Central Asian News Update – Trapped in Turkmenistan, students long to go abroad (Sin Chew Jit Poh)

Trapped in Turkmenistan, students long to go abroad (Sin Chew Jit Poh)
University students sit underneath a Turkmen flag during a festive event to celebrate cultural diversity at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) in Bishkek on November 30, 2009.

In pictures: Kazakh eagles swoop to the fore in hunting competition (The Scotsman)
WHEN it snows on the steppes of eastern Kazakhstan, hunters saddle up and gallop off with eagles on their arms in search of prey. The men follow the animal tracks in the snow

Kazakh Forex, Gold Reserves Up 15.3% To $23.27 Bln In November (The Forex Market)
ALMATY, Kazakhstan (Dow Jones)–Kazakhstan’s central bank said Monday that its foreign exchange and gold reserves rose 15.3% in November from a month earlier to $23.27 billion.

Resort Turkmenistan: they will build it, should you come? (Dawn)
Turkmenistan is one of the world’s most isolated and repressive states, often barring its own citizens from leaving and maintaining a Byzantine visa process for visitors.

China, Kazakhstan discuss key areas for future cooperation (People’s Daily)
More than 20 Chinese, Kazakh officials, ranging from trade and energy to environment and transportation, met on Friday to lay out plans for future cooperation. The meeting, the fifth one under the China-Kazakhstan Cooperative Commission, was co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan and Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Prime Minister Umirzak Shukeev. “As an important governmental cooperation …

Tajik Pensions Lag Far Behind Cost of Living (Institute for War and Peace Reporting)
Pensioners in Tajikistan are finding life increasingly tough as their benefits fail to keep pace with inflation, Firuza Karabazova reports. More than half of this Central Asian state’s population lives below the poverty line, defined by the World Bank as an income of two US dollars a day.

FACTBOX-Key facts and figures about Afghanistan (AlertNet)
Source: Reuters ((For more on Afghanistan, click on: [ID:nAFPAK])) Dec 2 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he is ordering 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan by next summer to counter a …

Case IH at the CIS Agricultural Forum in Turkmenistan (Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance)
LUGANO, SWITZERLAND–(Marketwire – 12/02/09) – Case IH, a leading brand in agricultural equipment, recently participated in the agribusiness forum and exhibition in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, presenting its advanced products and introducing new agricultural machinery to the Country. Case IH is a brand of CNH which is part of Fiat Group. The exhibition, which showcases agricultural techniques and …

Turkmenistan attempts to lure tourists (AFP via Yahoo! News)
The billboard depicts white sandy beaches blanketed in sunshine, hotels with gleaming marble facades and swarms of vacationers enjoying Turkmenistan’s newest resort town.

(AFX UK Focus) 2009-12-04 05:32 UPDATE 1-Kazakh leader says economy may grow this year (Interactive Investor)
ASTANA, Dec 4 (Reuters) – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev told foreign investors on Friday that economic growth was still achievable in Central Asia’s biggest economy this year despite the lingering effects of the economic crisis. The global slump has threatened to end a decade of growth in the former Soviet republic — a huge oil producing nation east of the Caspian Sea — after crippling …

Kazakhstan to transit 3 mln tonnes of grains through China (AgriMarket)
Kazakhstan plans to transit 3 mln tonnes of grains through the territory of China to countries of the South-East Asia, declared Umirzak Shukeev, the First Vice-Premier of the Republic of Kazakhstan, on December 7.

Medvedev to visit Turkmenistan after December 20 (Itar-Tass)
MOSCOW, December 1 (Itar-Tass) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will visit Turkmenistan after December 20, presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said on Tuesday.

Kazakh steel town fights to shake off Soviet legacy (AlertNet)
Source: Reuters * Kazakh town plagued by toxic emissions * Steel plant operator says to improve ecology * Problem highlights global efforts to cut emissions By Maria Golovnina TEMIRTAU, Kazakhstan, Dec 7 ( …

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