German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on September 15 and met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Following the talks, the Uzbek and German governments signed a migration agreement that would allow skilled workers from Uzbekistan to travel to Germany, with a focus on the health-care sector, RFE/RL reported. It is also
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) participated in the 6th Kyrgyz-Russian Economic Forum, held on 11–12 September in the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan. At the forum, the EDB and the Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund (RKDF) signed an agreement on investment projects and a memorandum on establishing a waste management system under a public-private partnership involving the EDB,
The Kara-Suu checkpoint was re-opened at the border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan on September 12, after being closed for 14 years. The checkpoint is located near the city of Kara-Suu in Kyrgyzstan’s Osh region, on the border with Uzbekistan’s Andijan region. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Kyrgyzstan’s Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Bakyt
The U.S. Embassy in Tashkent welcomed 20 American English teachers this week to begin teaching and professional development programs throughout Uzbekistan, joining local teachers to provide direct classroom instruction to students. These teachers are just one part of the U.S. Government’s vast commitment to strengthening English language education in Uzbekistan, including training more than 18,000
The Government of Japan and UN Development Programme (UNDP) have agreed upon a new $4.9 million project, “Enhancing Urban Resilience to Disaster Risk and Climate Change in Central Asia”. The signing ceremony was held on September 11 in Astana, Kazakhstan. The project aims to enhance urban resilience to climate-driven risks in Central Asia by utilizing regional collaborative mechanisms and national transformational strategies, fostering sustainable
Central Asia’s high mountains are critical to the well-being of communities throughout the region and beyond. At the same time, the area is already facing significant climate-related security risks with impacts on the livelihoods of rural mountain and downstream communities that are dependent on agriculture, pastures, and forests. As these risks are shared across the
Construction work has been launched on the Afghan section of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline. A ceremony to start works on the pipeline’s Serhetabat-Herat section was held on September 11 at a checkpoint on the Turkmen-Afghan border. It was attended by the Chairman of the People’s Council of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Mullah Mohammad
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, says it is deepening its support for micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Kazakhstan, with a particular focus on women entrepreneurs and rural agribusinesses, by investing up to $50 million in KazMicroFinance (KMF), one of the country’s leading microfinance institutions. KMF operates 18
Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Finance on September 9 said that it signed the Credit and Grant Agreements with the World Bank on a $13.6 million additional financing for the Kambarata-1 Hydropower Plant (HPP) Project in Kyrgyzstan. Consisting of a $2.6 million grant and a $11 million loan, this additional funding will supplement the World Bank’s ongoing
On September 9, Kyrgyzstan’s Minister of Energy Taalaibek Ibrayev visited Japan and met with Ken Saito, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan. Following the meeting, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Energy and Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry signed a Memorandum of Cooperation aimed at implementing joint projects in the field of green
The Tajik Embassy in Moscow on September 10 warned citizens against traveling to Russia for the time being, citing beefed-up security measures and increased document checks by Russian border guards, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported. Last week, the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry put out a similar statement to its citizens citing the same reasons. Central Asian migrant
On September 10, the Government of Kazakhstan approved a draft of the National Action Plan for the implementation of the President’s Address to the people of Kazakhstan, “Fair Kazakhstan: law and order, economic growth, social optimism,” delivered on September 2, the Government’s press service reported. The plan consists of 76 measures aimed at improving the
Representatives from the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) took part in the Eurasian Mountain Resorts Alliance (EMRA) CEO Summit, which kicked off on September 9 in Almaty. The alliance unites leading mountain resorts from Central Asian countries. The summit’s highlight is the international expert and investment forum titled “The Almaty Mountain Cluster as the Backbone of
Azerbaijan considers as “acceptable” Kazakhstan’s proposal to hold talks between Baku and Yerevan on a peace treaty in Astana, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said during telephone talks with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Aliyev’s press service said on September 9, RFE/RL reported. Earlier in May, the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers met in Astana to discuss the peace
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan on September 7 hosted an award ceremony for the winners of the 9th annual international contest “Kazakhstan Through the Eyes of Foreign Media”. This year, the jury recognized the works of journalists from Azerbaijan, Brazil, Egypt, Spain, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Japan as the best in various categories.
At the award ceremony of the World Smart City Expo (WSCE) held last week in Goyang, Republic of Korea, the Turkmen city of Arkadag received three awards: the Smart City Excellence Award, the Foreign Smart City Award, and the WSCE 2024 Contribution Award, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reported. Built from scratch 30 km
On September 8, the opening ceremony of the 5th World Nomad Games was held in Astana. The Games, which will last until September 13, gathered competitors from 89 countries. Originated in Kyrgyzstan in 2014, the World Nomad Games have since been held three times in the Kyrgyz city of Cholpon-Ata on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government has praised the removal of the Taliban from Kyrgyzstan’s list of banned groups, TOLOnews reported. The Afghan news agency cited Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesperson for the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as saying that Kyrgyzstan’s decision reflects the establishment of political understanding in relations with the
A Deputy Speaker of the Uzbek Parliament, Alisher Kadyrov proposes banning the “approval and propaganda of Soviet ideology”. In his opinion, the Soviet regime brought only misfortune to the Uzbek people, and also discriminated against them. Kadyrov commented on the verdict handed down by the Samarkand Regional Court in a case of propaganda for the
Maersk (Denmark), one of the world’s largest container shipping operators, has published shipping tariff rates for its rail-sea service along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor, Logistan reports. The Maersk service along the TITR, an international multimodal transport corridor with the length of 11,000 km, runs from China to
