On January 22, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev arrived in Davos to attend the 44th session of the World Economic Forum and held a number of bilateral meetings. These included, among others, private conversations with high-level officials of the European Union, the European Bank for Reconstruction... MORE

In his January 17 State of the Nation Address, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev reaffirmed the core long-term vision of stable economic development found in the “Kazakhstan-2050” national development strategy that he proposed in his December 2012 address. For example, the president wants to increase Kazakhstan’s per capita... MORE

On January 20, in Tel Aviv, Kazakhstan’s Defense Minister Adilbek Dzhaksybekov signed a military cooperation agreement with Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon formalizing military and defense industrial ties. It was Dzhaksybekov’s first trip to Israel. The Kazakhstani defense minister and delegation members spent the next... MORE

On January 17, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev made his traditional address to the nation, unveiling the key aspects of this year’s government agenda. While most of his speech was dedicated to the implementation of the “Kazakhstan 2050 strategy,” an ambitious program aiming to catapult the... MORE

In December 2013, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a new law to simplify the issuing of work permits to foreign migrant workers by individual Kazakhstani citizens. The more flexible regulations, which will take effect in a few weeks, contrast with the increasingly severe labor rules... MORE

On December 11, 2013, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, Amangeldy Zhumabaev, told a press conference that his country was interested in transporting its goods along the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway currently under construction—particularly for transporting Kazakhstani oil and grain(Tengrinews, December 11, 2013).Zhumabaev said, “For us it is very... MORE

One priority for Kazakhstan this year is to execute the country’s first comprehensive transportation infrastructure development plan, which the government drafted in collaboration with the World Bank and adopted last November (en.government.kz, November 16, 2013). The plan, which extends to 2020, aims to realize Kazakhstan’s... MORE

Following the publication of the “Kazakhstan-2050” strategy late in 2012, Central Asia’s biggest country carried out a series of structural reforms in 2013 aimed at modernizing its economic and social systems and optimizing its public finances. On January 16, President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced the creation... MORE

Kazakhstan is seeking to expand legal cooperation in criminal cases with the United States and potentially sign a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with Washington. During his visit to Washington on December 6, Kazakhstani Prosecutor-General Askhat Daulbayev discussed with US Attorney General Eric Holder expanding... MORE

On December 10, the Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation met in Baku. Besides discussing various economic projects to boost mutual trade and investment, ministers from the two governments considered how to expand cultural exchanges.The two governments have repeatedly expressed disappointment with their low levels... MORE