Central Asia Watch Team : Amandine Paillette, Paul Dza and Denis Lavaud
07/11/2022 : 10 hikers trapped by the melting of a glacier in the Juuku Gorge, East Kyrgyzstan – Amandine Paillette –
On July 11, 10 British tourists were surprised by the fall of a glacier located in the Juuku Gorge, in the east of Kyrgyzstan, one of them filmed the scene that made the turn of social networks. Only minor injuries are to be deplored as a result of this event. According to the local authorities, the reason of this sudden detachment of the glacier would be a direct consequence of the climate change which causes an unprecedented melting of the ice.
07/12/2022: A new Israel-Kazakhstan trade and economic cooperation meeting amid the global wheat crisis – Paul Dza –
On July 12, Israeli Minister of Tourism Yoel Razvozov met with Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade and Integration Bakhyt Sultanov in Nur-Sultan. Yoel Razvozov, the head of the delegation and a native of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast of Birobidjan (Russia), discussed the possibility of importing wheat and flour to Israel, in the context of a global wheat shortage.
The delegation from the State of Israel, consisting of representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture, Energy, Trade and Industry and Health, was also received by Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov.
2022 also coincides with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of relations between Israel and Kazakhstan, one of the world’s leading exporters of wheat.
07/14/2022: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev offers Western companies that have left Russia to set up in Kazakhstan – Denis Lavaud –
On July 14, the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared that almost half of the 1,400 foreign companies established in Russia had left the territory after the invasion of Ukraine.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev therefore mentioned his wish to take the necessary measures to welcome these companies on Kazakh territory. “We are witnessing a global rush for investment capital. Half of the approximately 1,400 major foreign companies have suspended their activities or left the Russian market altogether. The government should create favourable conditions for their relocation to Kazakhstan,” he said. the Kazakh president, quoted by the TASS agency.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev believes that the relocation of Western companies from Russia to Kazakhstan will increase the production of processed products in the country. He added that he had previously instructed the government to prepare a pool of investment projects in the manufacturing industry. “In terms of concrete results, there is still little to brag about. There are hardly any new projects,” said President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
07/14/2022: Tajikistan’s Ministry of Defense plans to sanction the spreading of false information concerning the country’s army – Denis Lavaud –
On July 14, the “Khovar” news agency reported that the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan proposed to implement fines and administrative arrests for the spread of false information about the country’s army on the Internet and in the media.
The Ministry of Defense has drawn up a draft law on the introduction of appropriate amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences. However, the amount of the fine and the conditions of arrest have not yet been disclosed. The Ministry of Defense pointed out that “spreading any kind of false information reduces the trust and support of the population in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan and negatively affects the prestige and defense of the country“.
