TCA
TASHKENT (TCA) — Works are in full swing in Urgut, Pastdargom and Nurabad districts of the Samarkand province in Uzbekistan for the establishment of the Urgut free economic zone (FEZ) on an area of 816 hectares, the Jahon information agency reports.
TCA
TASHKENT (TCA) — The Russian company Rosgeoperspektiva is expected to carry out geological exploration works to look for copper and gold reserves in the promising areas of Kazakhtau and Kazakhtau-1 in the Navoi region of Uzbekistan, the Jahon information agency reported.
TCA
ASTANA (TCA) — At a joint session of Kazakhstan’s parliament on March 5, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that “the time has come to focus on large social projects” in the country.
Nazarbayev addressed the people of Kazakhstan with the “Five Social Initiatives of the President,” which include the new opportunities to purchase housing for each family, reduction of the tax burden to increase the wages of low-paid workers, increase in the accessibility and quality of higher education and improvement of the living conditions of student youth, expansion of micro-crediting, and further gasification of the country, the president’s press service reported.
Nazarbayev stressed that the new social initiatives are aimed at strengthening the social unity of Kazakh society and further improving the well-being of every Kazakhstani citizen.
In particular, Nazarbayev suggested increasing the affordability of mortgage lending for Kazakhstan citizens by launching a program under which every working citizen could receive a mortgage loan in the national currency for purchasing housing at not more than 7 percent per annum (compared to 14-16% today) with initial payment of not more than 20 percent of the housing cost (30-50% today) and for up to 25 years (10-15 years now).
To support low-paid citizens, the president suggested, starting from 1 January 2019, to reduce their tax burden 10-fold — down to 1 percent. As a result, a third of employees in Kazakhstan — or some two million people — will have their salaries raised without increasing the tax burden on the employers.
Concerning gasification, Nazarbayev said that today, almost 50 percent of the country’s population has natural gas, but the central and northern regions of the country still have no access to gas. The president suggested construction of a gas pipeline along the route Karaozek (Kyzylorda province)-Zhezkazgan-Karaganda-Temirtau-Astana through borrowed funds including from international financial institutions.
Nazarbayev ordered the Government and the National Bank to work out the mechanisms for implementation of his social initiatives.
TCA
ASTANA (TCA) — A delegation of Kazakhstan’s national railways company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), led by Vice President for Logistics Sanzhar Elyubaev, last week participated in the meeting of the Organisation for Co-operation between Railways’ (OSJD) Commission on Cargo Transportation in Warsaw, Poland. The meeting summed up the results of work for 2017 and agreed on the volumes of transportation of export, import and transit cargos by railway transport for 2018, KTZ’s press-office reported.
TCA
TASHKENT (TCA) — Currently in Uzbekistan, many farmers, traders and trade facilitators are trying to open new market opportunities for Uzbek agriculture products in EU countries. To support these initiatives the EU-funded Project “Sustainable Development in Rural Areas of Uzbekistan” in February organized a study visit to Germany for a number of fruit growers and processors from Project regions to participate in International Exhibition “Fruit Logistica Berlin 2018”. To join such a high level event is a great chance to explore new markets for Uzbek growers and exporters, the Delegation of the European Union to Uzbekistan reported.
TCA
BISHKEK (TCA) — Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the U.S. Mission to the Kyrgyz Republic Alan Meltzer delivered concluding remarks at a two-day Community Policing and Crime Prevention Conference which took place in Bishkek last week. The Conference was sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and organized by its implementing partners the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Saferworld, the US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan said.
