based on sustainable
industrial development.
The author is Director General of
UNIDO.
Elections: Did Nazarbayev
Deserve Victory?
By Ramesh Bhan
The Jan. 15 elections in Kazakhstan have once again established
that the country’s founding President Nursultan Nazarbayev is an
undisputed leader holding complete
sway over the masses.
The elections in which the President’s Nur Otan Party won a landslide
80 per cent of the votes clearly prove
that Nazarbayev has no opposition.
Rightly so, it was Nazarbayev who led
the country to its present status in global affairs during the past two decades
after its independence from the then
Soviet Union in 1991.
In the elections, Nur Otan won 83
seats, the Democratic Party of Kazakhstan ‘Ak Zhol’ secured 8 while the
Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan got 7 seats. According to the
Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan (CEC), the voter registers in the
republic enrolled 9,303,693 citizens, of
them 7,018,927 people or 75.4% took
part in the voting.
After the election, President
Nazarbayev announced his post-poll
priorities. One of the key goals is to
continue political modernization of the
society in Kazakhstan.
“We will go forward with the
reform of law enforcement bodies,
particularly of the judicial system.
We will continue to fight corruption
with no compromise. This is a new
stage in the political development of
the country. We will work with all
parties in a constructive way. We
will further strengthen inter-ethnic
and interdenominational accord,”
the President said.
Another priority is a large scale
social modernization aimed at further
increasing citizens’ wealth.
One might raise questions about
the authenticity of the elections – were
these truly democratic if the Parliament
is anyway dominated by Nur Otan?
Many independent observers have
raised certain objections. But some
others have praised the way elections
were held.
In any case, President Nazarbayev
who has steered Kazakhstan to becoming the richest country in Central Asia,
truly deserves to be at the helm because
prima facie, it seems he alone can lead
the nation in the face of challenges that
Kazakhstan and the rest the world are
facing.
Considering the violence in the oil
town of Zhanaozen in December 2011
or the demonstrations against Vladimir
Putin in neighbouring Russia, Kazakhstan can possibly see its own share
of problems in the future, mainly because of its wealth and key geographic
position.
Moreover, unrest across the borders
always spills over to the nearest neighbouring state – in the form of refugees
or trouble-makers. In this case, Kazakhstan is a soft-target.
Even neighbouring Afghanistan,
where the danger of Al Qaida terrorism
still looms large, confronts Kazakhstan
as a major challenge.
Under such circumstances, President Nazarbayev provides a strong alternative. Even if one goes by the theory that President Nazarbayev controls
the country with an authoritarian hand,
the 75 per cent turnout in the January
15 elections, clearly prove that people
want him to steer their destinies.
Kazakhstan – Central Asia’s suc-
cess story – is a relatively new country
that emerged on the global scene only
in 1991. A young country with enough
to lure people has to be protected in
its infancy just like an infant has to be
from predators. This is always a hard
reality in international affairs where
nascent nations have to guard against
neo-colonialism – they want to have
their own separate flag, OK let them,
but control their resources and therefore, their economies. It is a hard reality in international politics that has,
unfortunately, become the norm.
Most nations do it to protect their
new-found freedom. India opened its
economy only about 50 years after its
independence, once it was politically
ready to take on the world.
From my experience as an international observer of a previous election
in Kazakhstan, I could see overwhelming support for President Nazarbayev’s
Nur Otan Party. Most of the voters – in
almost all age groups – voiced support
for President Nazarbayev’s policies.
Opposition parties including the Communist People’s Party did not even
have proper election manifestos and it
appeared they were contesting against
Nur Otan to fulfil a formality. In that
context too, there was no alternative to
Nur Otan.
If the history of elections to the
Majlis and the Senate ever since the
country was born is any indication, Nur
Otan has always had its sway.
In 2004, President Nazarbayev’s
Otan Party won a landslide. Two other
parties considered sympathetic to the
President won most of the remaining
seats while opposition parties bagged
a single seat.
In 2005, Nazarbayev was re-elect-
ed in a landslide victory with over 90
per cent votes.
In 2007, elections to the Majlis or
the Lower House, were held and a coalition led by the ruling Nur Otan won
every seat with 88 per cent votes. None
of the opposition parties reached the
benchmark of 7 per cent.
In 2011, Nazarbayev was re-elected for a five-year term as Kazakhstan’s
President with 95.54 percent votes in
an election where 89.9 percent voters
exercised their franchise.
Whatever the criticisms and challenges, Nazarbayev has been successful in making the country politically
and economically stable. He has taken
Kazakhstan to the place in two decades
where no other Central Asian nation
has been able to reach, even though
all became independent at around the
same time in history.
Nazarbayev’s vision for 2030, his
tight-rope diplomacy of maintaining
a balance between the West and the
Islamic World and at the same time, a
tough stand against terrorism and religious extremism present a picture of
a no-nonsense politician who will not
compromise with anything when it
comes to national interests. Some may
justify West’s criticism of his rule. But
democracy has its own perils and has to
be handled with care and caution or else
it becomes a burden instead of a boon.
The author is a special (diplomatic)
correspondent of United News of India,
New Delhi (India).
Employment Programme - 2020:
Results of Last Year and Coming Innovations
By Birzhan Nurymbetov
The Employment Programme2020 this year promises to engage
more than 200,000 people in Kazakhstan. This initiative will not only
solve personnel problems, however: .
according to its drafters, it will close
the staff shortfall in the so-called
“points of growth”. Last year was a
pilot for the programme.
In 2009-2010, the government
implemented the “Road map” for
employment, the essence of which
was to take measures to address
the short-term employment crisis.
These measures followed common
practice. Considerable state funds
were allotted for large scale work on
reconstruction and repair of social
structures important for the population – educational, health care, culture and sports facilities; housing
and communal services’ facilities;
local roads; and settlements. This, in
turn, was the source of new jobs.
These steps to improve infrastructure, in addition to other employment
measures, had a positive impact on
the sustainable development of our
businesses and the requirements for
local content in the procurement of
goods and services ensured support
for thousands of local enterprises –
and sustained jobs.
The “Road map” solved two
problems at once: providing employment for the population through additional jobs and creating conditions
for sustainable post-crisis development. And this strategy in the crisis
fully justified itself: hundreds of
thousands of social jobs, vacancies
for youth, and practice opportunities for graduates who had difficulty
in obtaining their first professional
experience, were opened. Everyone
who wanted to acquire new skills,
change professions, or improve his
or her competitiveness in the labour
market, was given the opportunity to
learn free of charge.
Over a period of two years,
these measures involved more than
740,000 people in Kazakhstan; due
to them we maintained stability in
the labour market and also reduced
the unemployment rate from 6.9 to
5.6 percent.
Today we face a somewhat differ-
ent challenge, a large-scale and complex task: the provision of sustainable
employment.
A new Employment Programme2020 set the challenge to develop
human potential for industrial and innovative programmes along with the
involvement of our citizens in productive economic activity.
Approved by the government, in
2011 it was implemented in a pilot
mode because it was necessary to test
its new mechanisms and approaches
in practice.
Among the results of the pilot programme is that 58,600 people, 60 percent
of whom are young people under the age
of 29, signed social contracts. The latter is
one of the innovations of the programme,
i.e. the document that secures mutual obligations of the parties, aimed primarily at
increasing the responsibility of the state.
The author is Deputy Minister of
Labour and Social Protection
Kazakhstan-UN Ties:
Solid Basis for Future
By Birganym Aitimova
Kazakhstan became a full-fledged
member of the United Nations on March
2, 1992, two and a half months after
gaining its independence. Throughout
the years of independence, our country
has always remained the epicenter of
stability and predictability both at the
international and regional level. The
credit for this should undoubtedly go to
President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who
pursues consecutive and constructive
policy to ensure the development of the
country.
Having joined the United Nations,
Kazakhstan committed itself to promote
and protect the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, as well as to respect
the purposes and principles of the UN
Charter in order to enter the international
community decently and participate in
its further work as an integral part of the
global organisation. However, in addition to commitments, our country gained
the right to fully integrate into the international community and get assistance
from the UN in implementing reforms
required for early formation of a young
independent state.
Kazakhstan became the 168th
member state of the United Nations. At
present, the UN embraces 193 countries
of the world. Incidentally, in June 2011
Southern Sudan became the 193rd country to join the United Nations.
From the first days of its accession
to the UN, Kazakhstan has been actively
involved in the work of the organisation,
promoting its strategic interests on the
international arena and advancing initiatives to strengthen international peace
and security while seeking solutions to
important social and economic problems
on the global and regional scale.
On average, the agenda of each session of the UN General Assembly involves 170 items, and the Kazakhstan
delegation usually makes nearly 100
statements on various items.
During each session, we co-author a
number of important resolutions. At the
previous 65th session of the UN General
Assembly, Kazakhstan co-authored 39
resolutions. At the current 66th session,
Kazakhstan was engaged into drawing
up 42 resolutions addressing the full
range of UN activities.
Actively addressing the UN agenda,
Kazakhstan pays special attention to a
number of priorities within the framework of its cooperation with the Organisation.
Nuclear disarmament remains one
of our major priorities. The voluntary
renunciation of nuclear weapons and the
closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test
site on August 29, 1991 by the presidential decree is an unquestionable contribution of our country to the international
nuclear disarmament. Symbolically, in
2010, almost 20 years after the closure
of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site,
the UN General Assembly declared 29
August as the International Day against
Nuclear Tests.
The Treaty creating a zone free of
nuclear weapons in Central Asia and
signed by five Central Asian states in
the city of Semey entered into force in
March 2009, becoming a significant
contribution of Kazakhstan into international and regional security. Kazakhstan
initiated the development of a regional
action plan to strengthen nuclear security, prevent nuclear proliferation and fight
nuclear terrorism in Central Asia.
Furthermore, our work is aimed at
attracting the attention of the international community to efforts on elimination of nuclear test effects at the Semipalatinsk test site. Since 1997, the UN
has adopted six resolutions on “International cooperation and coordination
for the human and ecological rehabilitation and economic development of the
Semipalatinsk region of Kazakhstan”.
The sixth resolution was adopted at the
current 66th session of the UN General
Assembly.
Another important priority for Kazakhstan at the UN is the promotion of ethnic and religious tolerance. Our country
belongs to the Group of Friends of the
Alliance of Civilizations, created under
the auspices of the UN and comprising
more than 80 countries and international
organizations.
Kazakhstan also initiated the proclamation of the year 2010 as the International Year for the Rapprochement of
Cultures. In the nearest future, the UN
will start its preparation for the International Decade for the Rapprochement
of Cultures, the Recommendation on
which was adopted by UNESCO last
summer and was similarly initiated by
Kazakhstan.
Strengthening trade and transit-transport potential of the landlocked
countries is an important aspect of our
activity in the UN. The adoption of the
Almaty Declaration and Almaty Action
plan in 2003 that are still relevant today
has created a legal framework for international cooperation in this field.
Kazakhstan is actively involved in
the fight against human trafficking. We
took an active part in the development
of the UN Global Plan of Action against
Trafficking in Persons adopted by the
UN General Assembly in 2010.
Kazakhstan cooperates with the UN
Security Council Open Debate, as well as
other UN agencies on a range of important issues. The latter include the United
Nations Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC), UNICEF, UN-Women and
a number of other structures.
The most important event in the
history of the UN, the Conference on
Sustainable Development or the socalled “Rio +20,” will take place in June
2012. It will result in a document that
will define further measures to achieve
global sustainable development. The
main task of Kazakhstan’s Permanent
Mission to the UN is to make sure this
final document includes references to
the need to develop a Global energy and
environmental strategy for sustainable
development, proposed by President
Nazarbayev.
Informing the international community about Kazakhstan’s initiatives in
various fields is an important element of
the Permanent Mission’s work. The mission has circulated the President’s stateof-the-nation address as UN General Assembly’s official documents three times.
Kazakhstan participates in the work
of various UN bodies. We have been
elected to ECOSOC, the Executive
Council of the UN Environment Programme, the Commission on Sustainable Development, the Commission on
Population and Development, the Committee for Programme and Coordination,
the Commission on Narcotic Drugs,
the Executive Boards of UNICEF and
UNESCO, and the Commission on the
Status of Women.
Kazakhstan’s Permanent Representatives to the UN have been elected VicePresidents of various sessions of the UN
General Assembly four times.
In the early 2012, Kazakhstan has
been elected a member of the Office of
the UNICEF Executive Board for one
year. The election of Kazakhstan’s representative, Professor Marat Sarsembayev,
a member of the Committee on Human
Rights in January 2012 is also an important achievement.
Kazakhstan conscientiously pays
contributions to the Organisation’s regular budget, for peacekeeping operations,
and for the work of international criminal tribunals. In 2011, Kazakhstan has
contributed U.S. $ 3,104,000 to the common budget.
In addition, Kazakhstan makes
voluntary contributions to implementation of projects, as well as to various
UN funds and programmes. In 2011,
our country has provided financial support to the UN in the amount of U.S. $
670,000.
About twenty citizens of Kazakhstan
are working in different bodies of the UN
system and are involved in such areas of
the Organisation’s work as peacemaking, development, fight against drugs,
budget issues, conference facilities, and
communications and information technology.
We also take pride in the fact that
President Nazarbayev’s project to nominate Kazakhstan’s representative to
one of the highest positions in the UN
has been successfully implemented.
For the first time in history, our fellow
countryman Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev
has taken the position of a UN Deputy
Secretary General. He is also Director
General of the UN Office at Geneva and
Secretary General of the Conference
on Disarmament. His appointment was
proof of Kazakhstan representative’s
high professional and political level, as
well as recognition of the authority of
our state and its leadership.
In the future, Kazakhstan will continue to use opportunities offered by the
UN to minimize and overcome the negative economic and humanitarian consequences of technological and environmental disasters such as the drying of the
Aral Sea and Lake Balkhash, radioactive
contamination of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, pollution of drinking water
sources, as well as their total reduction,
including due to melting glaciers and climate change.
Solving humanitarian problems,
including reducing poverty, improving
healthcare, lowering maternal and child
mortality will also remain priorities.
In this regard, particular attention will
be paid to effective measures to timely
achieve the Millennium Development
Goals and the principles of sustainable
development.
Kazakhstan’s commitment to its obligations to achieve these objectives and
principles will remain the cornerstone of
further expansion of cooperation between
our country and the United Nations.
The author is Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan
to the United Nations.
Cyan Yellow Magenta Black
The Astana Times
А8
Monday, 5 March 2012
Nation & Eurasia
Human Rights, Disarmament Should Be
UN Priorities, FM Says in Geneva
From Page A1
“We are a stable and prosperous country, at peace with ourselves and with our neighbours,”
Kazykhanov said, adding that the
country is determined to use its
influence wherever it can to help
find solutions to international
problems.
Through Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization
of Islamic Cooperation, over 500
million dollars have been raised to
help tackle the devastating famine
in Somalia. Kazakhstan has contributed half a million dollars, Kazykhanov said.
