Austria and Kazakhstan have signed a new bilateral investment agreement, it has been announced.
Political process
In the early 2000s, the Ketebayev brothers – Bakhytzhan and Muratbek – ran Central Asia's most interesting journalistic enterprises. They were Kazakhstan's Tan TV and the weekly newspaper Respublika.
Kazakh plans might be reduced to window dressing and finding ways of avoiding upsetting the major powers
Kazakhstan ranked 142 out 175 countries on media watchdog Reporters Without Borders' annual worldwide press freedom index
OSCE Centre facilitates discussion on simplification of pre-trial criminal procedures in KazakhstanA recently adopted law that aims to simplify preliminary criminal investigation procedures in Kazakhstan was in focus at an OSCE-supported roundtable discussion that was held in Astana today.
Kazakhstan's anti-corruption campaign made some progress in 2009, underscored by Astana's ability to move up 25 places on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index of corrupt states to 120th this year. However, some observers are questioning whether there is more to efforts aimed at curbing graft than meets the eye.
Central Asia welcomed China's foray into their energy-rich region on Sunday as Chinese leader Hu Jintao prepared to open a new pipeline connecting a Turkmen gas field with China's restive Xinjiang region.
China's President Hu Jintao opened a pipeline linking a gas field in Turkmenistan with his country's Xinjiang region on Monday, extending Beijing's reach into Central Asia's natural resources.
The presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus reached a deal Friday to create a customs union among their three ex-Soviet states from July 1 next year.