INTERVIEW

What does Kazakhstan do to promote its non-resource exports?

The promotion of non-resource exports has been a priority of the government of Kazakhstan that seeks to double the figure to $41 billion by 2025.  QazTrade Center for Trade Policy Development created under the Ministry of Trade and Integration is working to support the country's efforts in this area. I am joined by Aibek Sagynayev, Director of Project Development Department at QazTrade to discuss what are some of the measures that local exporters can receive and what are the plans going forward.

26 November, 2021 12:37

National Bank explains declining value of tenge

Since the beginning of the month, tenge has been declining in value. Deputy Chair of the National Bank Aliya Moldabekova explained the reasons behind the weakening of tenge and the main events in the foreign and domestic markets, reports Strategy2050.kz referring to the official website of the National Bank.

24 November, 2021 16:46

Kazakhstan, Spain seek greater cooperation

In the first episode of the Talk to Ambassador project, I am joined by Jorge Urbiola, Ambassador of Spain to Kazakhstan to discuss the current state and prospects of bilateral ties between Kazakhstan and Spain.  Kazakhstan and Spain are keen to boost cooperation across many areas as the next year will mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations since February 2022, just a few months after Kazakhstan's independence.  With multiple high-level visits over these years and despite the pandemic, the two countries see big prospects coming ahead.

23 November, 2021 17:28

Vegetarian lifestyle in Kazakhstan: paradox or trend?

In recent years, vegetarianism has been growing in numbers worldwide. Though reliable data is lacking on the number of vegetarians around the globe, the trend is there with far-reaching impact.

12 November, 2021 15:53

Cutting-edge crafts from Central Asian artists to be featured in NYC Jewelry Week 2021

A Central Asian exhibition featuring works created by artists and designers from the region will be presented by The Jewelry Library in New York, which will take place from Nov.15-21 as part of NYC Jewelry Week.

12 November, 2021 10:13

Life in Kazakhstan: how similar are Germany and Kazakhstan?

Welcome to the first episode of Life in Kazakhstan program, where we tell the stories of foreign citizens living and working in Kazakhstan and talk about some of the most acute issues facing the world.  Our first guest speaker is Christoph Mohr. Coming from Germany, he shares his reflections about Kazakhstan, where he has been living for more than two and half years. Serving as Regional Director for Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, he also tells about the strong partnership between Kazakhstan and Germany that has a lot ahead as the two countries prepare to mark 30 years of diplomatic relations in 2022.

28 October, 2021 18:18

Why do we need financial literacy and what are the new areas for investment in Kazakhstan?

Attracting foreign capital has been a priority for the government of Kazakhstan that seeks to bring the volume of FDI to $30 billion per year by 2025.  In this broadcast, we discussed the importance of financial literacy in investment decisions and what are the new areas of investments that Kazakhstan could capitalize on with Arman Batayev, Deputy Director of Investments Department at AIFC Business Connect, a subsidiary of the Astana International Financial Centre tasked with identifying and attracting international capital to the key sectors of the country's economy.

27 October, 2021 15:47

What are Kazakhstan's prospects to grow as Islamic finance regional hub?

Islamic finance is the fastest-growing segment of the global banking industry, with more than 300 banks offering Sharia-compliant products and services. Kazakhstan's Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), launched in 2018, has helped the country accelerate its efforts to develop the Islamic finance market with its Islamic Finance and Business Hub. In this broadcast, we sat down to talk to Madina Tukulova, Deputy Head of Islamic Finance and Business Hub at the AIFC about Kazakhstan's prospects to become a regional hub for Islamic finance.

18 October, 2021 15:07

Kazakhstan seeks to boost IT sector development

Kazakhstan is making strides in digital transformation in many areas. In his latest address to the nation, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized the need for a stronger domestic IT sector. We sat down to talk with Abay Absamet, Managing Director of Astana Hub, an international technopark of IT startups tasked to support the country in the development of an innovative ecosystem, about the hub activities and its role in nurturing the domestic IT sector.

6 October, 2021 12:42

How does Kazakhstan develop fair competition?