“I am pleased to say that last
year, at a meeting in Astana, it was
decided to establish an OIC Independent Permanent Commission
on Human Rights,” he noted. “We
hope that this body will strengthen
the institutional foundations of
civil society in the Muslim world
and that there can be some fruitful
co-operation with the UNHRC.”
Speaking on the situation in
Syria, Kazykhanov said the Kazakhstan Government remains convinced “that diplomatic measures
for a peaceful settlement there
have not been exhausted and that
we must step up efforts to prevent
any escalation of civil war.”
Speaking at the plenary session of the Conference on Disarmament on Feb. 28, Kazykhanov
said that although the year of 2011
was marked by positive trends in
the global processes of disarmament and non-proliferation, “the
lack of substantive work of the
Conference on Disarmament over
the past sixteen years continues to
cause concern.”
“We believe this distinguished
body should be at the forefront
of the disarmament process,” he
added.
Kazakhstan considers nuclear
disarmament, the negotiations
over the Fissile Material Cutoff
Treaty (FMCT), the provision of
negative security assurances, and
the prevention of an arms race in
outer space to be the four key issues equally critical for the work
of the Disarmament Conference.
“Each of them is important and
requires a collective action. In our
view, we should start, as soon as
possible, our work on all of them,
concurrently,” the Kazakh Foreign
Minister said.
Kazakhstan, which has vol-
Foreign Minister Visits
Washington, Brussels to Strengthen
Dialogue with US, Europe
From Page A1
Kazykhanov and Clinton also decided to transform the mechanism of
bilateral political consultations into the
Kazakhstan–U.S. Strategic Partnership Commission as the most suitable
body to coordinate the increasing level
and content of the interaction between
the two countries. The two foreign ministers reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen
dialogues on Afghanistan, democratization, and cooperation in security and
nonproliferation, as well as energy,
trade and investment. They also agreed
that the United States will continue to
remain among Kazakhstan’s major investors and trade partners.
Kazykhanov and Clinton also exchanged views on democratic developments in Kazakhstan. They agreed that
the January 15 election for the Majilis
of the Parliament of Kazakhstan which
resulted in the creation of a multi-party
polity was an important step forward in
Kazakhstan’s political development.
Clinton also praised President
Nazarbayev’s decision to hold the
parliamentary elections in Zhanaozen
even though it was under emergency
rule at the time. She also expressed
support for Kazakhstan’s commitment
to an open and transparent investigation of the tragic events of December
2011.
Finally, the foreign minister and
the secretary of state discussed how
to further expand educational ties and
scientific and technological cooperation between the universities and research institutes of both countries.
As part of his visit, Kazykhanov
also participated in the Atlantic Council Conference dedicated to the twentieth anniversary of Kazakhstan’s
independence and Kazakhstan-US
relations.
In his remarks, Kazykhanov discussed Kazakhstan’s achievements in
economics, politics, and foreign relations over the past 20 years. “Kazakhstan especially treasures its close and
warm alliance with the United States,”
he said. “Our partnership is wide and
deep. The U.S. was the first nation to
establish diplomatic relations with the
new Republic of Kazakhstan 20 years
ago. And in September 2010, the Department of State said, ‘Kazakhstan is
the only country in Central Asia, with
which the US has such a vast and saturated agenda of bilateral cooperation.’
That’s still true today.”
“Kazakhstan shares many of the
same foreign policy goals as the United States,” the foreign minister said.
“Like you, we are interested in nuclear
non-proliferation, combating extremism and terrorism, and achieving energy security. We both also endorse
the New Silk Road initiative that will
make economic and roadway connections between South and Central Asia
and Afghanistan – very much like the
Great Silk Road of ancient times.” Kazykhanov also highlighted common achievements in economic cooperation. “Trade is booming between
our two countries,” he said. “In the first
10 months of 2011, commodity sales
between us rose 27 percent to $2.2 billion. Since 1993, direct investment by
the United States into Kazakhstan has
totalled $20 billion. And there is plenty
of potential for more.”
During a special ceremony held in
Kazakhstan’s embassy in Washington,
Kazykhanov presented state awards,
dedicated to the twentieth anniversary of independence, to prominent
Americans who have contributed significantly to the strengthening of the
Kazakhstan – American ties.
“The visit by Yerzhan Kazykhanov
to Washington, DC, has shown the development of the western vector of
Kazakhstan’s foreign policy,” Bolat
Sultanov, director of the Kazakhstan
Institute of Strategic Studies explained.
“It has also shown that, however much
Astana develops ties with its territorial
neighbours, it also feels it important to
promote ties with the world’s leading
power, the United States.”
“In its turn, the U.S. appreciates
Kazakhstan’s role and importance in
the circumstances of renewed global
competition and its importance for
resoling the issues pertaining to Afghanistan. For Kazakhstan, the U.S.
involvement will continue to be critical in the development of its energy
resources and the implementation of
its Programme of Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development,”
Sultanov said.
During the European leg of his
trip, Kazykhanov met European Union High Representative for Foreign
Affairs and Security Policy and VicePresident of the European Commission Catherine Ashton in Brussels on
February 2.
“It is important to note that in 2011
the foreign trade turnover between the
European Union and Kazakhstan has
reached $50 billion,” Kazykhanov said
after the meeting. He and Ashton discussed negotiations on a new enhanced
partnership and cooperation agreement
between Kazakhstan and the EU to
replace the one signed in 1999. The
Kazakh foreign minister also urged the
mutual simplification of visa regimes.
“Kazakhstan is an important partner
for the EU in Central Asia and the EU
has good relations and dialogue with
Kazakhstan, which are important to
maintain for exchanging our views and
concerns. My meeting with Foreign
Minister Kazykhanov today provided
for this opportunity,” Ashton said in an
official statement after the meeting.
“We discussed recent developments over the last months in Kazakhstan,” Ashton said. “I recalled my
concerns about violent clashes of December 2011 between striking workers and the police, and the ensuing arrests. I repeated my call for objective
and transparent investigation of the
events. We also discussed the recent
Parliamentary elections. I encouraged
Kazakhstan to maintain its aspiration to build an open and democratic
society respectful of the fundamental
rights and freedoms of its population.
The EU stands ready to support Kazakhstan in this work.”
“We also discussed international
issues, notably Syria and Iran, and Kazakhstan’s role as chairman of the Organisation for Islamic Co-operation.
The EU is committed to strengthen its
relations with Kazakhstan through the
negotiations or a new enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement,”
Ashton said. Progress in those negotiations would depend on progress on
political reforms in Kazakhstan, she
added.
untarily relinquished the world’s
fourth largest nuclear arsenal and
shut down one of the largest nuclear test sites at Semipalatinsk,
remains a staunch supporter of the
global process of non-proliferation
and nuclear threat reduction.
“Today, it is highly important to
overcome the stagnation in the global disarmament process, with the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT) being its
cornerstone,” Kazykhanov said.
He used the floor to once again
emphasise the importance of the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty (CTBT). “Our country urges all other states that have not yet
ratified this important international instrument to speed up the process.” So far, eight countries, whose
ratification is mandatory for the
CTBT to enter into force, have yet
to do that, including China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,
Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan,
and the United States.
Kazykhanov also reminded
about Kazakhstan’s willingness
to host an international bank for
low-enriched uranium fuel under
the auspices of the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“We strongly believe that the
establishment of additional reserves of low-enriched uranium,
under the auspices of the IAEA,
will promote a guaranteed access
for all States to nuclear fuel and in
no way affect the legitimate and
inalienable right of each State Party to the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to develop nuclear energy for peaceful
purposes, provided they fully meet
the NPT conditions,” Kazykhanov
said.
The current year promises to
be packed with events in the area
of disarmament and non-proliferation. The second Global Summit
on Nuclear Security will be held in
Seoul on March 26-27. In addition,
the Preparatory Committee for the
2015 Review Conference of the
State Parties to the NPT will start
its proceedings at the end of April
in Vienna.
“All these developments confirm the willingness of States and
their leaders to address the issues
of disarmament and non-proliferation through joint efforts,” Kazykhanov said. “We sincerely hope
that the Conference on Disarmament will overcome the stalemate
for the sake of our common goal
- security and peace on the Earth.”
Plans Are Afoot to Boost Energy
Investment in Kyrgyz Republic
Prime Ministers Omurbek Babanov of Kyrgyzstan (left)
and Karim Massimov of Kazakhstan met in Astana, Feb.22.
From Page A1
Energy cooperation was also high
on the agenda. “Kyrgyzstan has invited Kazakhstan to participate in
the construction of the Kambarata-1
Hydro Power Plant (HPP),” Babanov
said. “We have reached an agreement
to establish working groups which
will define the conditions for Kazakhstan’s participation in this project.”
Babanov said Kazakhstan had
also proposed participating in the
construction of a thermal power
plant at the Karakeche coal field and
building several hydro-electric power plants in Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyzstan offered Kazakhstan
the opportunity to participate in sev-
eral new energy projects to supply
electricity to southern Kazakhstan
and northern Kyrgyzstan and to ensure the smooth inter-operability
of the power-generating systems of
both nations.
Bilateral trade volume between
the two countries reached $669 million in the first 11 months of 2011.
More than 400 joint ventures financed fully or in part with Kazakh
capital are now operating in Kyrgyzstan’s energy, gas transportation,
industry, construction materials production and banking sectors. Kyrgyz
companies are now financing wholly
or in part more than 250 enterprises
in Kazakhstan in trade, tourism, construction and transport.
Cyan Yellow Magenta Black
The Astana Times
B
Nation & Capital
Monday, 5 March 2012
Barys Astana Fights
in Playoffs
Dostar School Sets Standard
for Success
Page B7
Singer-Scholar Knows the
Power of Music
Page B5
Page B3
Int’l Women’s Day Awaited with Great Anticipation
By Nadezhda Khamitova
The upcoming International
Women’s Day which is celebrated on
the 8th of March is a national holiday in many countries, including Kazakhstan. It is also one of the major
dates in the UN calendar.
Whilst in some parts of the world
the celebration of March 8 symbolises the growing empowerment and
influence of women in the political,
social and economical life, across
the post-Soviet regions this day is
also a celebration of femininity and
a tribute to women.
In one of his latest speeches,
President Nursultan Nazarbayev
said there are three “main” women
in a man’s life to love and to respect:
mother, who gives life, the beloved
woman and the Motherland.
“The 8th of March is a beautiful holiday,” he said in response to a
question asked during his lecture at
the Nazarbayev University on March
1. “In Kazakhstan, today our aim is to
involve women in politics and social
activities. In my experience, women
on top positions are always more responsible and honest that men of the
same level,” he opined.
This year celebrations of International Women’s Day in Kazakhstan
will last 3 days, from 8 to 10 of
March.
Book Opens
New Page
in Study of
Genghis Khan
By Kabdesh Idrissov
The Royal Club of Astana recently witnessed the presentation of
a book by Anatoly Olovintsev titled
“Turks or Mongols? Genghis Khan’s
Epoch”. The book did not leave
anyone indifferent, as the author’s
conclusions are the result of years
of studying Genghis Khan’s biography, combined with hours, days, and
months spent examining the archives
and traveling to towns and littleknown settlements across Eurasia.
What makes this book even more
special is that the author is not a historian but an enthusiast, passionately
involved in his subject.
Opening the club’s meeting, Genghis Khan expert and Olovintsev’s
closest associate, Ayash Maligzatov,
described for the audience the preparation process of the book and discussed
other recently published literary works
on Genghis Khan and his era.
In his remarks, Olovintsev explained that his main motive for
writing the book was to learn the
origins of Genghis Khan’s Mongols,
their number, how they were able to
conquer countries with huge material
and human potential such as China,
what constituted the Tatar-Mongol
yoke, and, most importantly, what
language they spoke.
On International Women’s Day women are given flowers and presents by men. The
day is widely meant as a celebration of femininity.
Sales assistants await men to hit flower markets on
March 8.
New Ski Resort at Tekeli Seen as
Trailblazer for Small Towns’ Future
Nauryz Festival Lights Up
New Year with Good Cheer
By Zhanna Abdullina
In a year the world might come
to know the picturesque but as-yetunknown Kazakh town of Tekeli,
where state officials are eager to
build a new world-class ski resort.
The unexplored area surrounding
the town in the southeast of Kazakhstan is amazingly beautiful, with its
unique high mountain terrain, tumultuous rivers such as the Kora and the
Shezhe, fir woods and flower meadows. Endless stretches of high-altitude
plateaus and waterfalls, including the
famous Burkhan-Bulak, flowing hidden in the mountains add overwhelming beauty to the landscape.
Enjoying just over two decades
of independence, gained after the
dissolution of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan can boast undiscovered natural wealth, but little well-developed
tourist infrastructure. Nevertheless,
the country has committed itself to
making every effort to promote tourism and is working to provide favourable conditions and create a rich
tourism infrastructure imbued with
local cultural identity.
The construction of a ski resort
in Tekeli falls in line with the current strategy for developing and
finding new sources of income in
small and underdeveloped towns in
Kazakhstan. Recent developments in
Zhanaozen have drawn serious government attention to small towns of
its kind, which, the authorities think,
should have their own means of further development apart from those
based on natural resource extraction
and the flow of investment.
According to the deputy akim
(mayor) of Tekeli, Bolat Beldebekov, negotiations have already been
conducted with German building experts who say an aerial ropeway in
Tekeli can be built within a year on a
turnkey contract basis.
“The construction of a ski resort
in Tekeli is extremely important for
the town. This is, above all, about investment, new jobs and taxes. Moreover, if the project is successful, we
hope people will buy land and property here and local businesses will
develop,” Beldebekov said.
Continued on Page
B6
By Zauresh Zhorabekova
A big skiing future for a
small mining town.
Kazakhs have plenty of interesting stories, household songs,
and poems about the great spring
festival of Nauryz written by
prominent scholars, philosophers
and writers.
This holiday was celebrated as
a beginning of a new year on the
Kazakh land from ancient times till
1929. That year, the Soviet leadership banned Nauryz, considering it a
religious and nationalist holiday. The
Nauryz revived in the late 1980s with
the beginning of the democratization
process in the Soviet Union. Since
regaining independence, Kazakhstan
has held widespread celebrations of
the holiday every year.
Nauryz is celebrated on the day
of the spring equinox in countries
from Iran to Turkey, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan. It is considered the day
of nature’s renewal, as well as the
day of pesonal rejuvenation and purification. People clean their houses,
clothes, and bodies before the celebrations. They also try to clean their
souls from hatred, evil, and sins and
ask others for forgiveness.
Yet Nauryz is primarily the day
of joy. The traditional greeting includes a warm embrace and shaking
hands with both hands. There are
also popular season’s greetings with
warm wishes like: “Happy Nauryz!
Let the white (milk) be in abundance! Let the luck accompany you
everywhere!” Other blessings offer
success in cattle breeding, peace and
tranquility.
The Kazakh people, whose lives
for centuries were closely connected
with nature, have always viewed
Nauryz as the day when darkness is
replaced by light, piercing cold by
heat, misfortune by luck, damage by
protection and poverty by wealth.
