Viewing results 751 - 756 of 892
The shooting of saiga antelopes has resumed in Kazakhstan, which has angered many in the country, including residents of a village in the central Ulytau region, Kyzylzhar. According to the Interior Ministry, on January 10 a group of Kyzylzhar residents deliberately prevented hunters from a company called Okhotzooprom from shooting the saigas. The persons were arrested and are currently in custody. According to local ecologist Almasbek Sadyrbayev, the female saigas were carrying calves. The local authorities have pointed out that the saiga shootings were carried out lawfully, and that the villagers used physical force against Okhotzooprom staff. Andrei Kim, deputy chairman of the Ministry of Ecology’s forestry and wildlife committee, confirmed at a press conference that the moratorium on saiga shooting in Kazakhstan, in force until 2024, will not be extended. However, saigas have been introduced to western Kazakhstan as part of a program to regulate their population. Commercial hunting will continue until February 29.
Almaty resident Liya Bergen recently made a lone protest on the city’s Republic Square to demand that the authorities approve an event for women’s rights. The event is planned for International Women’s Day on March 8, but the Almaty Akimat, headed by Yerbolat Dosayev, has refused to allow it to take place. Ms Bergen held a placard written in Kazakh bearing the words: "Dosayev, don't spoil the tradition, allow the march!" She later explained that she was taking action for justice and equality, as well as reminding the city of the struggles that Kazakh women still face for their rights and dignity.
Uzbekistan has adopted a law focused on the pharmaceutical industry, meaning that on July 1, 2024, the country will introduce the GVP (Good Pharmacovigilance Practice) standard already in place in the European Union (EU). GVP standards relate to monitoring the safety of, reducing the risks from, and increasing the benefits of medicines. It will therefore become mandatory for wholesale medicine distributors to have certificates of compliance in the pharmaceutical industry. The law for chain pharmacies will come into effect in 2025, and for all other pharmacies from 2026. The law also tightens the rules for storing medicines in warehouses. Changes are also expected in the advertising of medicines, and from now on, the decision regarding any medicine's advertisements on television will be made by the Ministry of Health. Tougher measures for the pharmaceutical industry are rooted in the scandal caused by deaths from the "Doc-1 Max" cough syrup in 2023. In Uzbekistan, 69 children died and 18 were left disabled as a result of taking the medicine. Uzbekistan ranks among the first in the world in the number of pharmacies per capita, most of which are small outlets on the first floors of residential buildings. The new law may lead to the closure of thousands of pharmacies which fail to meet the new standards, and is likely to lead to an increase in the price of medicines. Pharmacy operators are already subject to strict requirements regarding pharmacy equipment, staff qualifications, and drug storage. According to the Agency for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry under the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan, the number of pharmacies in the country reached almost 16,000 in 2022. The country's pharmaceutical market is growing at a rate of 8-10% per year, making it one of the fastest growing in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Uzbekistan also has eight research institutes and centers, and the only plant in Central Asian specializing in the production of insulin.
Officials from Uzbekistan's Tourism Committee met with specialists from the German International Cooperation Organization (GIZ), according to the Dunyo Information Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The meeting opened with a presentation by GIZ on projects currently being implemented to develop tourism in Uzbekistan; in 2023, GIZ developed plans for infrastructure and entrepreneurship in the Kitab and Shahrisabz districts of the Kashkadarya Region. As part of the dialogue, the two sides discussed tour packages and tourist itineraries for global visitors to Uzbekistan and neighboring countries. Officials agreed to jointly develop a single information platform for the convenience of foreign and domestic tourists. The counterparties also considered a proposal to create a special training program for colleges in order to prepare future hospitality and tourism professionals. According to statistics, a total of 3.7 million foreign citizens visited Uzbekistan as tourists over the period January-July 2023 - a huge increase on the same period in 2022 (2.4 million). The largest number of visitors came from Tajikistan (1,151,400), Kyrgyzstan (912,800), Kazakhstan (879,000), and Russia (417,400).
On February 5th, 57 tank railcars with 2,000 tons of liquefied gas arrived in Kyrgyzstan as humanitarian aid from Turkmenistan, to help Bishkek recover after an explosion at its thermal power plant on February 2nd. Three workers at the power plant were seriously injured in the explosion, which left parts of the city without hot water and heating. After the accident, neighboring Kazakhstan increased the supply of electricity from its Zhambyl power plant to Kyrgyzstan, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said on February 3rd. Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Energy says that engineers from Russia have arrived in Bishkek to help Kyrgyz colleagues with the repair and reconstruction of the power plant. After the accident, Kyrgyzstan president Sadyr Japarov made an order to fully modernize the plant.
The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is located at the crossroads of east and west, north and south, which has always been a competitive advantage for the region, Kazakhstan’s prime minister Alikhan Smailov commented at a meeting between the heads of government of the EEU member countries in Almaty on February 2nd. The Russian-led economic bloc also includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. "Kazakhstan attaches special importance to the development of transit and transportation infrastructure. Over the past 15 years our country has allocated more than $35bn for this purpose. A logistics center in Lianyungang, a dry port of Khorgos, a transit highway Western Europe - Western China, a railway corridor from China to Iran have been launched. Modernization of Caspian Sea ports Kuryk and Aktau has been carried out," Smailov said, adding that the construction of Kazakhstan's terminal in Chinese Xi'an had been launched. Together with Russian, Turkmen, Indian and Iranian partners, work is being carried out on the eastern route of the North-South corridor. "We consider it important to further increase the capacity of international corridors, logistics terminals and checkpoints of our countries. I invite all EEU countries to implement joint projects to develop transit and transportation infrastructure," the Kazakh prime minister said. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the signing of the EEU Treaty. Today the EEU has a population of 190 million people, a labor market of over 93 million people and a GDP of $2.7 trillion. Mutual trade between EEU member states doubled from 2015 to 2022 and has now reached $85bn.