The development of fair competition has been on the national agenda since Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s address to the nation delivered in September 2020. The nation is currently developing the National Project to Develop Competition.  In this broadcast, where we discuss the measures taken by Kazakhstan to develop fair competition and reduce the presence of monopolies, our guest speaker is Marat Omarov, Deputy Chairman of Kazakhstan's Agency for the Protection and Development of Competition

4 October, 2021 16:29

Sustainable development in Kazakhstan: Interview with World Bank Regional Director

While the countries around the world are still reeling from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring sustainable recovery and development becomes an ever more important goal. In this broadcast, we sat down for an interview with Steven Schonberger, Regional Director for the World Bank Group's Sustainable Development Department with Europe and Central Asia region, as he visited Nur-Sultan last week.  Schonberger is responsible for oversight and support of the World Bank’s $6 billion portfolios of financing and knowledge products for sustainable development programs in climate, agriculture, environment, urban, social, land, and water in Europe and Central Asia.

29 September, 2021 14:46

Kazakhstan's Youth Presidential Reserve launches second selection: what's new?

Kazakhstan’s Presidential Youth Personnel Reserve began receiving applications for its second cohort from September 1. Fifty young and talented young people from all over Kazakhstan will be selected into the reserve. While the applications are still open and final results will be announced only in December, we sat down to talk to Azhar Kaliyeva, Chief Consultant of the Talent Management Department at the Kazakh Agency for Civil Service Affairs.

24 September, 2021 10:59

How did COVID-19 affect children: Interview with UNICEF Representative in Kazakhstan

Disruptions in education, school closures, social isolation, increased violence: these are just among the few devastating consequences that children had to endure when the pandemic occurred. The pandemic has also exacerbated the existing inequities and problems. In our latest broadcast, we sat down to talk to Arthur van Diesen, UNICEF Representative in Kazakhstan, to understand the impact of the pandemic on children's well-being.

21 September, 2021 10:05

Kazakhstan celebrates the Constitution Day

"We, the people of Kazakhstan, united by a common historic fate, creating a state on the indigenous Kazakh land, considering ourselves a peace-loving and civil society, dedicated to the ideals of freedom, equality, and concord, wishing to take a worthy place in the world community, realizing our high responsibility before the present and future generations, proceeding from our sovereign right, accept this Constitution." That is how the Constitution of Kazakhstan begins. On August 30, Kazakhstan will celebrate the Day of the Constitution and it is a good chance to revise our memories why do we need this document. I am joined by Aidana Akesina, a research fellow at the Kazakh Institute of Strategic Studies.

30 August, 2021 11:53

28 years of Bolashak Presidential Scholarship

In 1993, Kazakhstan was the first Central Asian country to launch the Bolashak presidential scholarship program for international study. Over the years, Bolashak, which means ‘future’ in Kazakh, gave a chance to thousands of talented young people to study abroad with all expenses paid scholarship. We were joined by Ainur Karbozova, President of Bolashak Center for International Programs, to talk about the major milestones in the program over its 28 years.

10 June, 2021 14:28

What awaits the Kazakh aviation industry?

In 2020, the international passenger traffic suffered a dramatic 60 percent drop, bringing air travel back to 2003 levels, according to the January report of the International Civil Aviation Organization. Today, the crisis seems far from over, but more efforts are needed to bring the aviation industry back on track. We sat down to talk with Peter Griffiths, Director General of the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan, about the development of the nation's aviation industry.

4 June, 2021 13:10

Kazakh, American NGOs partner to seek new solutions to address domestic violence

Domestic violence has been a major concern and the last year has seen a rise in domestic violence incidents as the pandemic forced many families to stay at home. The United Nations referred to this as a "shadow pandemic." Every effort to address this major issue count. The recent partnership of Kazakhstan Aieldery (translated as women from Kazakh) and Minnesota-based Domestic Abuse Project sought to train Kazakhstan's psychologists and experts working in this area. The project was supported by the U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Kazakhstan.

4 June, 2021 13:05

A year into COVID-19: what we have learned?