There are many rituals involved
in the Nauryz celebration. The morning starts with men and women going outside. Kazakhs say: “If you see
a brook, clean its spring.” Therefore,
the young men clean water springs,
while the elderly and boys plant
trees near brooks. They practice folk
teachings such as “Rather than leav-
Continued on Page
B2
ing cattle behind, leave trees” or “If
you cut down one tree, plant ten.”
In accordance with a custom that
is a relic of paganism, women perform a ritual of thanksgiving to the
sun by bowing to it. Then they pour
oil into the newly cleaned springs
and spray milk on just planted trees,
asking the Earth to send abundance
and prosperity in the New Year.
Kazakhs are happy to celebrate
this ancient holiday by remembering
all the traditions and practices created by their ancestors many centuries ago.
Many of prominent intellectuals
have shared the popular enthusiasm
for celebrating Nauryz.
Sabit Donentayev, a poet, writer,
and satirist working 100 years ago
wrote: “March 22nd is the Nauryz
holiday known to many Kazakhs.
This holiday is not a religious holiday, but a national one. In general, in
addition to being a national holiday,
it also has a deep historical significance.”
Continued on Page
B6
Energetic Wife of Barys Captain Sees Many Untapped Opportunities in Astana
By Danat Islambek
Kevin Dallman, the Canadianborn captain of the Barys Astana
hockey club, has earned the respect
and admiration of many fans for his
powerful style of playing and solid
character. Being a defenceman, he
has also become one of the top scorers in the Continental Hockey League
(KHL), earning his team many valuable points over the past four years.
Few people know, though, that
Kevin Dallman’s secret weapon is
his American wife, Stacy Dallman,
who has accompanied her husband
to the furthest corners of the world
raising their two kids along the way.
On top of being a true hockey wife,
Stacy Dallman is a self-made businesswoman and community organizer who works as president of Nookums™ LLC, selling Paci-Plushies
Pacifier Holders. After the tragedy
of HC Lokomotiv last year, she has
also become founder and president
of The United Hockey Wives Foundation. She also finds time to write
lively down-to-earth and outright
funny commentaries in her blog
about the Dallmans’ experience of
living in Astana, and it is about that
experience and her advice for others
that The Astana Times spoke to her.
Your family has lived in many
places around the world. What were
the main challenges for you before
you grew accustomed to the new culture in Kazakhstan? For your kids?
Our family enjoys traveling
around the globe and experiencing
new cultures and ways of life, though
living outside of North America for
an extended period of time comes
with its own unique set of challenges
for all of us. The most difficult part
of living in Kazakhstan for me personally is the cooking. During the
winter, the grocery stores in Astana
have less than a quarter of the food
products and ingredients that I am
used to cooking with. After Kevin’s
first season in the KHL, I made a list
of what ingredients that I needed to
bring back to Kazakhstan with me
from the USA which made the sub-
sequent hockey seasons easier to
some extent, but I still struggle on a
daily basis over meal planning.
The kids adjust pretty easily to
their surroundings. They can speak
some Russian and they go to a fantastic International School called QSI
where they have made friends with
children from all over the world. The
hardest part for all of us is being so
far away from our extended family
and friends and not being able to celebrate our holidays with them.
You have been a successful businesswoman who has developed her
own infant-inspired juvenile products. What is the secret to being a
supportive wife, a caring mother of
two and a successful businesswoman
at the same time?
Running a business and being the
main caretaker for my family isn’t
always easy and there have definitely been times when I’ve just wanted
to give up. I started my business not
knowing that I would be moving to
Kazakhstan a year later, and I haven’t
been able to put as much time and
effort into building the business as
I would have liked to due to living
overseas. At the end of the day, my
family is most important to me even
if it means losing a sale.
It seems whatever you do you do
with passion. You are also the author
of a very charismatic blog that captures life in Astana in both moving
words and stunning imagery. It features a wonderful mix of references to
the cultural differences, adapting to the
language and the lively photography.
What are the most frequent questions
you receive from your blog readers?
I actually don’t get very many questions. My friends and family just laugh
at my silly experiences, and I sometimes get questions from expats about
restaurants, where to live and what
to expect when they arrive in Astana.
However, the majority of comments
come from people who read too much
into the blog and are trying to defend
Kazakhstan. I don’t see any need to be
defensive when I am simply writing
about my personal experiences.
Continued on Page
B7
Stacy Dallman and her daughter Ava pose for a picture
prior to the Barys-Vityaz game in Astana.
Cyan Yellow Magenta Black
The Astana Times
B2
Monday, 5 March 2012
People
Master Scientist Leads Life of Renaissance Achievement
By Leyla Yedilkyzy
At the age of 70, Zhadyger Yeskhozhin can look back on a distinguished career as one of the most
eminent engineering scientists in
Kazakhstan and one of the country’s
leading educators. And he has also
produced a distinguished output
of work as an artist. Yet his career
began in the most humble circumstances.
Born in the village of Kievka in
the Karagandy region, Yeskhozhin
enrolled at age 14 in the Virgin Lands
campaign to become a tselinnik, or
pioneer farmer, in the Commune collective farm.
Working hard in the grain fields
he was also an active member of the
community. As a 9th grade student,
he established a Society of Friends
with a Common Dream. The group
was a patriotic society of more than
30 schoolchildren who shared a love
of art and creativity.
After graduating from school
with excellent marks in 1959, Yeskhozhin started his working career as
a tractor driver and machine operator
and a secretary of the Young Com-
munist (Komsomol) organization of
the Commune collective farm.
His hunger for knowledge led
him to the Akmola Agricultural Institute, where he studied from 1960
to 1965 and became one of the best
students of the Faculty of Agricultural Mechanization.
It was hard for a young man from
a village to adapt to urban life and
to the Russian language. But Yeskhozhin’s diligence and hard work
paid off. After he successfully passed
the entrance examinations and got
excellent marks in the midterm examinations, his photo was published
on the front page of the Virgin Lands
Region newspaper.
The rest, as the saying goes, is
history.
Yeskhozhin’s many contributions to science are spread through
his work as an engineer, inventor,
teacher, scholar and academic administrator. He was a member of the
Committee for Terminology of Kazakhstan’s Cabinet of Ministers, a
member of the boards of editors of
the 31-volume terminology dictionary, of the Vestnik Nauki and Gylym
Zharshysy (“Scientific Herald” in
Russian and Kazakh) journals and
he participated as a member of the
science and technology, and research
and dissertation councils. He is the
author of 164 scientific papers, four
textbooks, two monographs, two tutorials and 26 scientific inventions.
“I have devoted my life to science,” Yeskhozhin, who turned 70
this month, told The Astana Times.
“I have trained my apprentices. I
have prepared doctors and masters
of engineering sciences. If my disciples live up to my expectations and
justify my trust in them, then I have
nothing else to dream of.”
Although he has been mastering
skills and knowledge in engineering
from an early age, Yeskhozhin’s soul
was also always attracted to beauty.
He has also made a great contribution to arts. His numerous songs and
poems serve as a proof of his talent.
He is planning to release a collection of his works entitled Konildin Keibir Kuileri (Some States
of the Soul) in the near future. The
book expresses Yeskhozhin’s inner
nature and his thoughts and visions.
It comprises about 40 of his poems,
songs and stories.
Some of the poems reveal Yeskhozhin’s thoughts and feelings at
different stages of his life. Many of
his short novels and satirical stories
describe the various twists and turns
that occur in a person’s life and the
worries and emotions of his childhood and youth.
“I have been writing songs
throughout my whole life,” Yeskhozhin said. “There are three or
four of my songs saved in the ar-
chives of Kazakh Radio. Sometimes
I still hear them on the radio. My father used to write songs and poems
as well. But he went to the war after
I was born. He came back home in
1943 with serious injuries, and died
after two or three months.”
“My songs, my poems and narratives tell the story of my life. They
were born from my experience, they
describe what I have done and felt,”
the eminent scientist said.
“Yes, by profession I’m a mechanical engineer, but since my early age I
have been very close to literature and
poetry,” he noted. “I used to send my
poems to newspapers. At one point I
was even invited to work at the Shamshyrak Nury (Candlelight) newspaper. I considered the idea but a person
whom I believe to be my teacher and
whom I respected a lot told me that I
would not benefit from changing my
profession halfway. That is when I
decided to go on with the engineering
profession. Yet I didn’t stop writing; it
is my nature, an inherent part of me,”
Yeskhozhin said.
Today, Yeskhozhin is a respected
lecturer at the Saken Seifullin Kazakh Agro-Technical University. He
gives lectures on engineering graphics and descriptive geometry.
Yeskhozhin lived with his late
spouse Kamazhan for 37 years until
her death, and is now happily married
to his second wife Raushan. They
have raised children and grandchildren and are now happily watching
their great-grandchildren grow.
“All of our children have grown
up and mastered different professions. They have built their families, and with God’s grace we have
become the happy grandparents and
great-grandparents. I am satisfied
with the path that I have taken,” Yeskhozhin said.
“A person who is used to working hard cannot stand still. Somehow
he will find a way to succeed. It is the
rule of life proven by the experience
of many. That is why I hope that all
people, especially young ones, try to
work hard, do their best and keep on
learning. Because I think our future,
our destiny depends on the younger
generations,” the scientist said.
Zhadyger Yeskhozhin’s own life
has set a shining example of achievement, service and success for young
people to follow.
Kazakh Boy Will Walk again after Surgery in Israel A Polish Girl of the Steppe
By Judy Siegel-Itzkovich
A gifted 12-year-old boy from
Kazakhstan whose cerebral palsy
(CP) prevented him from walking
independently has had a successful
operation and is undergoing extensive rehabilitation at Assaf Harofeh
Medical Centre in Tzrifin – at the
hospital’s and the Foreign Ministry’s
expense.
Pavel (Pasha) Sadyshev and his
mother have been staying free at the
state hospital’s minihotel since early
January so he could undergo the surgery and the physical therapy for his
severe orthopedic problem.
Cerebral palsy patient
gets free treatment
at expense of Assaf
Harofeh Medical Centre
and Israeli Foreign
Ministry
His CP caused him to walk with
difficulty on tiptoes beginning in his
toddler years, while using crutches
frequently caused him to tip over. His
muscles and ligaments had shortened
and stiffened in recent years, making
his situation progressively worse.
As the parents of the only child
are unemployed, they could not afford the surgery, rehabilitation, accommodations and travel expenses.
Since Pavel’s case was unusual, the
government and hospital directorgeneral Dr. Benny Davidson agreed
to foot the medical bills.
The family, who live in a small
town near Astana, were blessed by the
Pavel Sadyshev and his mother
fact that last September, Dr. Simona
Bar Haim, Assaf Harofeh’s veteran
physiotherapist and neurophysiology
researcher, had been invited to Kazakhstan for the second time to lecture
on her experience in the field.
During her visit to Astana’s Republican Children’s Rehabilitation
Centre, Bar Haim met a number of
children, including Pavel, who desperately needed help. Israel’s ambas-
sador to Kazakhstan Israel Mei-Ami,
and his wife Ayala, asked the senior
physiotherapist to examine him. After doing so, she predicted that with
surgery and treatment in Assaf Harofeh, the boy would be able to walk
like Israeli children born with CP
that developed just before or during
delivery.
The Israeli embassy, in cooperation with Eximbank Kazakhstan and
Turkish Airlines, arranged a flight
for Pavel and his mother.
After examination by Dr. Lionel
Copeliovitch, director of orthopedics
at the Tzrifin hospital, the operation
was performed five weeks ago. The
plaster casts were removed from his
legs recently, allowing him to undergo rehabilitation on a daily basis
and then return to the hospital hotel.
He will need another month of this
rehabilitation, said Bar Haim.
“He is very intelligent,” Copeliovitch told The Jerusalem Post. “He
suffered no mental disability as a result of his birth disorder, only CP. He
speaks Russian and has learned some
words in Hebrew. His pain from before and after the operation is receding. Pavel and his mother are so, so
grateful for his treatment here.”
The doctor said his hospital performs a few dozen such procedures on
Israeli children each year, most of whom
are between the ages of five and 13.
Bar Haim added that her hospital
is recognized worldwide for its expertise in the field, which began with
its treatment of child victims of the
polio epidemic in the 1950s.
Many Kazakh citizens with CP
go untreated because of the country’s
lack of knowhow in the field.
As Kazakhstan is landlocked,
Bar Haim took the boy to the sea for
the first time in his life.
In addition, he was provided with
a laptop computer so he could communicate with his father and other
relatives via Skype.
This story was first published in The
Jerusalem Post on February 10, 2012
and is reprinted here with permission.
Book Opens New Page in Study of Genghis Khan
From Page B1
The author was familiar with a
very respectable array of national and
foreign literature on this subject; however, many provisions contained in
these sources raised questions rather
than answered them. Having put into
question the official interpretation of
events, Olovintsev made “an attempt
to add new arguments and facts and
develop and deepen ideas presented
by innovator authors which remained
unknown, thus, bringing new evidence in their favour.”
The author purposefully studied a
great number of books on the subject
of language and spent a lot of time
searching for documented evidence
supporting the idea that Genghis Khan
Mongols spoke Turkic, which was the
official language of his empire. The
meticulous work of the researcher was
rewarded by a number of convincing
written and archaeological sources.
These include a Chingis stone, raised
during his life; the Great Khan Guyuk’s letter to Roman Pope Innocent IV,
found in 1920 in the Vatican archives
by the Polish scholar monk Kirill Karalevski; numerous ambassadorial and
commander insignias; and messages
to Kublai Khan’s descendants.
Based on these priceless artifacts,
the author boldly defends his conclusion
that the Turkic language was the official
language of the Great Mongol Empire.
Previously, Olovintsev had written a book in collaboration with Gizat
Tabuldin entitled “Chingizids. Dynas-
ties and Epochs,” as well as three versions of genealogical tables of Genghis Khan’s descendants from the 13th
to 20th centuries. (Chingizid refers to
a descendant of Ghengis Khan.)
According to Tursun Sultanov,
Professor at St. Petersburg State University, Olovintsev and Tabuldin’s
book very thoroughly illuminated the
genealogical tree of Genghis Khan
and his descendants.
Evaluations like this, delivered
by prominent historians, inspired the
author to new research and he zealously continued to study the extensive
literature on Chingizids published in
recent years.
As a result, he has compiled a new,
amended version of a schematic map
of the genealogy of Genghis Khan and
The personality of Genghis Khan continues to inspire people to search for more
knowledge on him and his epoch.
his descendants. This unique publication also contains materials based on
Kazakh records.
The event at the Royal Club received a positive response, revealing
an existing interest and demand in the
society for informal meetings with interesting researcher-enthusiasts such
as Olovintsev.
The personality of Genghis Khan,
who cherished a man not for his genetic, religious or tribal identity, but
for his commitment to noble and moral tenets set out in the commandments
of Moses, continues to inspire people
to search for more knowledge on him
and his epoch.
