A wedding on the streets of Nagorno-Karabakh, prior to Azerbaijan retaking the territory in 2023; photo: TCA

06 May 2024
Central Asia, Home, International Affairs, Kazakhstan International Affairs, Kazakhstan, Features, Kazakhstan Featurees

Kazakhstan to Host Armenia-Azerbaijan Talks on May 10

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will hold talks in Almaty on May 10 as they seek to end their long-running conflict, Kazakhstan said on Monday.

The negotiations will happen in line with “previously reached agreements,” said Aibek Smadiyarov, spokesman for Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Jeyhun Bayramov, Azerbaijan’s top diplomat, and his Armenian counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan, will attend, according to the Kazakh official.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in tension and conflict over territory since the 1990s, though the two sides have been working to delineate their borders following Azerbaijan’s retaking of control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region last year.

As reported by TCA last week, in a statement President Tokayev “welcome[d] the agreement between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia to hold talks at the Foreign Ministers’ level on the preparation of a peace treaty between the two states, at the suggestion of the Kazakh side.” Tokayev went on to express his hope the upcoming meeting would help with the “practical implementation” of agreements between the two sides.

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06 May 2024
Central Asia, Tajikistan Life & Culture, Life & Culture, Tajikistan

Time Spent by Tajikistan Citizens Sleeping, Eating and Working

The results of a study on time-budgeting by citizens of Tajikistan, conducted with support from the World Bank, was recently published by the Statistical Agency under the President of Tajikistan,.

According to data, the first of its type to be recorded in Tajikistan, the country’s residents sleep for an average of 8 hours, read for 8 minutes, and work for only an hour each day.

During the study, from 15 September to 15 December 2023, officials interviewed 13,150 people over the age of 10 years old. Sixty percent were women and 40 percent, men. The results were presented by gender, age, area of residence (urban/rural), level of education, and employment status.  As such, the data provides a broad source of information for analysis in areas including general  labour productivity, women’s labour and their contribution to the economy, the construction of the system of national accounts, and the organization and conduct of leisure activities as an indicator of well-being.

Results showed that on any given day, Tajikistan’s population aged 10 and over,  spends 12 hours and 53 minutes on personal care, or 53.7 percent of their day. Of this, 8 hours and 26 minutes are spent sleeping, 2 hours and 43 minutes eating, and 1 hour and 43 minutes on personal hygiene and grooming.

The second highest daily time-consuming activity, averaging 4 hours and 4 minutes, is  housekeeping. Perhaps not surprisingly, women spend 5 hours and 16 minutes a day on housekeeping, and men, just  2 hours and 35 minutes.

One hour 37 minutes or 6.8% of the day is occupied on media consumption. Every day, citizens watch TV for around 1 hour 22 minutes but only 8 minutes reading books.

The third most popular daily activity involved communication and leisure, at 1 hour 20 minutes. Work took fifth place, with an average of 1 hour 17 minutes per day. Education took up 48 minutes a day, while daily engagement in sports and active leisure pursuits remains lower still at 12 minutes a day.

 

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06 May 2024
Central Asia, Home, International Affairs, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan International Affairs

Citizens of Kazakhstan Aren’t Being Detained at Borders with Russia, Ministry Claims

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Aibek Smadiyarov, is reassuring its citizens that they can safely visit Russia, stating that the relationship between the two nations is based on the principles of friendship, alliance, and strategic partnership, and are a model of multifaceted interstate cooperation.

“We do not observe any problems on the Kazakh-Russian border. Our diplomats in Russia are constantly in contact with local authorities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the border service. Our citizens do not observe any mass detentions or document checks. If they have been stopped or had their documents checked, it is for security purposes,” said Smadiyarov at the briefing. He also advised Kazakhstani citizens to observe Russian laws while in the country.

Earlier, the foreign ministries of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan recommended that their citizens shouldn’t visit Russia without good reason. These statements were made against the backdrop of a tightening on migration controls by the Russian authorities following the March 22 terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall near Moscow. Since then, xenophobic attacks on migrants from Central Asia have been on the rise. According to currenttime.tv, 75% of cafes and restaurants run by Central Asian migrants in Moscow alone have shut since the incident due to police harassment.