Covid-19 is continuing to spread around the world, with more than 160 million confirmed cases and three million deaths. We sat down to talk to WHO Country Office Representative in Kazakhstan Dr Caroline Clarinval to discuss what we know about the coronavirus, what the year has been for Kazakhstan, and how the WHO supported the country in addressing the outbreak. The first coronavirus case was reported on March 13, 2020, in Kazakhstan. Since then, there have been over 375,000 coronavirus cases.

25 May, 2021 17:17

ADB projects Kazakhstan's economic growth to reach 3.2 percent in 2021

The Asian Development Bank projects the Kazakh economic growth to reach 3.2 percent in 2021 and accelerate to 3.5 percent in 2022 in its latest report published April 28, assuming investment, hydrocarbon production, and manufacturing increase and vaccination continue as scheduled. To discuss how Kazakhstan can ensure the sustainability of the economy moving forward, I sat down to talk to Genadiy Rau, ADB Economics Officer.

4 May, 2021 15:59

Unprecedented effect of the pandemic: how will Kazakhstan's tourism industry survive?

Global tourism has been hit hard in 2020, with international arrivals dropping by 74 percent according to the latest data from the World Tourism Organization. With widespread travel restrictions and evolving nature of the pandemic, the crisis seems far from over. Most tourism experts do not expect international tourism to return to pre-pandemic levels before 2023. Take a look at our latest interview with Talgat Amanbayev, Managing Director at Kazakh Tourism national company, where we talk about what the year 2020 has been for Kazakhstan's tourism industry and what is planned ahead, among other topics.

22 April, 2021 16:58

Improving environment: local plant recycles wastepaper to produce egg trays

Improving the environment does not need moving mountains. Improving the environment can begin with small steps, such as sorting your own waste. There are many ways how this waste could be recycled and one of them is producing egg cartons. Take a look at Strategy2050.kz latest coverage about the Ecopack plant that recycles waste paper into egg trays.

13 April, 2021 11:45

What the year of 2020 has been for Kazakhstan's investment activity?

A year into pandemic, the world is still bearing its consequences. According to the recent report published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global foreign direct investment collapsed in 2020 falling 42 percent from $1.5 trillion in 2019 to an estimated $859 billion. Managing Director of Investment Promotion and Marketing Division at KAZAK INVEST national company Jandos Temirgali sat down to talk with Strategy2050.kz correspondent about what the year of 2020 has been for Kazakhstan’s investment activity.

12 February, 2021 15:31

Kazakhstan Aviation industry in pandemia: losses and plans on recovery

Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan was founded one year ago in August 2019. Director General of Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan Mr. Peter Griffits headed the organisation with the ultimate goal to increase the flight safety level of the country up to 80%. This goal is in the list of «100 concrete steps» of the National Plan by the first President Nursultan Nazarbayev (number 68). In the interview for Strategy2050.kz Mr. Griffits reflected on what had been done for the past year in this direction and shared his plans including tackling pandemia of Covid-19 in aviation industry of the country.

17 November, 2020 16:07

Dr Caroline Clarinval: We'd like everyone, everywhere, to understand what their role is in this fight against COVID-19

It is almost six months since the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. A number of the confirmed cases worldwide exceeded on Monday the figure of 27 million people. Some experts predict a second wave of COVID-19 that will come with a seasonal flu in autumn and winter. Is it will be wilder and when will it happen? How to protect yourself and others? WHO Country Office Representative to Kazakhstan Dr Caroline Clarinval responds these and other questions and gives recommendations in a interview with Strategy2050.kz correspondent.

7 September, 2020 13:27

Nenad Erić: Regardless of conditions we must play to win

Nenad Erić has been keeping goal for the tenth season in a row. All successes of “Astana” FC over the past years have been inextricably linked to the reliable performance of its fearless goalkeeper. In an interview Nenad Erić told how he rubs through the long pause in the Kazakhstan Premier League tournament caused by the coronavirus pandemic, what he thinks about Astana's prospects in this season and how he sees his future.

24 July, 2020 16:23