There are many reasons for such
interest. The military talent of Genghis
Khan and his ability to create such a
powerful empire, of course, deserve
admiration. However, the keen curiosity of the current generation doesn’t
arise from this admiration alone. The
growing desire to understand his personality, in addition to his military
genius, is explained by the alarming
nature of the modern world and its unknown challenges, especially in uncertain times when one may feel an urgent
need to strengthen global security.
In his book, Genghis Khan International Academy member Anatoly
Olovintsev wrote: “The influence of
Genghis Khan on the subsequent development of human society throughout the world is so great that modern
philosophy, history, military science,
political science, psychology, law, international relations, management, cinematography, painting arts, and many
other areas of human activity comprehensively study the life and work of
Genghis Khan in order to identify reasons behind his outstanding success.”
The reviewer is a candidate of
legal sciences and a Professor of the
Eurasian Humanitarian Institute.
Irina Buchinskaya poses in front of Kazakhstan’s
stand on All Nations Day festival during her studies at
Columbia University, New York.
Mary when I grew up), daily prayers
By Irina Buchinskaya
and yearly Christmas celebrations that
Paraphrasing the opening line of would bring together all generations
Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, I can and extensions of our big family. My
say that Polish families deported to grandparents’ religious fortitude deKazakhstan in the 1930s were all cades ago determined my religion that
alike; and every Polish family settled I practice today living in Kazakhstan,
in their newly-found motherland in its a peaceful temple of many religions.
My parents got married in the
own way. In this respect, my family is
blissful yet stagnant years of the Sovia typical example.
The familial history of my Pol- et era. However, it was the collapse of
ish-German father and my Russian the Soviet Union that brought to them
mother was painful yet hopeful. My the opportunities that have resulted in
paternal grandmother, an ethnic Ger- the state we find our family in today.
My father took advantage of the
man, was deported to Kazakhstan in
1936 at the age of eight, together with liberal business environment after inher widowed father, an older brother dependence and opened a small busiand a newly-born little sister. A set of ness in the capital city of Astana, which
kitchen ware, bedding and a few cents has been his home for almost 50 years.
With a scholarship from the Polish
was all they had left from their quiet,
relatively well-off life in the Zhitomir Government, my younger sister did
her bachelor’s and master’s degree in
province of Ukraine.
They settled in the village of Ka- Jagellonian University in Krakow. She
menka, a popular destination for Ger- is now happily married to a Belorusman deportees in Kazakhstan. The sian of Polish descent and resides in
family’s goods kept them going for a Poland. My family jokingly calls her
very short while, and the rest of my “the Kazakh agent in the land of the
grandmother’s childhood was cold, Poles”, because she serves as a linking
hungry and orphaned. Her father and point to our Polish background, lanelder brother were called up to serve guage and the land that gave birth to
in the Red Army and died a few years our ancestors. Such linkage becomes
after the beginning of World War II. stronger with every visit of our whole
It was during the war that my grand- family to Krakow, Warsaw and other
mother moved to a different location, places in Poland.
I, myself, am a native of Astana
which became life-defining for her.
My paternal grandfather, an ethnic and a living witness of the city’s transPole, was relocated from Ukraine to formation from an industrial provinKazakhstan in the same year as part cial town of Tselinograd to the gloriof the Stalinist ethnic purges. His ous capital city of Astana. I received
large family consisting of parents and my bachelor’s degree in English and
eight children settled in the village of Kazakh from the Eurasian National
Zelyony Gai, a popular destination for University starting my studies in the
the then-deported Polish households. year when the capital was moved from
At the age of 17, my grandfather was Almaty. I was one of the hundreds of
drafted. Fighting in the battlefront of students who were part of the grand
World War II left him disabled for the show celebrating Astana’s presentation to the whole world back in 1998.
rest of his life.
When I was younger, I was not
Initially my grandfather’s family spoke their native languages ex- too attached to the country of my
clusively but they also had a fair birth. But it was during my studies for
command of Ukrainian. Poles and a master’s degree in Columbia UniGermans living in Zelyony Gai devel- versity in the heart of New York that I
oped a common language, which was realised the importance of being patria mixture of Russian, German, Polish otic by bringing back my knowledge
to Kazakhstan and contributing to its
and Ukrainian.
Having left their homes and land development on the ground, rather
plots in western Ukraine, both Pol- than trying to build a new life someish and German deportees missed the place else.
I would not blame those who
greenery in the dry steppes of Kazakhstan and reflected their longing for a emigrated from Kazakhstan in the
lost home in the name of the village that economically difficult years of newly
gave them refuge: Zelyony Gai is trans- gained independence and I would be a
hypocrite to say that this idea has nevlated from Ukrainian as Green Grove.
The village located in the vicinity er crossed my mind. However, after
of the present-day capital city of Asta- travelling throughout and living in difna turned out to be a meeting point for ferent parts of the world I came back
to my homeland determined to live up
my paternal grandparents.
What they had in common, in ad- to the Russian saying “Где родился,
dition to their difficult past, was faith, там и пригодился” (a distant English
literally. Both were very religious and equivalent of which would be “You
did not give up their belief even in the get worn and torn in the place you
harshest times when religion was out- were born”).
It is my true hope that social and
lawed and they risked their lives by
economic cooperation between Kaobserving it.
As a frequent visitor to the ru- zakhstan and Poland will further enral home of my grandparents, I was hance and ensure successful lives for
raised surrounded by Catholic rega- both the Kazakh diaspora in Poland and
lia (I even wanted to look like Virgin the Polish diaspora in Kazakhstan.
Cyan Yellow Magenta Black
The Astana Times
Monday, 5 March 2012
B3
Culture
Kara Zhorga Dance by 500 Students Enters Guinness
Book of Records
By Aigul Batalova
A total of 500 students performed
the traditional Kazakh dance Kara
Zhorga at the Khan Shatyr entertainment centre in Astana this past December. This campaign, dedicated to
the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s
independence, has generated considerable interest internationally
and will enter the Guinness World
Records 2012.
The KazBrand Public Foundation organised the event with the
support of the Ministry of Education
and Science. “The main idea of the
campaign was to give an unusual
present to the residents and guests
of Astana on this historic day for the
nation,” members of the organiza-
tion committee said on the day of the
performance.
Long before the event, the Kaz
Brand Public Foundation had sent
an application for a Guinness World
Record (GWR). On the day of the
performance, six independent international observers and ten local
stewards watched the dance to make
sure it complied with the technical
criteria of the GWR.
Furthermore, the organization
committee sent a report, including vivid photographs and a video,
to the GWR office in London. The
organisers accomplished their goal:
the record was approved and information about the dance is soon to
appear in the pages of the Guinness
World Records for this year.
A short time later, the organisa-
tion committee received a GWR
certificate confirming the new world
record. “No doubt, it has been an incredible experience to join the GWR
family of record holders. This is a
great victory and honour for all who
took part in this campaign,” one of
the five hundred students who performed the dance said.
“We have gained considerable
knowledge and insight into the Foundation’s mission after this project.
Now we are even more enthusiastic about various opportunities to
engage our team in international
projects. We are looking forward
to the continuation of our fruitful
cooperation with local and foreign
like-minded colleagues,” Yevgeni
Ribalko, Director of the KazBrand
Public Foundation, said.
The traditional Kazakh dance Kara Zhorga at the Khan Shatyr entertainment centre
in Astana which earned a place in Guinness Book of Records.
Veteran Kazakh
Singer-Scholar Knows the Power of Music
Master Artist Goes
on Display in Vienna
By Galiya Shimyrbayeva
Yerbolat Tolepbay
By Yekaterina Reznikova
A leading Kazakh artist has just
opened a new exhibition in Vienna,
one of the great cultural capitals of
Europe.
Yerbolat Tolepbay, a State Prize
winner, has put 70 of his paintings
on display in the Vienna Art House.
Tolepbay appeared on the Kazakh art scene in the mid-1970s
and immediately drew attention of
critics and audience by his unconventional approach to modern art
and painting, reflecting acute social
issues in his works. He was among
the first artists in Kazakhstan to
work in a new style, combining European painting tradition with the
oriental colours.
Tolepbay was at the forefront of
Kazakhstan’s surrealism movement.
He was the first Kazakh artist whose
exhibition had success at the Tretyakov
Gallery in Moscow in 1999. A laureate
of a number of prestigious international awards and holder of distinguished
titles Tolepbay has held more than 40
exhibitions around the world.
Tolepbay believes the artist must
reflect his involvement in society and
pay attention to contemporary reality. That is why he is so concerned
with the dynamism, or unbalanced
nature, of contemporary existence.
Indeed, “unbalance” has been the
title of a number of his exhibitions
and he told The Astana Times it is
the main idea in his paintings.
“Very often we face a situation
when things do not meet our expectations. Everyone experiences distrust,
disagreement, misunderstanding, but
we do not talk about them. Instead,
we seek refuge at home, with friends
or at work. I depicted all these things
in my paintings,” he said.
Despite the fragility of life the
author tries to capture and convey the
eternal and everlasting experiences
of life – a man’s love of a woman,
the love of a mother, or love of the
land and its people. “The ability to
talk simply, naturally and artistically
about important and everyday things
is a skill,” Tolepbay said
The characters in Tolepbay’s art
experience the same emotions as the
creator. Their key feature is absolute absorption, distraction from the
outside world, even though they are
united by common actions. Very often the eyes of people on the paintings
are closed or hardly discernible. This
is why many critics draw an analogy
between the works and portraits of
Modigliani and those of Tolepbay.
Undue absorption in the details
of a work can prevent viewers from
catching the basic essence of what is
happening. “I deliberately leave everything in a somewhat incomplete
form, because the audience themselves
must finish the picture, to ‘paint in’ for
themselves not only the plot, but the
colour of eyes, facial expressions of
the heroes,” the artist said.
In his formative years as an artist,
Tolepbay studied the work of classic
painters, including those of the Renaissance. He also learned a lot from
his older brother, the famous Kazakh
painter Tokbolat Togysbayev. But
the main character traits of Tolepbay
are his enthusiasm and craving for
experiment.
Tolepbay’s early surrealist works
are based on internal opposition and
conflict within individuals and society as a whole. But in the colour-plastic works of his later period, there
is a more vivid inclination towards
abstraction and decoration in colour
to signify the internal struggle taking
place within each of us.
The technique that opens the
theme of inconsistencies rests on
contradictions and oppositions,
Tolepbay said. The symbiosis of
East and West, tradition and innovation, figuration and abstraction are
traced on his canvases. The constant
search for common ground between
these opposites is aimed at achieving
harmony. The author strives to catch
and convey on the paintings not only
visible, but also palpable, sensuous
and metaphysical forces. He believes
that a realistic language in art is not
enough to express these phenomena.
The artist uses bright, sensual,
shimmering, luminous colours. “The
thought is hidden in the colours,”
he said. “I think their combination
looks very effective, and the drama
lies somewhere deeper. In my opinion it is meaningless when the author
gets his ideas to the audience ​​directly. Ideas are always hidden; they do
not lie on the surface.”
This is the magic and the mystery
of Tolepbay’s art, where the colour is
the primary artistic device to express
the ratio of light and shadow and to
reveal the emotional and spiritual
structure of the entire work.
Tolepbay describes his concept
of creativity as “putting our trust in
the nature and the individual.”
“We primarily consider the painting not only as an opportunity to
convey the feelings and sensations,
but, above all, as our own idea of this
world, based upon the passionate and
painful reflections,” he said.
ALMATY – Tolkyn Zabirova is
a singer with a Ph.D. in the History
of Arts. A monograph thesis on vocal
arts that she successfully defended
back in 2010 will be published in a
few weeks.
“The monograph is an insight
into how people used their voice to
achieve great goals,” Zabirova, now
dean of the Musical Arts Faculty of
the Zhurgenov National Academy
of Arts in Almaty told The Astana
Times.
The idea to take up scientific research came from Zabirova’s teacher
– a famous tenor, Ph.D. in History
of Arts Vitaly Orlenin who advised
Tolkyn to write a thesis in her student years.
“Back then, I was ready for writing a Ph.D. thesis,” the singer said.
“However, it took me years to get
down to actually writing it. Perhaps
it was good: apart from the knowledge and information I learnt in the
libraries, I gained singing and teaching experience. It was not easy to
analyse my own professional life.”
“I would like to thank my family:
my mother, my husband and three
sons who helped me a lot through
this difficult period,” Zabirova said.
While working on the thesis, Zabirova discovered that since ancient
times the human voice has been
one of the most powerful tools that
people used to gain power, cure diseases, infuse hope and rally the morale of soldiers before call battles.
Music has always been an essential
part of the spiritual experience in the
world’s great religions.
In Kazakhstan, sere, saly, and
zhyrau (performers of national folk
arts and poetry) skillfully satirised
rulers in their poems and songs, and
appealed to their honour and conscience.
As a 9-year-old child, Zabirova
had no doubt she would become a
singer. “We lived with my mother in
the town of Ayaguz, when my grandmother came from Almaty to take her
grandchildren for the holidays. I told
her about my desire to learn music,”
Zabirova said. “My grandmother
was not surprised, but took me seriously and with understanding. The
next year I was in Almaty where I
studied at a specialized music school
named after Akhmet Zhubanov”.
“It was not typical for a Kazakh woman in those years, but
my grandmother was an educated
woman: apart from her knowledge
of Kazakh, she could write and read
in Arabic. But what really amazed
people was her kindheartedness.
She was a pharmacist, but she could
easily find common grounds with
an academician, a famous artist, or
a shepherd. She always had a good
word for everyone.
“Thanks to my grandmother I
know my roots, folk customs and
traditions. There was a lot of classic
and folk literature in our house. So it
can be safely said that I was brought
up on the epics such as Er-Tostik,
Koblandy batyr, Kozy Korpesh
and Bayan-Sulu. I still remember
all these tales very well,” Zabirova
said.
Zabirova has very fond memories
of her grandmother. “My grandmother was surprisingly light on her feet,”
she said. “She had a lot of friends
and I was her beloved granddaughter, I was always by her side. I knew
that after long adult conversations I
would be asked to sing and I always
impatiently waited for this moment.
That’s why when someone asks me
about my childhood I reply that I
actually grew up among adults, so I
was an unusually serious girl for my
age.”
“Respect for the family values
and ability to cherish the little things
that you have… I inherited these fea-
Tolkyn Zabirova
tures from my grandmother,” Zabirova said.
Today, Zabirova is a proud mother of three sons.
“I waited a long time for my first child,”
the singer said. “Later God, as if taking pity
on me, gave me two more sons.”
“Remembering my unforgettable grandmother, I teach my
sons the same values she had
once taught me: to respect older
people, greet people, and most
importantly, simply love people,”
she said.
New Fantasy Opera Premieres in Capital
A new large and influential creative team has been involved in the staging of the opera in Astana.
By Bektur Kadyrov
ASTANA – The Kulyash Baiseitova National Opera and Ballet
Theatre in Astana presented a fantastic premiere of the opera “Tales
of Hoffmann” by Jacques Offenbach (libretto by J. Barbier), based
on the stories of the great mystic
storyteller Ernst Theodor Amadeus
Hoffmann.
