From Den Hartog Stork:

Tonight the Den Hartogs had dinner in the hotel restaurant. Bobi ordered the National Meat Assortment. When the dish arrived she noticed the different cuts and asked the waiter “Kakoi?” (Which kinds)? He reared up like a horse and whinnied.

I mean, anyone could have told them that horse was the national meat, but I have a hard time imagining the waiter doing a horse impression! That is truly rare! And shows that the average Kazakh will go to great lengths to help guests understand.

Two weeks ago, there was a government assembly and the Prime Minister presented new projects for the government. As Kazakhstan Today reports, Social Business Coportations were on the list. “Sara Arka” will be the first, to be established in Karaganda (because the akim there was on the ball, they say). By the end of the year, six more will be established in the regions.

These coporations were first brought up in the President’s Annual Message to the People in February of 2006:

2.7. Creation of regional “engines” of economic development through formation of regional corporations for social development and enterprise

Social-business corporations (SBC), sustainable business structures, could be formed in various regions and take over management of communal property, land, non-remunerative, but working businesses, that can be used for new business creation.

Each SBC will become a kind of a regional development institute and act as a holding company, managing state assets in a particular region.

Further on with management experience accumulation and increase of SBC capitalization level we could talk of extension of their “responsibility areas”, including exit to regional and international markets.

These corporations will pursue attraction of new projects, business development and cooperation extension.

As a result SBCs will become big employers and “engines” of the country’s development.
from KazPravda

And two weeks ago, the President criticized the government for not realizing his vision yet (among other things).

The idea is that these coporations will solve social problems in the regions. All well and good. Traditionally, social entreapeneurships do things like build cheap computers to sell to students in developing countries (re: MIT) or come up with simplified drug regimes for AIDS patients, or other solutions to social problems. They run at a profit, unlike NGOs or development organizations, and this is believed to be good because they are sustainable. An NGO that provides free services will some day go out of business; a business that provides services at an affordable rate can go on forever.

However, these SBC’s will be different. (more…)

As part of the Wiki Project Central Asia on Wikkipedia.com, I put up a new requested article on the Education System in Kazakhstan: here.

Edit away! I don’t guarentee the 100% accuracy of everything but I figured having a framework up there (adapted from a report I did for a foreign consultant last year) would make it easier to edit and correct, than facing the big, blank screen would!

In other education news, Bolashak students in Indiana University put on a national cultural program for Republic Day, and to educate people that Borat doesn’t show the real Kazakhstan.