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ASTANA (TCA) — On March 19-20, during a working visit to China, Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Alikhan Smailov met with Vice-Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Han Zheng, Head of the PRC General Administration of Customs Ni Yuefeng and Minister of Finance of China Liu Kun, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
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ASTANA (TCA) — On March 20, a day after President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced his resignation and after Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev was sworn in as Kazakhstan’s acting president, the Government and the National Bank of Kazakhstan declared that the current policy to improve the well-being of the population, increase economic growth, reduce inflation and ensure the stability of the financial market will be maintained, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
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ASTANA (TCA) — Former President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s eldest daughter was elected speaker of Kazakhstan’s upper parliament house on March 20, a day after her father announced his resignation. Also on March 20, the Kazakh parliament approved renaming Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, to Nursultan after Nazarbayev.
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ASTANA (TCA) — Today, Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has been sworn in as Kazakhstan’s acting president, ending the nearly 30-year rule of Nursultan Nazarbayev, who resigned on March 19 but is still expected to maintain powerful influence in the country.
Toqaev, 65, a Moscow-educated former prime minister and foreign minister and the current speaker of the Kazakh Senate, assumes the presidency through what would have been the end of the 78-year-old Nazarbayev’s term in 2020, RFE/RL reports.
After taking the oath of office at a joint session of both parliament chambers, the Mazhilis and the Senate, Toqaev said that Nazarbayev’s “respected opinions” will be key in the country’s government’s “strategic decisions” and proposed that the country’s capital, Astana, be renamed after him.
“It is necessary to immortalize the name of our great contemporary — the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev — in the following way: Our capital must carry the name of our president and be called Nursultan,” Toqaev said. “Nursultan Nazarbayev remains the only father of the nation for life.”
Toqaev also proposed raising a monument honoring Nazarbayev in the capital and naming all central streets in every town and city in the country after him.
In announcing Toqaev as interim president, Nazarbayev said he “can be trusted to lead Kazakhstan.”
Toqaev also served as a UN diplomat in Geneva and is fluent in Kazakh, Russian, English, and Chinese.
The U.S. State Department on March 19 expressed confidence that its “strong” relationship with Kazakhstan will continue after Nazarbayev’s resignation.
Washington looks forward to “continuing our work with Kazakhstan on a wide variety of issues,” the spokesperson said.
“The United States and Kazakhstan enjoy a strong bilateral relationship, as demonstrated by President [Donald] Trump’s historic meeting with President Nazarbayev last year, and we expect this momentum to continue,” the spokesperson added.
Even as he resigned, Nazarbayev pointed out that he has been granted the status of “elbasy,” or leader of the nation, a title bestowed upon him by the loyal parliament in 2010.
“I remain chairman of the Security Council, which has been granted serious authority,” he said, adding that he is also staying on as chairman of the Nur Otan party and as a member of the Constitutional Council.
“So I am staying with you,” Nazarbayev said. “The concerns of the country and the people remain my concerns.”
The roles he is keeping could allow Nazarbayev to retain a great deal of power.
A spokeswoman for the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, praised Nazarbayev for driving forward “modernization reforms, including constitutional reforms,” and for playing “an important role in promoting cooperation both regionally and globally, with a particular emphasis on promoting peace, stability, and security.”
“We look forward to a smooth transition in accordance with the constitution of Kazakhstan,” said the spokeswoman, Maja Kocijancic.
Kazakhstan’s presidential press service said that Nazarbayev had discussed his decision to step down as president in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that the two leaders “agreed to continue regular contacts in the future.”
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BISHKEK (TCA) — On March 19, the U.S. Government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) donated 110,257 children’s books to 900 public primary schools across Kyrgyzstan, the US Embassy in Bishkek said.
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TASHKENT (TCA) — Uzbekistan’s car plant GM Uzbekistan has sent its first cars and components to neighboring Kazakhstan in a bid to raise export potential and gain economic growth, Xinhua news agency reported with reference to the Uzbek company.
GM Uzbekistan said in a statement on March 18 that it sent the first batch of cars to Kazakhstan last Saturday without specifying any details regarding the number of the vehicles exported.
The company will export parts of Ravon Nexia R3 models to be assembled at SariarkaAvtoProm plant in the city of Kostanay, Kazakhstan, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, the company, which exports its products under the Ravon brand, will send ready-made R4 models to Ravon Motors Kazakhstan.
The Uzbek company, which used to sell Ravon cars in Russia in the past, has said that its exports are now oriented to neighboring countries, which also include Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
The Uzbek car factory was originally set up as a joint venture with South Korea’s Daewoo Motors in 1996. It was renamed GM Uzbekistan in 2008 after the American General Motors automaker acquired Daewoo Motors.
In 2018, Uzbekistan’s state-run Uzavtosanoat acquired the shares of the General Motors to become the sole owner of the car factory.
Uzbekistan, along with Kazakhstan, is the largest automobile manufacturer in Central Asia.