One of the “kings of operetta”,
Offenbach unfortunately did not finish orchestrating his only opera and
died in 1880, several months before
the premiere of his creation on February 10, 1881.
A new large and influential
creative team has been involved
in the staging of the opera in Astana this time. Muscovite Michael
Pandzhavidze, chief director of the
National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater of Belarus from 2010,
directs. The conductor was the chief
conductor of the Baiseitova Theatre,
Abzal Mukhitdinov. Igor Grinevich,
the art director, was a stage designer
for the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet
Theater, while lighting designer Sergei Shevchenko and video engineer
Pavel Suvorov, both from Moscow,
are both winners of the Belarus National Award.
The categorisation of “Tales of
Hoffmann” as a fantasy opera is fully justified: most of the soloists play
two to four roles, changing clothes
and creating completely diverse musical images. The soloists who perform these transformations include
RK Honoured Artist Baktay Jannat,
the young baritone Talgat Galeev,
RK Honoured Cultural Worker Sundet Baygozhin, Ramzat Balakishiev,
Bakhytzhan Ilyasov and Erbol Saduakas. The main role and the uniting
theme of the opera is performed by
audience favourite Jan Tapin; his
friend, Nicholas, is sung by soprano
Natalie Lyubovtseva.
Cyan Yellow Magenta Black
The Astana Times
B4
Monday, 5 March 2012
Country
S.Kazakhstan Relies on Foreign Aktau Becomes Major Shipping
Investment to Promote Industry, and Transport Centre, Sees Even
Agriculture, Tourism, Gov. Says Larger Future
By Rustem Kairbaiuly
SHYMKENT – Since ancient
times, the modern-day South Kazakhstan region has played a special
role in the history of Kazakhstan
and Central Asia by promoting trade
and partnership along the Great Silk
Road. Today, the region is the nation’s largest agricultural and industrial centre. In addition, it is among
the leaders in fields such as energy
production, engineering, and construction.
As of November 2011, the gross
agricultural output in South Kazakhstan amounted to KZT 203.1 billion. The country’s only region to
grow cotton, in 2011 it had 154,100
hectares planted with cotton and collected 307,300 tones of the crop. A
major producer of fruits and vegetables, the region is also one of the
most populous areas in Kazakhstan
with about 2.6 million people living
there. Its administrative centre, the
city of Shymkent, is among Kazakhstan’s three largest cities.
South Kazakhstan is the busiest area in the country and has always engaged in the development
of strong relations beyond the nation’s borders. The region’s governor Askar Myrzakhmetov told The
Astana Times in an interview about
the region’s efforts to maintain and
increase fruitful partnerships with
foreign states.
“The South Kazakhstan region is
interested in initiating and expanding foreign relations to develop priority industry sectors, agriculture,
and tourism. Today, the region has
613 companies with foreign participation, including 126 industrial
enterprises. The major ones include
PetroKazakhstan Oil Products (China), ShymkentCement (Italy), Katko
(France), Inkai (Canada), and others.
Joint ventures and foreign enterprises
are engaged in the production of oil,
uranium, cement, plastic and rubber,
as well as furniture, food, tobacco,
textiles, and wholesale and consumer
goods,” Askar Myrzakhmetov said.
In the period from January to
October 2011, trade turnover in the
region amounted to US $3,162 million, including exports – US $2,015.7
million and imports at US $1,146.3
million. The total amount of foreign
investments in the economy during
the same period equaled US $301
million.
The South Kazakhstan region
borders Uzbekistan with whom it
has developed strong trade ties. Kazakhstan’s accession to the Customs
Union and the Single Economic
Space has promoted the development of the region’s partnership
with Belarus. Within the Programme
for long-term economic and trade
cooperation between the two countries for 2009-2016, a joint company
“KazBelKard” was established in
the region to produce cardan shafts
for tractors. The region’s economic
and trade ties with Turkey are also
growing with plans to implement a
number of investment projects with
Turkish companies.
Among European countries, the
South Kazakhstan region has established extensive partnerships with Italy, Great Britain, and Poland. With
the latter, the region has developed
strong ties in pharmaceuticals. The
interaction between Poland’s “Polpharma” and Shymkent’s “Chimpharm” has been increasingly im-
Askar Myrzakhmetov
proving the quality and assortment
of available products.
“Certainly, the regional leadership also focuses on the development
of cooperation in culture and education. Recently, the Regional Library
opened an Information Centre of
Goethe-Institute. In addition, we
have conducted the Days of Polish
cinema, as well as the days of other
cultures,” Myrzakhmetov said. “The
frequency of visits of foreign officials and entrepreneurs to our region
also confirms their interest in southern Kazakhstan. In 2011, representatives of diplomatic missions from
countries such as Russia, Iran, Japan,
Poland, Germany, France, and Belarus visited the region,” he added.
Located in the heart of
Central Asia, the South
Kazakhstan region
has great potential
for the development
of the tourism cluster.
The prominent Aksu
Dzhabagly nature
reserve is one of the
region’s landmarks
located in the spurs of
the Western Tien Shan
mountains. Created in
1926, it became the
first nature reserve in
Kazakhstan and Central
Asia.
The South Kazakhstan region focuses on attracting foreign direct investment in the region’s priority industrial and innovative projects. For
this purpose, the leadership is creating a favourable investment climate.
“We have created two industrial
platforms for investment: the special
economic zone “Ontustik” (South)
and the industrial zone of Shymkent.
Also, in line with the President’s
instructions, we are working on the
creation of the Kazakh-Turkish industrial zone,” Myrzakhmetov said
sharing details on the two industrial
platforms.
The Ontustik special economic
zone was established in 2005 to promote the textile industry, increase
the share of domestic cotton consumption, produce finished textile
and leather goods, carpets, and tapestries, as well as to create jobs and
high-technology industries, according to Myrzakhmetov.
“The geographic concentration
of firms engaged in similar activi-
ties increases their positive influence
on each other and raises productivity. The Ontustik occupies a territory
of 200 hectares and has significant
engineering and communications infrastructure. Investors in the special
zone are exempt from taxes on property and land, customs duties, and
corporate income tax for a period up
to 2030. To date, three investment
projects worth US $69 million and
offering 756 jobs have been implemented there. Another four investment projects will be launched in
2012,” the governor said.
The industrial zone of the city of
Shymkent was created in 2009 on
the territory of a former phosphorus plant in order to attract domestic
and foreign investors, promote rapid
development of private, small, and
medium enterprises, and implement
various investment projects. The
industrial zone covers a territory of
337 hectares.
“Industrial zones function as a
locomotive for industrial and innovative development and create “micro-climatic zones” to increase the
efficiency of enterprises. The industrial zones can be viewed as part of
the region’s policy of development
and as the most important element
in Kazakhstan’s integration into the
global economy,” Myrzakhmetov
said.
Shymkent’s industrial zone offers
a number of advantages that remove
barriers for business and investment
activities. These include land plots
for rent for up to 49 years with an
option to purchase; land installment
contracts; the distribution of land
plots in less than five days, and others. In addition, water and electricity
tariffs in the zone are 25 percent less
than outside the zone.
Located in the heart of Central
Asia, the South Kazakhstan region
has great potential for the development of the tourism cluster. The
prominent Aksu Dzhabagly nature
reserve is one of the region’s landmarks located in the spurs of the
Western Tien Shan mountains. Created in 1926, it became the first nature reserve in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
Southern Kazakhstan also boasts
some ancient cities such as Otrar
(Farad) and Turkestan. “Ancient
Otrar, which appeared existed for
about two thousand years [until the
19th century], occupies a territory
of 200 hectares on the right bank of
the Arys River. Otrar is considered
a UNESCO World Heritage site,”
Myrzakhmetov said.
Turkestan (Yassy) is another city
in the south of Kazakhstan widely
known internationally. Located on
one of the branches of the Silk Road,
the city served as a residence for Kazakh khans in the 16th to the 19th
centuries. The Mausoleum of Khoja
Ahmed Yassawi, founder of a new
doctrine in Sufism, is Turkestan’s
pride and also a place of pilgrimage
since the the 12th century.
“We have opened a new regular air route ‘Shymkent – Istanbul.’
In the Kazygurt area, the tourist
project ‘Akbura – Kemekalgan’ was
launched. In the near future, we plan
to build a new business centre and a
five-star hotel in Shymkent,” Myrzakhmetov said. “In general, we are
open to establishing new dialogues
in fields aimed at developing priority industry sectors, agriculture, and
tourism.”
By Zholaman Bolashak
Since the outbreak of violent
disorders in the western oil town
of Zhanaozen in December 2011,
the government has launched several important projects to ensure
high employment rates particularly
in single industry towns across the
country, to boost their population’s
economic and social welfare.
The city of Aktau, capital of the
Mangistau region, is set to benefit
from these efforts.
Situated on the Caspian coast,
originally planned as a camp for the
workers of the oil industry, the city
today is poised to become a key Caspian transportation hub. Many new
projects launched in the region will
further boost the city’s economy. The
Astana Times spoke to Aktau Mayor
Ospan Kazakbayev on the new prospects for his city.
In his state-of-the-nation address
this year, President Nazarbayev instructed the city mayors and regional governors to define ways to further develop regions and accelerate
industrialization. Mangistau oblast
is obviously important for the oil
and gas industry. Is it now going to
become a major transportation and
logistics centre?
The lands of Mangistau are rich
in mineral resources, mainly oil and
gas. It’s another natural resource
that our region is on the shores of
the Caspian Sea. Today, many modern industrial complexes are being
constructed on its coast. Our region
is also located at the intersection of
transport routes which is convenient
in terms of logistics. Since Aktau is
the country’s main sea-gate, Kazakhstan attaches great significance
to the development of Port Aktau. It
has already become the main transit
hub for a large bulk of export and
import goods.
When does the history of Port
Aktau begin? What is its present
day traffic capacity?
The pier started functioning
49 years ago and it used to receive
freight ferry carrying only one thousand tonnes of cargo. In 1966, the
port started serving large cargo ships.
One of the first was the Djabrail oil
tanker which carried three thousand
tonnes of oil.
Only after Kazakhstan gained independence did the seaport undergo
Ospan Kazakbayev
rapid growth. In 1994, the government adopted a special programme
on seaport modernization. In 2003,
a presidential decree established the
Aktau Commercial Seaport special
economic zone. In 2005, a project
was launched to enlarge the seaport
on its northern side.
In his 2011 state-of-the-nation
address President Nazarbayev predicted: “In the east – Khorgas, in the
west Port Aktau should become the
country’s economic zones and gateways”. Today Port Aktau ships one
third of all cargoes carried by the five
countries which have access to the
Caspian Sea. The volume of loading
works in 2011 increased by a factor
of 2.5, or 250 percent, compared to
2010. It is now at record levels.
What are Aktau’s future prospects and port potential?
The government pays significant
attention to the port’s modernization
and reconstruction. A 32.2 billion
tenge project to expand the port to
the north is now under way. Its implementation will provide access to
the North-South communications
corridor. Port Aktau will therefore
gain access to both the North-South
and TRACECA transport corridors.
They will connect southeastern Kazakhstan with European nations
though Russia and with Asia and
the Pacific Rim with Kazakhstan’s
section of the Caspian Sea, Iran and
Azerbaijan.
In 2003, the creation of the Aktau Seaport Special Economic Zone
made this subzone one of the main
regions to develop the country’s
economic diversification. Today, it
accommodates three industrial enterprises; another eight business entities are being developed.
The city of Aktau also connects
all the highways of the region. In the
long term, the city aims to become
the centre of the region’s transportation system. This will be possi-
ble with implementation of several
projects such as the construction of
the new passenger terminal of the
Aktau International Airport, completion of the railroad connecting the
Uzen-border region with the Turkmenistan railroad, completion of the
Zhezkazgan–Beineu railroad and
construction of the Beineu – Aktau
highway.
When these projects are completed, Aktau will expand its logistical
potential and improve its transport
infrastructure. The construction of
enterprises producing export-oriented industrial and consumer products
and of cargo terminals to store goods
will also stimulate the development
of the subzone.
President Nazarbayev identified
Aktau among the country’s most
promising cities alongside Astana,
Almaty, Aktobe, and Shymkent.
This places great responsibility on
you and sets high expectations.
What do you think about it?
It sure does. Aktau is the youngest city among them. We are proud
that the President views Aktau as a
city with bright future. In order to
justify this trust we need to dedicate
our knowledge and experience to
help our city thrive and make it comfortable for people to live in.
Mangistau
oblast Governor
Bauyrzhan Mukhamedzhanov recently presented his ideas on how to
breathe new life into the city. He has
also instructed the region’s chief architect to find new ways of redesigning the parks and coastline of Aktau.
Since drinking water is so important for people’s health, the governor
reported on his meeting with representatives of the Degremon company from France. They agreed to
set up new old water-purification installations in Aktau and Zhanaozen.
This mutually beneficial project is
expected to contribute to the development of the region’s transport and
logistical industry. The company is
now in talks about setting up its enterprise in the Aktau Seaport Special
Economic Zone.
Aktau is already Kazakhstan’s
main sea gateway. Now we are striving to make it a major industrial,
cultural, and transportation systems
centre as well.
We will make every effort to enhance the prosperity of the city and
contribute to the development of the
whole country.
Contest Seeks to Help Foster
Intelligent Nation
By Rysty Alibekova
ASTANA – Aisha Iskakova and
Maria Burova became the first winners of the national contest of ideas,
“Innovative Kazakhstan”, which took
place from September to December
2011 under the auspices of the Samruk Kazyna National Welfare Fund.
At the award ceremony in January
Umirzak Shukeyev, chairman of the
board of the fund, handed Iskakova
and Burova educational grants worth
five million tenge each. Twenty-one
other finalists also received prizes.
Iskakova won in the “Technological Breakthrough” category for
her project entitled “Development of
molecular approaches to rationalization of medication intake.”
Burova won in the “Social Ideas”
category for her project to support
youth in crisis, which she named:
“Smile! The world is full of bright
colours!”
Greeting the winners, Shukeyev noted the great importance
the contest has in promoting the
development of non-oil sectors
of the economy and ensuring the
wider use of new technologies and
innovations.
“We need fresh ideas for these
efforts,” he said. “If innovations that
lead to raising labour productivity
by 20 percent are introduced now,
new products with modern technologies can be commissioned and these
problems can be solved by the middle
generation. Developing innovation is
the cause of talented young people,
especially those who have received
excellent training and education and
work in leading laboratories.”
A major incentive for the finalists of the contest was being able to
enroll in the personnel reserve of the
fund, all but guaranteeing them a job
with one of the companies it runs.
According to the fund’s chief,
“this is very interesting, multifaceted
work with great prospects”. Companies connected with the fund employ about 300,000 workers and are
The award ceremony for the winners of the national
contest of ideas “Innovative Kazakhstan”.
among the top ten companies in the
world in terms of assets. Almost half
of the country’s GDP is produced in
the holding’s companies. And the
work of the fund in the future will
continue to be done in line with the
best international standards.
At the ceremony, Shukeyev assured the audience that he would
personally deal with the employment
of winners in the group of companies, and not in the usual technical
workplace but in responsible positions which would confer the ability
to implement their ideas.
