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EU To Simplify Visa Regime For Kazakhstanis

Citizens of Kazakhstan can currently travel to 34 countries without requiring a visa, and it seems the power of the Kazakhstani passport may be set to increase further still. At the end of last week Kazakhstan's deputy minister of foreign affairs, Alibek Bakayev, held a second round of talks with the head of the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan, Kestutis Jankauskas, on the issue of EU visas. The introduction of a visa-free regime with the EU is not currently being discussed. However, the EU Schengen-area visa regime is being improved in the following areas: - introduction of a single list of documents required for a visa application; - a reduction in consular fees; - a shortening of the waiting period for applications; - increasing the validity period for multiple-entry visas. In 2024 citizens of Kazakhstan can visit 34 countries without obtaining a visa from a foreign consulate. These are: Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belarus, Brazil, China, Colombia, Ecuador, the Republic of Georgia, Haiti, Hong Kong, Iran, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Moldova, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Oman, UAE, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Serbia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. There are also several states where one can get a "visa upon arrival" stamp immediately upon entry. These states are Zambia, Indonesia (for 30 days), Mauritius, Namibia, and the Seychelles. However, that list will shrink in the spring of 2024: Kazakhstan's temporary visa-free regime with Thailand end on February 29. According to the Global Passport Power Ranking 2024 by Passport Index, Kazakhstan's passport ranks 56th in the world in terms of freedom of movement bestowed upon its holder.

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€10bn To Be Invested In Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor

The two-day Global Gateway Investors Forum for EU-Central Asia Transport Connectivity opened on January 29th in Brussels, Belgium. The event brings together high-level representatives from the European Commission, countries of the EU, Central Asia and Caucasus, as well as Turkey. At the forum, the European Commission’s executive vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis announced that European and international financial institutions will commit €10bn ($10.8bn) in support and investments towards sustainable transport connectivity in Central Asia. The forum’s agenda includes discussions of the required investments to transform the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor into a cutting-edge, multimodal, and efficient route, connecting Europe and Central Asia within 15 days. The European Commission said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has underlined the urgency to find alternative reliable efficient trade routes between Europe and Asia. The development of transport connectivity is also a means to strengthen regional integration and economic development in Central Asia. The €10bn commitment is a mixture of ongoing and planned investments which the European Commission foresees to be mobilized for sustainable transport development in Central Asia in the short term. In concrete terms, several significant commitments are being made on the first day of the forum as part of the overall €10bn. The European Investment Bank (EIB), represented by its vice-president Teresa Czerwińska, signed memoranda of understanding totaling €1.47bn ($1.6bn) with the governments of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, as well as with the Development Bank of Kazakhstan. These loans will be made possible by guarantees provided by the European Commission.

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German Company To Help Create Medical Cluster In Turkmen City Of Arkadag

On January 27th Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the chairman of the Halk Maslahaty (People’s Council) of Turkmenistan, met with the managing director of the German consulting company Goetzpartners Emerging Markets GmbH, Vladimir Mathias. Goetzpartners won an international tender to consult on the creation of a medical cluster in the Turkmen city of Arkadag, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry has reported. Germany is one of Turkmenistan’s key European partners. Several German companies are involved in large-scale projects in the fields of transport, communications and logistics in the country. At the meeting Mr Mathias explained to Mr Berdimuhamedov that the planned medical cluster in Arkadag is designed to produce various types of medical products not only for the domestic market, but also for export. The city of Arkadag was unveiled on June 29th, 2023. The “smart” city, designed to be home for 70,000 people and costing billions of dollars to construct, is located 30km south of the capital, Ashgabat.

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“Close Your Windows, Avoid Outdoor Exercise” – Residents Fear Air Pollution in Tashkent

On the afternoon of January 27th local time, the level of PM2.5 (fine particles) pollution in the air in Tashkent surpassed the level recommended by the World Health Organization by 23.2 times, according to data from the U.S. Embassy Tashkent AirNow monitoring station. This ranked Uzbekistan’s capital as the third worst city in the world for air pollution, leading to warnings to “avoid outdoor exercise, close your windows, wear a mask outdoors, and run an air purifier.” Thirty-times thinner than a human hair, PM2.5 particles are widely regarded as the most harmful to health.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="14067" img_size="full" el_class="scond-image" parallax_scroll="no" woodmart_inline="no"][vc_column_text woodmart_inline="no" text_larger="no"]Tashkent has been grappling with a serious air pollution crisis for years, and has been consistently ranked among the cities with the highest levels of air pollution worldwide. Several factors contribute to the escalating levels of air pollution in Tashkent. The Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of Uzbekistan has highlighted increasing emissions from coal-burning heat and power plants, motor vehicles, illegal tree felling, and unauthorized construction activities as the key contributors. The number of vehicles in Tashkent has also increased by 32% from 3.14 million in 2021 to 4.6 million in 2023. The majority of these vehicles use A-80 gasoline, a fuel type that does not meet international standards and emits a significant number of pollutants. Moreover, coal usage for electricity generation has also increased, rising from 3.9 million tons in 2019 to 6.7 million tons by the end of 2023, whilst Tashkent's geographical location, surrounded by mountains, exacerbates the problem as it prevents the polluted air from being dispersed by wind.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="14068" img_size="full" el_class="scond-image" parallax_scroll="no" woodmart_inline="no"][vc_column_text woodmart_inline="no" text_larger="no"]In response to this environmental crisis, earlier this month the Ministry proposed several measures including banning motor fuel below the Euro-4 standard, restricting the movement of heavy cargo vehicles during rush hours, banning vehicles manufactured before 2010, promoting electric vehicles, reducing congestion by implementing an odd-even scheme for vehicle movement, pedestrianizing city centers, transitioning public transport to electric and gas-cylinder fuel, imposing a moratorium on construction except for facilities of social and state significance, banning the use of coal for industrial purposes in the Tashkent region, and creating a “green belt” around the city.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="13668" img_size="full" el_class="scond-image" parallax_scroll="no" woodmart_inline="no"][vc_column_text woodmart_inline="no" text_larger="no"]Despite these proposed measures, with such commitments having been made previously, many remain unconvinced about the government's commitment to combating air pollution. "It is now safer to live in Chernobyl than in Tashkent,” Journalist Nikita Makarenko wrote on Telegram. “Where are the measures to reduce cars? Where are the paid parking lots; where are the measures to raise the price of owning a car? Where is the public transport?" Earlier this month, activists in the capital staged a protest to voice their concerns, complaining that the city feels like it is covered in a constant layer of fog which “smells like smoke” and fearing that the government’s response may prove to be a “one-off,” when a long-term strategy is desperately needed. Tashkent is not alone in the region –...

