It could be a new maxim of energy economics: where oil and gas revenues flow, 4D cinemas are sure to follow. After the opening of feel-and-smell-the-action movie theaters in Caspian Sea energy rivals Kazakhstan, Iran and Russia, Azerbaijan has finally joined the 4D club with its own 12-seat theater in Baku.

The Azerbaijani government paid $150,000 for the theater’s construction as part of its ongoing campaign to turn the Baku Boulevard, a five-kilometer-long seaside promenade, into an arts-and-entertainment destination. Continue reading →

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) supported the creation of the Center for Safe Drinking Water Solutions that was officially opened on March 27, 2010, according to the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

The Center was created cooperatively with the Tajikistan Technical University, and operates within the framework of the “Tajikistan Safe Drinking Water Project” (TSDWP). The Center will provide students from the Department of Water Engineering with practical internships on the development of safe drinking water alternatives. Continue reading →

On April 1, 2010, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in the exhibition hall art center “Koldo” will open an exhibition-competition, called “Commercial Break”, which aims to provide an ironic look at the advertising.

As the organizers, from the studio «MUSEUM» stated, the exhibition-competition will present photos, collages, prints with text or a slogan, a compact installation with anti-advertising text, videos, and as well as speeches from guests, actions and performances. Continue reading →

Public association “Union of Creative Forces” (UCF) pleased the Kyrgyz public with another progressive idea. Now its activists decided to show their works to a usual audience – patients of the Mental Health Centre. Truly imagination knows no bounds! The idea is that the president of UCF, artist Jyldyz Oruzbaeva (stage name Jyldyz Asangali) decided to donate more than 30 of her paintings to this hospital. The centre supported the idea and even provided a place for the opening day.

It is worth noting that the selection of the Mental Health Center is not accidental. Formerly in this clinic, for over 15 years, a psychiatrist worked – Jyldyz Oruzbaeva. Then she went to Turkey, where homesickness sparked her creativity. The first timid attempts provoke genuine interest in the audience, giving an impetus to continue the work. Continue reading →

Abu Dhabi’s Al Hilal Bank has been granted a license by the Financial Markets Authority in the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan to open the resource-rich country’s Islamic bank; Al Hilal Islamic Bank. The bank opened its new branch in Kazakhstan becoming the first Islamic bank to have full-fledged branch in the country. The new bank is fully-owned by Al Hilal Bank with a capital of 36 million euros. The headquarters will be established in Almaty, with a second branch in the country’s capital, Astana. Operations will start on 25 March.

By end of this year, Al Hilal Islamic Bank will open two new branches. Al Hilal Bank Chairman Ahmed Ateeq Al Mazrouei said that the license was a result of the successful coordination between the two parties. The two governments signed an agreement to launch Al Hilal Islamic Bank in Kazakhstan in June 2009, after which the government of Kazakhstan facilitated the process for the license. The Chairman expressed hope that both parties would continue to support each other in future as well for achieving new heights of growth. He also said that the bank will provide best banking services to the local economy and will support investments and projects of Arab expatriates residing in Kazakhstan. Al Mazrouei noted that Kazakhstan is a promising economy as the country has plans to expand its infrastructure to develop projects that will be announced soon, especially in the oil, gas and infrastructure sectors, and expected that the bank will play a role in financing. The Islamic bank will be an ideal alternative to many of the neighboring countries which are now seeking Shariah-compliant banking products and services. The chairman said that Al Hilal Bank is currently examining other markets and carefully analyzing other areas for potential expansion. Al Hilal Bank has 14 branches, and has an expansion plan which aims to establish 20 branches by the end of the 2010 across the UAE.

Source: http://www.neurope.eu/articles/Al-Hilal-opens-new-branch-in-Kazakhstan/100026.php?

The round table on problems of strengthening of collective security in Central Asia will be held in Kazakhstan. The CSTO Secretary General, Nikolay Borduzha, informed in Bishkek during the round table ‘CSTO as the factor of stability and security in the Central-Asian region’.

“Such round tables were held in Armenia and Tajikistan. It will now be held in Kazakhstan and Belarus. We will sum up all the proposals stated during such events and prepare recommendations for the Presidents of the CSTO countries on strengthening of the system of collective security,” N. Bordyuzha said.

“We are all interested so that Afghanistan becomes a stable state. The American Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan meeting the interests of the antiterrorist coalition in Afghanistan in the territory of Kyrgyzstan, answers these purposes,” the CSTO Secretary General underlined.

CSTO includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Source: http://engnews.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=142937

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Fund Forum Gulnara Karimova awarded masters of arts and crafts with grants in a major project of the Foundation and the Association of Artists, Art and Craftsmen “Izhod” – Exhibition and Fair “Bazar-Art”, which gathered under the dome of the Center of National Arts in Tashkent, the best folk artists from all over Uzbekistan.

Exhibition, which opened on March 27, 2010, on the first three days was visited by more than three thousand guests, among whom were people of culture and art, representatives of the diplomatic corps, international organizations, the media, as well as connoisseurs of products made by the hands of the masters of applied art. Continue reading →

The fifth international exhibition UzEnergyExpo-2010 opened at Uzexpocenter in Tashkent. The forum has been organized by the Uzbekenergo company, State Nature Protection Committee, Commerce and Industry Chamber and the Energy and Automation Institute of the Sciences Academy.

Uzbekistan possesses huge industrial and scientific potential, and the energy sector plays an important role in the development of the country’s economy. The main goal of the energy industry is providing efficient, quality and reliable energy supply to the economy and the population. Continue reading →

General Ban Ki-moon

The trip to Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan will be Mr. Ban’s first visit to Central Asia since he became the United Nations chief in January 2007.

Mr. Ban will begin his official visit in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, where he will tour the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) and the National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, according to information released by his spokesperson today. Continue reading →