The contest was announced in
September 2011 and became an
important event in the life of Kazakhstan’s youth. It was presented in
150 universities in the country and
supported by many youth organizations.
The contest boosted the research
potential of university students and
stirred wide discussions in the In-
ternet. As a result, the organizing
committee received 2,313 applications for participation. Of these, the
contest commission, which included
managers of Samruk Kazyna and
national companies as well as wellknown experts, selected the 21 best
new ideas.
During the contest, the main intrigue revolved around the unspoken
competition between Kazakhstan’s
top universities. As a result, the Kazakh-British Technical University,
the Nazarbayev University and the
Mukhtar Auezov South Kazakhstan
State University, whose students
submitted the largest number of interesting bids, reached the final.
Shukeyev said the contest will
become an annual event so that the
nation’s bright minds will have a
chance to offer creative ideas, breakthrough projects, and innovative
solutions, and thereby contribute to
building an innovative nation.
Cyan Yellow Magenta Black
The Astana Times
Monday, 5 March 2012
B5
society
Dostar School Sets Standard
for Success
The Dostar School is viewed as an example of successful
public-private partnership.
By Raushan Shulembayeva
ALMATY – Today many parents give their preference to international school-lyceum “Dostar” when
choosing a school for their children
in Almaty.
In 12 years of its work the lyceum
has educated over 80 winners of regional, city and republican competitions as well as 12 students who graduated with honours and were awarded
the Altyn Belgi (gold medal).
Following the results of a unified
national test (UNT) for school graduates the lyceum now rates among the
ten best schools in Almaty and among
the 100 best schools in the country.
(average index in UNT of “Dostar”
graduates was 103 points in 2011).
“This success was made possible
due to the public-private partnership
(PPP) of the Damu Entrepreneurship
Development Fund and Dostar,” Leonid Kim, the school’s general director, told The Astana Times. The PPPs
are increasingly seen as among the
most effective means to ensure access to quality education.
The school was founded in 2000.
In its early years, it took out loans
from second-tier banks at high interest rates to construct new school
buildings. But the high interest rates
eventually ate into the institution’s
profits and hindered its efforts to improve conditions for learning.
Kim decided to apply to the Almaty municipal administration and
ask for help. He discovered the state
had been successfully implementing
such projects in accordance with the
Business Road Map 2020 strategic
plan.
Kim is now closely working with
the “Damu” fund which is an operator of the state programme helping
to significantly reduce the cost of
business initiatives, including the
construction of schools and kindergartens. There are many preschool
organizations, schools and universities among the clients of the state
programme. Several billion tenge
have already been allotted from the
national budget for business projects
resulting in the creation of new jobs.
“When we started the construc-
tion of our school building and the
reconstruction of the old one for a
new kindergarten, I took loans from
the city administration and Damu
fund from which the school receives
loans for only seven percent,” Kim
said. “This was a tangible support for
us, because previously we had taken
loans at 18 percent-19 percent rates
of interest rate.”
The Business Road Map includes
provisions for the development of
industrial infrastructure that allow
the state to provide 50 percent of the
cost of projects for all kinds of communication activities, including construction and reconstruction of roads,
sewage, heating and water supply
systems, telephones, electrical substations and power grids. Thanks to
this programme, they replaced underground heating lines below its future
kindergarten.
Today, the Dostar preschool
educational centre hosts a Teachers
Training Institute. The centre hosts
open training events on aesthetic,
moral and musical education, and on
organization of catering for children
in preschool institutions.
The school was also able to use
Damu fund financial aid to hire IT
companies to create a new website
for it and training examples of websites for small and medium-size businesses (SMEs).
Business investors liked these cooperative efforts. Today they are actively engaged in the construction of
new schools and preschool centres.
It looks certain to be a wise investment: demographers predict the
annual birth rate in Kazakhstan in
the four-year period of 2012-2015
will be over 400,000. That means
the number of preschool and school
facilities will have to expand dramatically to accommodate this
baby boom in the near future. The
achievements of the Dostar lyceum
are showing the way.
State Grants Support Promising
Teachers
By Zhuldyz Aitzhanova
ASTANA
–
Vice-Minister
of Education and Science Murat
Orunkhanov participated in the
awarding ceremony of the winners
of the 2011 state grant competition
for the Best University Teacher held
at the Kazakh National University of
Arts in Astana
Some 200 faculty members from
55 universities across the country
have qualified for the grant. The
grant offers university lecturers the
opportunity to continue their re-
search, complete their projects and
fulfill their scientific potential.
More than 600 applicants from
84 universities of the country competed for the awards.
“Each year Kazakhstan continues
to give grants to teachers despite the
world economic crisis. This confirms
the exceptional respect of the state,
and especially the President, for all
teachers in our country,” Bayan Yermekbayeva, Dean of the Graduate
School of Economics and Business
of the al-Farabi Kazakh National
University, told the gathering.
“This support from the govern-
ment provides significant funding
and pays great attention to scientists.
It stimulates grant recipients to implement their projects for the benefit
of the continued growth of national
science,” she said.
The state grants enable university
professors to take advanced courses
at leading universities around the
world. The grant covers all travel
costs for a year that participants will
need to participate in international
and national scientific conferences,
symposia, congresses, workshops
on issues of their research and to advance the educational process.
Kazakhstan, U.S. Boost
Partnership in Education
tion Academy is training the management elite of the personnel reserve of
political civil servants. The NSPA’s
training programme combines the latest theoretical and practical knowledge
in the field of public policy with experience acquired by Kazakhstan’s own
government and the best international
practices.
By Marat Biekenov
Cooperation between Kazakhstan
and the United States continues to develop dynamically in the form of an
intensive dialogue on political, economic, cultural, and humanitarian issues, based on mutual trust.
“Since Kazakhstan gained independence, the interaction between the
two countries has increased significantly in all directions and now we cooperate in a great number of areas, as well as
jointly discuss many issues of interaction,” U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan
Kenneth Fairfax told a recent meeting
with faculty stuff at Public Administration Academy.
Relations between Kazakhstan and
the United States are developing rapidly and are about to reach a new level of
strategic partnership, the envoy said. “I
think the relationship between the two
countries is quite stable,” he added.
The United States has always had a
special interest in Kazakhstan, as it was
the first nation in the world to renounce
the use of nuclear weapons. Economic affairs are an important area of cooperation.
Since independence, Kazakhstan has received more than $150 billion in foreign
direct investment (FDI). U.S. companies
are implementing an enormous share of
foreign investment. Consequently, the
United States plans to further increase its
investment in Kazakhstan’s economy.
Thus, to achieve the common goal, it is
necessary to promote closer cooperation
between the two states.
Dialogue is a guarantee for the future development of U.S. relations with
Kazakhstan. Cooperation in science and
technology, as well as in the development of trade relations forms the basis for
a strong and stable friendship between
Kazakhstan and the United States.
Marat Biekenov
I would like to think that the time
for a new stage in the relationship has
come.
During the official visit of Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Yerzhan
Kazykhanov to the United States from
January 30 to February 1 an agreement was reached to grant five-year
multiple-entry visas for citizens of both
countries on a mutual basis.
In accordance with the agreement,
Kazakhstan citizens – students, scholars, teachers, business people, and
tourists – will soon be able to receive
a visa to travel to the United States for
five years. This step will significantly
strengthen Kazakhstan– -U.S. relations
and give a new impetus to mutual understanding between the peoples of the
two countries. There are already more
than 2,000 Kazakhstan students studying in the United States.
The educational programme between the two countries will help produce quality managers. Currently, the
National School of Public Administration (NSPA) of the Public Administra-
The National School
works closely with
Duke University
in Durham, North
Carolina in the United
States. On the basis of
advanced international
educational
programmes, graduates
of the National School
receive a double
diploma – of the
Academy and of Duke
University, our foreign
partner.
In its educational process, the National School works closely with Duke
University in Durham, North Carolina in the United States. The NSPA’s
educational programmes are based on
the profile of professional activities
and include the formation of personal
competencies of a political manager.
On the basis of advanced international
educational programmes, graduates of
the National School receive a double
diploma – of the Academy and of Duke
University, our foreign partner.
The author is Professor at the National School of Public Administration
of the Public Administration Academy
Grant Inspires Professor
to New Achievements
Minister of Education and Science Bakytzhan Zhumagulov presents Aliya Massalimova
with the Best University Teacher Certificate.
By Raushan Shulembayeva
President Nursultan Nazarbayev
in his 2012 address to the nation noted
the need to modernise national education and invest in the quality development of the nation’s human capital.
“In the course of modernising
the education system, it is important
for us to implement the following
measures. First, we should introduce
modern methods and technology in
the process of teaching... Second, it
is important to improve the quality
of the academic staff. It is necessary
to strengthen standards of teacher’s
basic education as well as requirements for training school and university teachers,” the President said
in his speech on Jan.27.
In order to fulfill the set tasks,
the Ministry of Education and Science annually issues Best University
Teacher competitive, merit-based
grants to support fundamental research and education. The grant
this year is worth 3,236,000 tenge,
or $21,924. It aims to encourage
university lecturers to use innovative educational technologies in the
teaching process and to carry out
major scientific research projects.
Last year, the grants provided
funding for projects proposed by
university academic staff. Some 68
percent of them were professors
and doctors of sciences and the others were associate professors, candidates of sciences and doctors of
philosophy.
One of last year’s Best University Teacher grant recipients was
Aliya Massalimova, the dean of the
Faculty of Philosophy and Political
Science at al-Farabi Kazakh National University. Massalimova said
it was a great honour for her to win
the competition.
“Becoming one of the lucky ones
was not that easy as some 840 candidates from 86 universities from across
the country participated in the competition last year,” Massalimova said.
Her victory did not come easy. It
required many years of meticulous
work, including writing academic
papers in international peer-reviewed
scientific journals with a high impact
factor and publishing books and
textbooks.
But Massalimova said the effort was worth it. Winning the grant
made her feel like a millionaire, she
said. “Among the great satisfactions
of life, receiving the recognition of
one’s achievements, particularly by
my colleagues, stands high.”
The grant helped Massalimova
to publish two of her student’s textbooks: “Cultural Anthropology” (in
Kazakh) and “Intercultural Communication: Theory and Challenges” (in
Russian) and another book entitled
“Marginalism: History, Theory and
Prospects”.
She also used the grant money
to boost her qualifications by participating in workshops, conferences
and overseas training.
Massalimova had dreamed for a
long time of going abroad to share
the results of her research with foreign scholars. The grant has given
her the opportunity to visit U.S. institutions of higher learning such as
Columbia University, Yale University, Hartford Seminary, Oklahoma
University and universities in Turkey
such as Marmara, Mimar and Sinan.
Her main purpose was to meet scientists and participate in discussions
on the challenges faced by contemporary education and to exchange
experience with foreign colleagues
and utilize the library resources of
world’s leading universities.
Massalimova has successfully applied the results of her research work
in the field of theoretical research and
practical activities. By integrating research and education, she has used
her scientific findings in the development of elective courses offered to
undergraduate and graduate students
and in carrying out research projects
on social and cultural development.
The grant has given her additional impetus to continue her research
on issues of Kazakhstan’s cultural
and civilisational development, tolerance, intellectual potential and urgent topics of religion studies
“This is a unique grant. As far as
I know, few countries in the world
provide this kind of financial support
for workers in the field of education
and science. I am truly grateful to
our government for the enormous
attention it pays to teachers,” Massalimova said.
Cyan Yellow Magenta Black
The Astana Times
B6
Monday, 5 March 2012
Tourism
Burkhan-Bulak, the Greatest Waterfall in Central Asia
By Kumiszhan Baizhan
The Jungar Alatau Mountains in
the south-east of Kazakhstan contain
many locations of striking beauty. The
Burkhan-Bulak waterfall, the largest
in Central Asia, is one of them.
The waterfall is located at a
height of 2,000 metres above sea
level in the beautiful Kora River Valley that stretches for 90 km. Tons of
melted glacier water crash down to
the Kora River in three stages over
a length of 112 metres, sprinkling
everything around with their silver
splashes.
The best time to visit BurkhanBulak is in July, during the season of
maximum water flow, when the waterfall shows its true nature. It is said
that the Kora River Valley was once
inhabited by Buddhist monks, who
gave the waterfall its name.
In summer, the German House
public association from the city of
Taldykorgan organizes a summer
camp for children near the waterfall.
In 2011, the association welcomed
more than 80 students from around
Kazakhstan.
The German House also runs a
project to develop ecotourism in the
Kora Valley. In 2007, it won a grant
from the Global Environment Fund
to build the Taubulak environmental
camp for tourists visiting the region
by car.
The best way to reach Burkhan-
Bulak is to drive from Almaty to the
Tekeli town 300 km (180 miles) to
the south-east. The waterfall is located 55 km (33 miles) from the town.
The mining town of Tekeli was
founded in 1911 to extract polymetallic ores. Tekeli is known for having one of the longest streets in the
world, stretching for 28 km, named
after Dinmukhamed Konayev, who
ruled Kazakhstan during the Soviet
era as its Communist party First Secretary from 1960 to 1962 and from
1964 to 1986. The town is situated
at the mouth of the Kora Valley at
the confluence of three mountain
streams – Kora, Shizhe, and Tekeli.
The road from Tekeli to BurkhanBulak is full of difficulties and takes
about five hours to travel due to poor
conditions. The road passes through
thick pine and fir forests, as well as
many birch trees. The area is in the
border zone with China and remains
first-growth wilderness. There is a
complete absence of tourist trash.
There are no plastic bottles lying
around or any graffiti on the rocks.
There are many legends told
about the waterfall. According to
one of them, there once lived a
mother who had a single son named
Burkhan. The mother loved her son
dearly and wished him to marry a
kind and compliant woman. When
she learned that he was in love with a
beautiful, but arrogant and stubborn
girl named Kora, she did her best to
prevent the marriage. Therefore, she
built a stone fortress and confined
her son there. But Burkhan’s strong
love broke through the rock as a
waterfall, uniting him with his girl
friend, the Kora River. The mother,
they say, continues to cry over this
marriage, and her tears run as a small
stream near the waterfall.
The Kora Valley has many other
attractions besides the BurkhanBulak waterfall. One of them is a
three-metre high stone stupa with a
carving of Buddha, standing at the
entrance to the river valley. There is
a natural hole filled with water above
the rock. The water in the hole never
disappears and is revered by locals
as holy water. The lower part of the
stele has many relief images and silhouettes of mythical animals.
According to Tibetan lamas, the
energy of the stone stupa is limitless and spreads around through all
the elements of nature. Its location
in front of the Kora Valley was chosen by the ancient peoples as a place
where all four elements of nature –
water, earth, wind, and fire (Sun) –
are optimally combined.
The great white Holy Stone is
unique in the region. As there are no
such other rocks in the surrounding
forests, it is also revered by the local
inhabitants. Visitors always stop by
the stone and leave a piece of fabric
on the spruce tree growing near it.
According to folk legends, there
New Ski Resort at Tekeli...