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Image: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

06 May 2024
Central Asia, Home, International Affairs, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan International Affairs, Features, Kazakhstan Featurees

Kazakhstan May Become a Platform for Russia-Ukraine Negotiations

Kazakhstan is prepared to host negotiations to settle the war in Ukraine, according to comments made by Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Russia, Dauren Abayev, in an interview with the Russian state news outlet TASS.

“Certainly, Kazakhstan is always ready to help on all processes that concern the world. This is not only Russia and Ukraine, but also Armenia and Azerbaijan, on the Syrian issue, on the Iranian issue. It is probably [an overstatement] to say to be mediators, but to provide a platform, to create some conditions, we are certainly ready,” Abayev said.

He added: “There are many different initiatives now, and there is a clear understanding that without Russia’s participation, these processes are impossible. Of course, Russia’s opinion should always be taken into account in these processes. Of course, we are ready to be, as I say, not mediators, but to provide a platform, to create some conditions,” he added.

As previously reported in the media, Kazakhstan’s president Kasym-Jomart Tokayev, during his recent visits to Azerbaijan and Armenia, underscored Kazakhstan’s readiness to provide platforms for negotiations between Baku and Yerevan. The Armenian foreign ministry said that a direct meeting of the sides will be held as early as May 10.

Previously, Kazakhstan provided a platform for negotiations on the war in Syria. Negotiations concerning the Iranian nuclear program have also been held in Kazakhstan.

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06 May 2024
Central Asia, Uzbekistan, International Affairs, Business & Economy, Uzbekistan Business & Economy, Uzbekistan International Affairs

Saudi and Emirati Companies to Build Two Wind Farms in Uzbekistan

Saudi and Emirati companies are to invest $7 billion in the construction of two windfarms in the Kungrad district of Uzbekistan’s autonomous Karakalpakstan republic.

The announcement followed the signing of two contracts  during the third Tashkent Investment Forum. The commission of the facilities will save almost 7 billion cubic meters of natural gas and prevent the emission of more than 2 billion tons of harmful gases into the atmosphere.

Welcoming the initiative, the Uzbek Energy Ministry said, “Saudi company ACWA Power is implementing a megaproject to build a wind farm with a total capacity of 5 gigawatts in the Kungrad district of Karakalpakstan. The project is estimated at $6.2 billion. The station will generate 17.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. A wind power plant with a total capacity of 1 gigawatt and a cost of $1.1 billion will be built in the same area by Amea Power from the UAE. It will generate 3.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year,” .

During the third Tashkent International Investment Forum, agreements signed by several government and private-sector counterparties, totalled $26.6 billion .

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06 May 2024
Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Environment, Kazakhstan Home

Kazakhstan Forwards Water-Saving Technology

On May 6, the Kazakh Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation reported on measures being taken to encourage farmers to save and use water more efficiently.

The move addresses Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s earlier criticism about the process of introducing water-saving technologies being “extremely slow,” with agricultural sectors in some regions, experiencing annual losses of water of 40%.

According to plans set in motion by the ministry, by 2030, the installation of water-saving technologies will provide an annual saving of up to 2.1 cubic kilometres of water on 50% of the country’s irrigated land

To date, subsidies for drilling irrigation wells have been increased to 80% of their costs, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, work is progressing to increase subsidies for the installation of water-saving systems from 50% to 80% of their costs.

In adherence to the new Water Code, the state will provide subsidies and reduced tariffs for water supply depending on the extent to which water-saving technologies are used. Tariffs for irrigation water are set to be calculated according to the types of crops grown and the volume of water required for their production.

The ministry is also working to digitalize 3,500 km of irrigation canals in the Almaty, Zhambyl, Kyzylorda, and Turkestan regions in the south of the country, which will improve water metering on 362 thousand hectares of irrigated land and enable a saving up to 600 million cubic meters of water annually.

 

 

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