Central Asia Life & Culture Kazakhstan Life & Culture Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan’s Top Five Tourist Sites Revealed

According to Kazakhstan’s National Bureau of Statistics, from January to September 2023 more than three million people visited domestic tourist sites, an increase of 344,000 people compared to the same period in 2022. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports has named the top five tourist sites in Kazakhstan by visitor numbers. The Almaty mountain cluster was the most popular destination — over 1.7 million people visited this area from January to September last year. The western Mangystau region was in second place, with just under 300,000 people visiting this part of the country. In third place was the Shchuchinsk-Borovoye area (Burabay National Park) in the north of the country, with 243,000 visitors. The list also included two popular summer holiday destinations: the Alakol area (Abay region, in the south) with 204,000 visitors, and Lake Balkhash with 94,000 visitors. Deputy minister for tourism and sports Erzhan Erkinbayev commented: “Domestic resorts are increasingly popular not only among Kazakhstanis, but also among foreign guests. Unfortunately, the potential of some sites has not yet been fully realized. For example, in the Katon-Karagai national park [the largest national park in Kazakhstan, located in the East Kazakhstan region], the beauty of its nature is not inferior to any of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. However, only 7,800 people visited this place over the first nine months of last year,”

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The Last Emir of Bukhara – In the Shadow of Antiquity

The seventh largest city in Uzbekistan, the history of Bukhara is swathed in legends which stretch back for millennia and can be traced to the period of Aryan immigration into the region. After passing through the hands of Alexander the Great, the Bactrians, the Kushan Empire and many others, Bukhara became an epicenter of Persian culture in medieval Asia. With the rise of the Caliphate, by the end of the ninth century Bukhara was one of the most significant Islamic and cultural sites in the region. Throughout its history, Bukhara has been nourished by merchants and travelers, establishing itself as a major hub of trade and crafts on the Silk Road. Today, in the orange early morning light, women holding parasols walk their children to school down gravel alleyways to the ever-present hum of air-con units. Broom-wielding figures in high-viz orange jackets cast bulbous shadows as they sweep the dust from side to side. As the sun arcs towards its zenith, a haze develops, the heat so overpowering that even the hawkers lose the will to sell. Weaving past scant pedestrians, infrequent marshrutkas head out of town towards the glittering Summer Palace of Bukhara’s last Emir, the outsized Sayyid Mir Muhammad Alim Khan. Beyond the imposing majolica tiled gateway of the Russian-built Sitora-I Mohi Khosa – Palace of the Stars and the Magnificent Moon - the banqueting hall contains an elaborate bronze chandelier from Poland weighing half a ton. To gasps of awe, Bukhara’s first electric light shone from it during the 1910s thanks to a fifty-watt generator.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="12020" img_size="full" el_class="scond-image" parallax_scroll="no" woodmart_inline="no"][vc_column_text woodmart_inline="no" text_larger="no"]An avenue of quince trees leads to an ostentation of peacocks parading around a voluminous pool, where the Emir’s harem used to frolic. Raised on a platform high above them, the Emir would sit upon his gilded throne, bejeweled and decked in golden threads, choosing his lady for the night. Escaping the conflict between reformers and imams, and ever more dependent upon the overlords who would inevitably bring about his downfall, Amir Khan spent his last years as ruler cocooned in the Summer Palace, sating his gluttonous appetite from a glass-fronted Russian refrigerator.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="13877" img_size="full" el_class="scond-image" parallax_scroll="no" woodmart_inline="no"][vc_column_text woodmart_inline="no" text_larger="no"]Putting his lot in with the reformers, then switching sides in the face of the mullah’s power, in his final years the last Emir was a leaf in the wind. These were the dark days of mass executions, book burnings, and an intellectual exodus from the Emirate. When the ripples from the Bolshevik Revolution reached his kingdom, Alim Khan declared a Holy War upon the Russians and their reformist allies, the Young Bukharans. With Russian gunners initially forced back by frenzied, knife-wielding true believers, tit-for-tat retributions took place before, with their inevitable victory sealed, the Red Army set about pillaging and murdering their vanquished foes. On September 2nd 1920, soldiers raised the Red Banner from the bombed-out lantern of the Kalon Minaret. From the ninth-century Pit of the Herbalists to the Ismail Samani Mausoleum, Bukhara isn’t about...