From Page B1
The idea to develop tourism infrastructure and build ski resorts in
Kazakhstan first appeared last year.
Former Minister of Tourism and
Sports Talgat Yermegiyayev said in
the very near future Tekeli, along
with a number of other renowned
winter sports areas in the country,
will have its own resort with ski
trails and the entire range of supporting services, such as hotels and other
accommodation, restaurants, equipment rental and a ski lift system.
In his words, the foothills of
the famous Jungar Alatau mountain
range and the vicinity of the town
make the place best suited for the
creation of a resort zone.
According to preliminary estimates, the total cost of the project
amounts to $100 million, while the
Tekeli resort area has already been
included in the action plan of the
national programme for the development of promising tourist areas.
On one hand, the initiative to
build a ski resort in Tekeli seems to
be a perfect project to implement the
strategy of developing small and single industry towns in rural areas and
promote tourism in the exceptionally
magnificent corner of Kazakhstan.
However, there are issues that interfere with the smooth implementation of Tekeli initiative.
Before the plans for building a
new resort zone were officially made
public, a feasibility evaluation and a
number of various alternative building methods were prepared for the
project. The documents went through
several revisions by state authorities
and were approved by each of them.
Still, it turned out that the priority territories for the construction of
ski resort in Tekeli embraced areas
which lie closer to the city of Almaty,
including the rival project of Tekeli,
Kok Zhailyau. For that reason, the
Tekeli initiative has slowed down to
the point where the project itself has
been called into question.
At least the issue was laid aside
for the future work.
Other questions about the project
raised environmental issues, in particular whether the unique and untouched nature of the Jungar Alatau
will be affected and to what extent.
Still, the project’s proponents
say Tekeli is worth it. Burkhan Bulak is one of the largest waterfalls
in Central Asia, reaching a height of
nearly 120 meters, while the slopes
of Tekeli preserve the snow cover
for almost half the year. Moreover,
the conditions required for the construction of ski resort are almost
complete, including the recently
repaired 28-kilometre-long road to
Tekeli.
The abundance of pros and cons
provides food for thought, turning
Tekeli into another pending question:
Will the small town in the southeast
of the country really get a chance to
turn into a well developed worldclass ski resort area of Kazakhstan?
Time will tell.
once stood a village near the Kora
River a long time ago. People lived
carefree lives until one day they
were struck by a terrible earthquake.
A great stone fell from the mountain, sweeping away everything in
its way. When it seemed that nothing
could stop the rock, it halted still in
front of a yurt, where a woman was
giving birth. Since then, people have
revered the stone as holy.
The Kora Valley boasts an extremely diverse flora and fauna. The
Tien Shan brown bear is considered
one of the most interesting representatives of the animal world in the
area. Another interesting and unusual creature is the Zhetisu frog-tooth
– a relic triton that lives only in the
Zhetisu area. The creature received
its name due to the fact that it has
real teeth in the mouth.
Fishing enthusiasts can enjoy
catching fish in all of the local mountain rivers. The fish is usually caught
in the afternoon till late evening. It is
not choosy when it comes to the bait,
which guarantees a good catch.
Some call the Jungar Alatau area
a heaven on earth, as the famous
Malus sieversii wild apple grows
there. This is considered the wild ancestor of all the cultivated varieties
of apples around the world.
Nature in the Jungar Alatau is
remains pristine and truly heavenly.
To visit it is to rediscover the indivisibility of man and nature.
The Burkhan-Bulak waterfall is located at a height of
2,000 metres above sea level in the beautiful Kora River
Valley that stretches for 90 km.
Nauryz Festival Lights Up New
Year with Good Cheer
Theatre artists perform on stage during Nauryz festivities in Almaty.
From Page B1
Donentayev’s contemporary, the
prominent Kazakh linguist, poet,
and educator Akhmet Baitursynov
wrote: “Nauryz is the Kazakhs’ New
Year. New Year in Russia begins in
mid-winter, during extreme cold.
Our New Year – Nauryz – whether it
starts in the beginning, middle, or at
the end of March… has the right to
be called a New Year.”
Shakarim Kudaiberdiuly, the
pride of the Kazakh nation, a famous
philosopher, writer, poet, and composer, said: “In the Persian language
’Nauryz’ means ’new day.’ Kazakhs
learned it from the Kozhas (tribe) of
Bukhar and Tashkent. In the old Kazakh language the Nauryz is referred
to as the ‘Ulys’ day.”
People begin celebrating Nauryz
on March 22 at 3 a.m. Kazakhs have
special traditions to celebrate Nauryz. They wait for Kydyr Ata to visit
homes at night. According to Kazakh mythology, an old saint in human
form called Kydyr Ata walks about
the streets on the eve of Nauryz on
the night of March 21. He is revered
as the people’s protector and grantor
of happiness.
National sports have become an
integral part of the celebration. On
this day, traditional contests such as
kokpar (goat polo), wrestling, kyz
kuu (girl chasing), aksuyek (finding white bone) and swing rides are
played all day.
Certainly, the festival is never
complete if there are no yurts set up
on the main squares of towns and
cities. Kazakhs believe that Nauryz
must be celebrated in a clean house,
in order for a family to be free from
disease and evil in the next year.
Therefore, people clean their houses
on the eve of the holiday and also
fill empty dishes with food and water. They believe that if the house
is filled with abundance at Nauryz
time, it will remain so during the
whole year.
Other Nauryz customs include
cooking the main meal of the holiday,
called Nauryz Kozhe. It is a special festive cold soup made of seven components. Another attribute of the holiday
is singing Nauryz songs: Kazakhs have
composed many cheerful and joyous
songs and poems about Nauryz.
On this day, people wear their
new and most elegant clothes and
visit their loved ones to wish them
a happy holiday. According to tradition, the eldest person in the family
gives a blessing in the form of small
poems, called bata, when everyone
is gathered together. The elderly
usually carefully prepare their special words in advance, so that every
delivered word sinks into the soul of
people and remains remembered.
Blessing includes wishes like:
“May your tea be always red, and
your life long! Let the good in your
life flow over the edge, and shall
your enemies flee from you! May
God bless you with a long life!” Another example of a bata: “Let your
path be happy, and let every thing
be always ready! Let the lost things
return, and may God replenish shortcomings! May God bless you with
happiness!”
Nauryz also has a great educational role. Through words of blessing, the elderly teach the young to
fight ignorance and laziness, refrain
from drinking, drug use, and other
harmful and self-destructive habits.
And they encourage young people to
cultivate humane qualities.
The most basic greeting Kazakhs
pronounce at Nauryz, however, is
the wish for a peaceful life and wellbeing for the whole country.
The author is one of Kazakhstan’s
most prominent historians and a
leader of education.
Young dancers dressed in national costumes celebrate
the beginning of a new year.
Cyan Yellow Magenta Black
The Astana Times
Monday, 5 March 2012
B7
Sports
Barys Astana Fights in Playoffs Energetic Wife of Barys
By Askar Beisenbayev
The Continental Hockey League’s
(KHL) regular championship is over. It
definitely surpassed all previous championships in terms of suspense and
entertainment. The intrigue continued
until the last game of the season in Riga
when the local “Dynamo” hosted the
“Amur” team from Khabarovsk. It was
the game which determined the final
composition of teams in the playoffs
who will continue the struggle for the
League’s top trophy, the Gagarin Cup.
It is the fourth time that Barys
Astana started the quarterfinals with
a game against Kazan’s “Ak Bars”,
which ended 4 to 6. Barys’ loss to
“Severstal” by penalty shoots and its
win in the last seconds over “Vityaz”
from the Russian town of Chekhov
likely surprised many, but not experts
and diehard fans who understand the
intricacies of the tournament process.
By saving energy, avoiding injuries
before the main start of the season and
deploying a winning strategy, Astana’s
hockey players have artistically demonstrated the art of playing hockey.
There were two tasks set for the game
against “Cherepovets”: to solidify the
status of Brandon Bochenski as KHL’s
top-scorer – which he accomplished
by scoring two amazing goals – and to
keep a bead on “Amur” and “Yugra”,
who are closing in on each other in the
tournament, in order to gain advantage
or tactically retreat at the right time. The
game with “Severstal” was very close.
It was tied 3-3 at the end of regulation
after “Severstal” tied the game just 12
seconds before the buzzer. Barys lost in
overtime by penalty shootouts.
The “battle” against Chekhov’s
“Vityaz” was exciting as well. Even
playing without their three leading
forwards, Astana’s team could have
easily beaten “Vityaz” by an even
larger margin, but decided against it.
Keeping it tight at the back, “Barys”
tested its roster of players and did not
allow its guests – famous for their aggressiveness – to injure its players.
A couple of things, in fact, have
occurred recently to please “Barys”
fans. Team captain Kevin Dallman
recently celebrated his birthday after
making two assists in a single game to
set a new single-season assist record
for KHL defenders at 36 assists.
Dallman also holds the record
among defenders for scores gained
(58). His performance places him 4th
on the list of the best strikers in the
history of the League. The first three
strikers on the list are forwards Aleksander Radulov, Sergey Mozyakin
and Aleksey Morozov.
The team won 3:2 over “Vityaz”
with Irzhi Novotny scoring the final
goal 59 seconds before the honk.
This basically determined that Astana’s rival in the first play-off game
will be “Metallurg” from Magnitogorsk. The two away games tookplace on March 2 and 3, and the two
home games are on March 4 and 5. After three games, Barys was 2-1 ahead.
Captain Sees Many
Untapped Opportunities
in Astana
From Page B1
Kevin Dallman, Barys captain, made two assists in a
single game to set a new single-season assist record for
KHL defenders at 36 assists.
Rakov Takes Gold in Judo Grand Prix
By Askar Sultan
Maxim Rakov, second left, celebrates on the podium after winning gold medal.
Maxim Rakov from Karaganda,
the 2009 world champion and bronze
medalist of the 2011 judo world
championship, won the gold medal
at the Judo Grand Prix tournament in
Düsseldorf for the second time.
In the finals in mid-February Rakov faced off with South Korean athlete Hee-Tae Hwang. The fight was
tough and the score at the end of the
regulation time was 0:0. In the three
minutes overtime, Rakov showed a
good attacking style and the judges
announced him the winner in the
weight category under 100 kg.
In the run up to the finals Rakov
defeated Jaso Coster of New Zealand
and Artem Bloschenko of Ukraine.
In the quarterfinals, he beat Levan
Zhorzholiani of Georgia and then
won his place in the final by defeating Ramadan Darwish of Egypt.
Kazakhstan was represented in
Düsseldorf by a team of 19, including 12 male and seven female athletes.
Kazakhstan Wins Bronze at Bandy World
Championship in Almaty
By Yuri Lifintsev
The Kazakhstan national bandy
team won the bronze medal at the
World Championship, held in Almaty January 29 to February 5, by
beating Finland 10:5 in the thirdplace match. Kazakhstan is now a
three-time bronze medalist of the
world championships.
In the semifinals on February
4, the national team lost to Sweden, which went on to become the
world champion. The semifinal
game’s regular time ended in a
4:4 tie. Two fifteen-minute overtime rounds also did not produce
a winner. In the end, Kazakhstan’s
players under the leadership of
Aleksei Nikishov lost in a penalty shootout. The team played inspired hockey and was ahead 4:2
just five minutes before the final
buzzer. But the team was unable to
hold on. Nevertheless, the Kazakh
audience, including the President,
Nursultan Nazarbayev, who came
to see the match, was pleased with
the game.
At a press conference the next
day, Aleksei Nikishov delivered a
message from the President, saying that a sport like bandy would
continue to develop in Kazakhstan.
A total of 15 teams played in
the World Championship held for
the 32nd time this year.
The Kazakhstan national bandy team won the bronze
medal at the World Championship in Almaty.
I wish that the local population
would understand that I am not criticizing anything, except maybe the local traffic police!
I really like Astana, it’s a great
city that amazes me each year I return
with its improvements and new developments. I like exploring the city
and I wish that I had more time to visit
other cities and villages throughout
the country. I find the history of Kazakhstan and the culture very interesting
and I would love to learn more about
the country but the language barrier
makes it difficult to seek out new information.
I talk about things on my blog that
are new experiences for me personally, since locals see the things I talk
about every single day, my experiences aren’t unique to them. I was
surprised that so many Kazakh people
actually read the blog and leave angry
comments, I am not a serious person
by nature and by no means is the blog
supposed to be read as an educational,
political, religious or philosophical
piece of work. I write in my spare
time, I say what is on my mind and I
don’t feel the need to sugar-coat anything. When locals get mad about me
writing about Kazakhstan it makes me
feel like they are embarrassed by their
country. There is nothing to be embarrassed about – acknowledging a social
issue is the starting point of change.
In my opinion, building a democracy
requires viewing issues with a clear
mind rather than covering your eyes
with rose-coloured glasses. I was born
into a country that was already developed by my ancestors. Kazakh people
are lucky to be born into a country that
they themselves are able to shape and
develop for future generations. Young
people in Kazakhstan are basically
deciding the future of their country,
that is something to be proud of and
it is an honour that shouldn’t be taken
lightly.
What was the main reason when
you decided to establish The United
Hockey Wives Foundation? What is
the main goal of the Foundation?
After the tragedy with HC Lokomotiv in the KHL, a group of hockey
wives and I realized that support for
the wives and girlfriends of players in
the KHL and European leagues is nonexistent. We wanted to combine our resources in order to help the wives and
girlfriends who lost their loved ones in
the accident. Our main goal with The
United Hockey Wives Foundation is
to provide support for hockey families
in times of need. Our secondary goal
is to provide a legal platform for girls
in foreign countries to do charity work
including fundraising for local causes.
Charity, and being able to give back
when you are able to do so is a very
important aspect to most hockey players and their wives. The Barys wives
and I have been wanting to do something worthwhile in Astana but we
worry about funds being mishandled.
We desperately want to give back to
this city, but we worry about corruption and it would break our hearts to
work so hard on a project only to have
someone other than the intended group
of people benefit from our efforts.
We’ve offered to volunteer our time
at local baby houses and we hope to
make this happen in the near future.
For the time being, the Barys wives
and I are in the process of starting our
first project here in Astana by donating $5,000 USD to the Astana Animal
Rescue. The funds are intended to
build winter shelters for the animals
and to help provide food and medical
care. We hope to visit the shelter before the end of the hockey season to
access the needs of the animals, and
to come up with more ways to help
throughout the 2012-2013 hockey
season.
The Astana Animal Rescue, by
the way, is holding its first fundraising event on March 8, 2012 at Khan
Shatyr at 4pm. The United Hockey
Wives Foundation and Barys Wives
are sponsoring the event and we hope
the players, if in town, will also take
part.
My hope is that in the future, The
United Hockey Wives Foundation can
become a transparent and trustworthy
charity for hockey wives to work hand
in hand with throughout this region,
Russia, Europe and North America,
and that no one will have to worry
about any of the funds being mishandled no matter what country or city
they are in.
What does it feel like to be the
wife of a hockey star? Do you think a
“hockey wife” has a very special role
to play in the life of her husband?
