Meetings held in the 4th Mission are too numerous to number but the primary ones were with HE Mr. Nurtay Abikayev, First Deputy Foreign Minister and close personal friend of the President of Kazakhstan, HE Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, Mr. Asset O Issekeshev, the assistant to the President of Kazakhstan and Mr. Farkhad S. Kuanganov, Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science (the most senior civil servant). Other meetings were held with Economic Nobel Laureates Professor Robert Mundell (Nobel prize 1999) and Professor Edmund Phelps (Nobel prize 2006).
These Missions since 2005 have been addressing the technological and scientific future of Kazakhstan and the change from resource rich nation to a front line economy by 2030. This is in line with the President of Kazakhstan's vision, 'Kazakhstan 2030' (see link on left).
Signed Memorandum of Understandings with the Kazakh Authorities
Three Memorandums of Understanding (MofU) were signed. The first was with the Economics Research Institute (ERI), the primary economics advisory institute to the Ministry of Economy. The ERI is a department within the Ministry of Economy with over 200 economists including over forty economic professors.
The second was a Memorandum of Understanding with the JSC National Science and Technology Holding PARASAT, that is charged by the government of Kazakhstan to invest in technology for commercialisation.
The third Memorandum of Understanding was an innovation in itself as it was a tripartite MofU signed between the WIF, ERI and PARASAT. In this respect never before had a MofU been signed between a national economic institute and a national technology institute, bringing finance, science and technology together. Therefore economists and physical scientists are now working together to capacity build the nation of Kazakhstan in a joint-effort and supported fully by the WIF.
A further MofU is being presently drafted between the WIF and the Ministry of Education and Science.
II Astana Economic Forum
The 2nd international Astana Economic Forum was convened between 11th and 13th March 2009. Over 1,500 delegates and international speakers attended the conference held over four days. Economists and scientists from many countries attended including Kazakhstan, USA, Russian Federation, People's Republic of China, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Sweden, Australia, Czech Republic, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Egypt, People's Republic of Mongolia, Moldova Republic, Slovak Republic, Turkey, Austria, Croatia, Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Republic of Tajikistan, Republic of Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Albania, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Belgium and the United Nations.
The Keynote speakers were the President of Kazakhstan, HE Dr. Nursultan Nazarbayev and Nobel Laureate Professor Robert Mundell awarded the Nobel Economics prize in 1999 and Nobel Laureate Professor Edmund S. Phelps awarded the Nobel Economics prize in 2006.
Other guest speakers from the WIF included Dr. Horst Soboll (former chairman of the European Union Research Advisory Board - EURAB and now chair of the EU's Entrepreneurial Committee), Professor Pham Chi Thanh, (international economist, economic adviser to the government of Vietnam and former Nobel Economic Committee selection member) and Dr. David Hill. The speech of Dr. Lutz Baehr (former UN Director of the Centre for Science and Technology in Development, Chairman of the UN's disciplinary Committee, UN International Coordinator, Executive Director of the African Development Bank and Operations Director of the WIF) was read out to the I1 Astana Economic Forum in an open session due to previous commitments in Washington, DC.
The 2010 'Third Astana Economic Forum' and thereon, will be co-organised by the WIF and the ERI (Economic Research Institute of Kazakhstan) and where the Forum expectations are that the Forum will grow from strength to strength over the coming years and become a Central Asian/Asian equivalent of the annual Davos meetings.
Honorary President and Patron of the Astana Economic Forum is HE Dr. Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The 2010 Astana Economic Forum next year will be represented by even more international and multi-disciplinary speakers of note and which will encompasses Nobel laureates in the sciences also. In this respect with the WIF being co-organisers it is anticipated that at least five Nobel laureates will be keynote speakers for this international event in 2010.
The next Astana Economic Forum will convene and be held in July 2010 and be co-organized by the WIF and the ERI.
See links on the left for PDF previews of the content of the next Scientific Discovery newsletter.
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