I can’t help but smile at this question. I’d like to think that being a
hockey wife is the same as being the
wife to someone with a different profession, but I know that this lifestyle
isn’t for every woman. As a hockey
wife, you need to be ready to pick up
and move to new cities or new countries at a moment’s notice. You are
the sole caretaker of your children for
most of the year, and you won’t have
your extended family around to help
out with your kids. You will likely
attend school concerts and special
events alone, or with other hockey
wives in place of your husband. You
will spend holidays and birthdays and
anniversaries without your husband,
without your friends and without your
family. You’ll sleep in a half empty
bed for much of the year and you’ll be
expected to do all of this with a smile
on your face. But with every hardship,
there is opportunity. You will have
the chance to live in more cities and
countries than most people could ever
dream of. Every season you will meet
new friends, many of whom you will
keep in contact with for your lifetime.
You will be empowered by your ability to adjust and adapt to new situations, new surroundings and new people year after year. You will learn how
to be strong, independent and how
to have an identity other than just a
“hockey wife”.
On the eve of the International
Women’s Day which is widely celebrated across the CIS what would
be your wishes to women of Kazakhstan?
Everyday I am amazed at how
many opportunities exist in this country! It must be similar to when people
first arrived in North America - there
are so many niche businesses that
could be started in Kazakhstan, and
that will be started by someone eventually. My wish for the women of Kazakhstan is that they look around their
country with eyes wide open and ask
themselves how they can solve an existing problem. Think about how you
can make life easier or better for people or what you can do to fulfill an unmet need, and then seize the opportunity! Don’t be afraid to dream big and
start out small. The important thing is
to have a dream, to have a goal and
then take small steps everyday towards reaching that goal.
Astana’s Arlans Reach Boxing Playoffs
By Damir Koyanbayev
Kazakhstan’s professional boxing club Astana’s Arlans has qualified for the quarterfinal playoffs of
the World Series of Boxing.
This is the critical stage of the
WSB’s regular season. The Arlans
took third place in the tournament’s
Group A with 22 points. The group
leader is Moscow’s Dynamo club
with 25 points.
The participating clubs of Moscow, Baku, Paris, and Milan, like
the Arlans, brought new boxing
talent to the contest. Astana’s team
has signed on new fighters to reinforce its weak areas. The most successful acquisitions are Algerian
heavyweights. Shuaib Bolodinats
has already proved himself to be
a skilful and maneuverable boxer.
He has replaced Sardor Abdullayev. Abdelkhafid Benchabla, the
reigning WSB individual champion in the 85 kg (187 lb) division
brings more strength to the team.
Squad leaders Kanat Islam, Ruslan
Myrsatayev, Merey Akshalov, and
Yerzhan Musafirov are also in the
team.
The first test for the renewed
team led by Beibut Yeszhanov was
their clash with a strong American
team, the Los Angeles Matadors but
they lost by two fights to three. In
the next round, they were defeated
by Italy’s powerful Milano Thunder, which has been undefeated for
a long streak.
However, the Kazakh boxers
then managed to improve their results, and after five wins they were
back among the leaders. Before
the final two rounds, the top three
clubs in Group A were Astana,
Moscow, and Milan with 19 points
each. However, in the ninth round,
the Arlan “wolves” lost 0:5 in their
set of fights with Dynamo.
This put Milan in first place.
The Italians won the home battle against a team from Bangkok,
Thailand. The Mumbai Fighters
from India gained a quarterfinal
berth after scoring walkover set
of victories against the LA Matadors in their last Group A league
contests. In the last round, Kazakhstan’s team met the Indian
sportsmen and won 4-1.
Now the Arlans are in third
place in Group A, which means they
will meet the second-place winner
of Group B, the Mexico City Guerreros, in the first stage of the playoffs. With 19 points, the Guerreros
have a home match ahead with the
clear leader in their group, The
Baku Fires who have chalked up
nine wins in nine contests.
The highly-rated Mexican team
contains at least one front-runner in
each weight category: up to 54kg
(118.8 lb) – Elias Emigdio (second place in the tournament’s individual ranking, four wins in four
competitions); up to 61 kg (134.2
lb) – Juan Romero (first place, four
wins in four matches); up to 73 kg
(160.6 lb) – Mladen Manev (10th
place, two wins in two games); up
to 85 kg (187 lb) – Kennedy Katende (fourth place, four wins with
a single loss); and over 91 kg (20.2
lb) – Juan Hiracheta (12th place,
two wins and two losses). The most
successful boxers on the Mexican
team are in the lightweight and
middleweight divisions.
Three Kazakh boxers are still in
contention for placing in their individual championships In the 61
kg (134.2 lb) category Merey Akshalov ranks fifth with three victories. More wins may elevate him to
a higher rating in the final round.
Heavyweight Myrsatayev also has
a chance. An experienced boxer
with three victories, he is now
listed in the top three. Bolodinats,
with two wins in two fights, holds
eighth place.
The quarterfinals start on March
2. The semifinals will be held on
March 23-24 and March 30-31 and
the final is scheduled for April 27
and 28.
Kazakhstan’s professional boxing club Astana’s Arlans
has qualified for the quarterfinal playoffs of the World
Series of Boxing.
Cyan Yellow Magenta Black
The Astana Times
B8
Monday, 5 March 2012
Capital
Kazakhstan Campaigns to Win EXPO-2017 for Astana
that in 2017 different nations can
demonstrate their achievements in
this field at EXPO-2017 in Astana.
Kazakhstan also plans to present
new scientific projects at the EXPO.
From Page A1
“First of all, it is the first time
in its history that an exhibition will
come to Central Asia and the entire
post-Soviet space,” Kazybayev said.
“Second, our country is a perfect
place for the EXPO as it is located in
the heart of the region, being a bridge
between Europe and Asia, and we
have historically maintained commercial, cultural and human contacts
with both regions,” Kazybayev said.
“We hope that the visit of the BIE
will be successful, and our country
will be approved for final consideration,” he added.
Winning national support
The Assembly of the People of
Kazakhstan (APK), a unique institution which represents the many
various ethnic groups living in the
country, is also participating in plans
to host the EXPO. Kazakhstan’s EXPO-2017 project and the Assembly
share the common goals of seeking
to create the greater integration of
national society.
The EXPO project has become
popular with young people, especially students who believe it will
boost the nation’s economy, culture
and social sphere.
Juan Correas, Kazakhstan’s general consultant on EXPO-2017, visited Astana in October 2011 and met
students, professors and teachers of
the Leo Gumilyev Eurasian National
University (ENU).
“If EXPO-2017 is held in Kazakhstan, it will leave a great cultural
heritage for the people of the country and will be financially beneficial
for the state; EXPO will enhance the
credibility of the country and put it
on the same level with developed
nations. The “Energy of the Future”
theme for the EXPO is relevant and
in demand as never before,” Correas
said during his visit.
Yerlan Sydykov, the rector of
Eurasian National University also
supported the EXPO initiative. “The
Promoting Astana’s Bid
around the World
The city of Astana has already
completed several important stages
in its bid to host the EXPO. It has
submitted its formal application and
made the official presentation of its
bid to the 149th BIE meeting in Paris
in June 2011. It followed these steps
by providing a more detailed explanation of its concept to the BIE General Assembly in November 2011,
participating in various international
forums and summits, as well as holding local events.
Over the past year, Kazakhstan’s
diplomats have been energetically
promoting the country’s bid to host
EXPO-2017 around the world. As a
result of their efforts, many nations
including Germany, the United Arab
Emirates, Brazil, India, South Africa and Australia, have been briefed
about Astana’s initiative.
The support of President Nursultan Nazarbayev has played an important role in the success of what
has become a national project. Last
summer, at the 38th session of the
Council of the Ministers of Foreign
Affairs of the Organisation of Islamic
Conference, the president expressed
his hope that the 57 OIC memberstates would support Astana’s bid to
host the EXPO.
President Nazarbayev noted that
large-scale investment in energy is a
vital issue for the entire world.
“Our country has put forward its
candidacy for the World Exhibition
EXPO-2017 under the theme “Energy of the Future”. I hope our initiative will be supported by the OIC
member-states and the theme that we
have set forth will be actively discussed,” the president said.
The government of Kazakhstan
has launched an effort to inform citizens of the importance and value of
participating in international exhibitions such as EXPO. Hosting the exposition offers a unique opportunity
to demonstrate Kazakhstan’s potential to the world.
Astana Deputy Mayor Kanat Sul-
Astana’s bid to host an international expo finds wide
support among its residents.
Islamic Economic Forum, the European Future Energy Forum, and the
European Business Association of
Kazakhstan, the Regional Conference on the Development of Renewable Energy Resources in Central
Asia and the 12-nation Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
The highlight of Kazakhstan’s
pavilion at the exhibition celebrating the 20th anniversary of the CIS,
from June 28 to July 3, 2011, was a
presentation of the “Astana EXPO2017 project.
Expositions Chief Says
Astana ‘Has Good Chances’
to Host EXPO
BIE Secretary General Vicente
Gonzalez Loscertales visited Astana
in November, 2011 where he was
received by President Nazarbayev.
The two leaders then discussed cooperation between Kazakhstan and
the BIE, as well as Astana’s bid for
EXPO-2017 .
“The chances of Astana to hold
EXPO-2017 are quite high,” the BIE
Kazakh girls speak to a curious visitor by the Astana
EXPO-2017 stand.
tanbekov told the BIE General Assembly, “Astana is ready to conduct
purposeful work to ensure the most
comfortable stay for the guests and
tourists from across the world who
will come to visit EXPO-2017. We
will take all the required measures
to provide favourable conditions for
our visitors”.
Major international conferences
recently held in Astana have offered
an excellent opportunity for the city
to present itself to the world community as a serious contender to host
the EXPO. These have included the
Astana Economic Forum, the Investment Forum, the Annual Meeting of
the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World
Secretary General told a press conference in Astana. Loscertales noted
the political will of the Kazakhstan
leadership to host the EXPO and he
acknowledged that the country had
the resources to do so. He also acknowledged that Kazakhstan’s proposed theme of “Energy of the Future” proposed is relevant in today’s
world.
“Traditionally, EXPO exhibitions have been held in Northeast
Asia, Europe and North America.
Holding an exhibition in the new
(Central Asian) region, which is the
bridge between East and West, in a
young country, which has developed
very good relations with European,
Middle Eastern countries, former
Soviet republics, as well as with all
countries of the Central Asian region
is an additional advantage, which
also strengthens the position of Astana. In 2017, Astana will celebrate
its 20th anniversary as a capital. This
is another reason,” Loscertales said.
Focusing on
Alternative Energy
If Astana succeeds in its efforts
to host EXPO-2017, Astana planners
believe the exhibition could become
a good platform to showcase and discuss major global trends in the energy industry. Work on developing the
theme of future energy has already
begun. Kazakhstan is also actively
participating in international discussions on the introduction of new energy sources.
“In this regard, we have much
to learn from Europe. First of all, in
Europe strategic issues have been
worked out, there are programmes to
develop renewable energy sources,
there is a clear vision of how and in
what amount electricity should be
produced, as well as what direction
should be chosen,” Zhakyp Bokenbayev, the director of the Electricity
and Coal Industry Department of the
Ministry of Industry and New Technologies told the Astana Times.
“The European Future Energy
Forum (EFEF) in which our delegation took part in October 2011 aimed
to promote the ideas of energy conservation and the use of modern technologies. That is particularly important in the context of Kazakhstan’s
main priorities,” Bokenbayev said.
The Kazakh delegation won the
support of the United Arab Emirates for its bid to host the EXPO at a
meeting with Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber,
the managing director of the Masdar
Institute.
“We are confident Kazakhstan
will make an effective case to the
BIE. In 2017, all world leaders of the
energy industry will meet in Astana
to discuss pressing issues and search
for new solutions. We wish you success and victory,” Sultan Ahmed said
“We are ready to share our experience in developing and implementing alternative energy sources with
Kazakhstan.”
Minister for Economic Integration Zhanar Aitzhanova also participated in the government’s diplomatic
drive to promote Astana’s bid to host
the EXPO. She told the BIE General
Assembly in Paris that the development of sustainable energy was an
urgent and globally important issue.
Kazakhstan viewed the EXPO as a
perfect opportunity to promote international dialogue on ensuring energy
and environmental security, stability,
and prosperity on a world scale, she
said. The subject was also central
to the energy development strategy
of Kazakhstan. According to some
forecasts, Kazakhstan is investing
more than 5.7 billion euros in the
development of alternative energy
sources by 2015.
In cooperation with the UN Development Programme, Kazakhstan
is also studying the potential of wind
power and is creating a national
wind-power atlas.
Kazakhstan has rich hydrocarbon
reserves of oil and gas and plays a
leading global role in uranium mining and exports. Now the government
also plans to create an international
database on new energy sources, so
EXPO is a very important event for
the whole country,” he said. “Being the most active part of society,
young people will support this truly
national project. All of our 12,000
students are ready to become volunteers in the EXPO-2017. We are
ready to start the work today.”
Building Social Awareness
of Ecological Issues
The government also sought to
develop national interest in developing alternative energy sources by
holding its Energy of the Future national contest from September 12 to
October 30, 2011 on the best slogan
and best essay on the subject.
“It’s important that Kazakhstan
schoolchildren and students showed
great interest in the Energy of the
Future theme. After reading the submissions, I can say one thing – today a lot of talented young people
are interested in future energy and
they have offered their concrete developments in the field of alternative
energy,” Aidar Kazybayev, chairman of the Bidding Committee and
Chairman of the Committee of Trade
of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade said. “The active
involvement of young people and
creative teams will give new impetus
to our bid to host the EXPO.”
Students from across the country
took part in the contest.
“The leadership, the energy and
the creativity of the youth – that’s
our future,” said Vladimir Klyakin,
a member of the EXPO-2017 Committee and deputy director of the
Department of Electricity and Coal
Industry of the Ministry of Industry
and New Technologies. “To unite
young people, increase their activity,
and encourage them to solve environmental and energy problems –
that’s what we wanted from the competition. And I think we achieved our
goal. I am sure the essays will serve
as an impetus for carrying out innovative projects in energy conservation. Their modern progressive ideas
will help us move towards the sustainable use of energy.”
Magzhan Kutzhan, a contestant
from Karaganda province, won first
place in the essay contest.
“Winning the Future Energy contest is an honour to me,” he said. “I
am glad to have met the expectations
of the competition committee “Winning the Future” and I hope to stay
active in this field.”
ENU student Gaukhar Zhanzholova won the award for writing the best
slogan: She came up with “Save today: Survive tomorrow.”
“I am so happy my slogan was
chosen. It came as a real surprise,”
Gaukhar said “I want to send this
message to our whole country: ‘Save
our resources today. And survive tomorrow!”.
The government is also organising a Scientific Congress on Energy
of the Future as part of the next Astana Economic Forum in May.
The BIE will make its final choice
on the city to hold EXPO-2017 in
November 2012: Kazakhstan’s government and diplomats are working
hard to win the prize.