Today in Almaty, the first World Inclusion Congress (WIC 2025) commenced. The congress will run from October 15 to 17.
The event is organized by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Almaty city akimat (administration), the HOPE Foundation (Help Others Pursue Education, Kazakhstan), and the international organization International Forums of Inclusion Practitioners (IFIP, UK).
The congress has brought together over 1,200 participants from 40 countries, including representatives of government bodies, scientific and educational institutions, international organizations, teachers, experts, and leaders in the field of inclusive education.
The participants include delegates from Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, and North America. More than 100 local and international specialists will speak at the plenary and panel sessions.
The distinguished guests of the congress include Daniel Sobel, founder of IFIP and an expert in inclusive education; Umesh Sharma, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham and a leading scientist in the field of inclusion; and the renowned Japanese architect Takaharu Tezuka, the author of the famous Fuji Kindergarten.
The forum's key themes are innovation, digitalization, and the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies into the education system. Special attention is paid to technological solutions for supporting children with special educational needs, improving the quality of education, sharing international experience, and strengthening partnerships between countries.
As part of the congress, the Innovation Expo exhibition opened, showcasing solutions in digital technology, education, and accessible environments. Seventeen companies from Kazakhstan, the UK, China, the USA, Poland, and Southeast Asian countries are participating in the exhibition. The exposition will run for three days at the Grand Hall hotel and in open pavilions.
On the first day, a round table on "Global Trends in Inclusive Education: Challenges and Solutions" is scheduled, along with 15 panel sessions dedicated to children's mental well-being, assessing special educational needs, and other key topics.
The events will continue on October 16-17, with the signing of memoranda of cooperation between scientific organizations and partners in the field of inclusive education expected.
Special attention will be given to discussing the draft of the Almaty Declaration. Its adoption is expected to be a significant step towards strengthening international cooperation and forming common approaches to the application of digital and AI technologies in the field of inclusion.
The official closing ceremony of the congress will take place on October 17. WIC 2025 is intended to provide a powerful impetus for developing a culture of inclusion, promoting the principles of equal access to education, implementing advanced technologies, and strengthening international cooperation.
As part of a working tour, the Akim (Mayor) of Almaty, Yerbolat Dossayev, visited a number of industrial enterprises and reviewed the implementation of urban environment improvement projects.
The first stop was the Almaty Road Construction Company (ADSK), which produces asphalt, paving stones, and curbs. In a single shift, the enterprise produces up to 8,640 linear meters of road and highway curbs, 15,840 meters of garden curbs, and over 1,800 square meters of paving stones. The total asphalt production capacity is 980 tons per hour.
The company also has its own fleet—asphalt pavers, rollers, excavators, and other specialized machinery—enabling it to carry out a full cycle of road construction works.
Next, the city mayor familiarized himself with the operations of the Concrete Products plant, which manufactures reinforced concrete structures, facade panels, and urban improvement elements. The plant produces up to 450 thousand square meters of products per year.
Yerbolat Dossayev also visited the ARIBA furniture factory, which produces domestically manufactured upholstered furniture. The factory employs over 140 people, and its products regularly win awards at international exhibitions.
The Akim emphasized the importance of supporting Almaty enterprises that produce competitive products:
"It is necessary to develop our own production, paying special attention to quality and building the 'Made in Almaty' brand. The city must, first and foremost, support local businesses and purchase products from Almaty manufacturers," Yerbolat Dossayev noted.
The tour concluded at the renovated section at the intersection of Seifullin Avenue and Zhansugurov Street, which was opened for City Day. Large-scale landscaping has been completed there, with architectural lighting, surveillance cameras, and inclusive elements installed to ensure comfort for children with disabilities.
The city mayor emphasized that in the improvement of Almaty, it is important to adhere to a unified architectural style and form a recognizable urban code so that every new facility harmoniously integrates into the metropolis's appearance.
The development of industry and the improvement of the urban environment remain priority areas for the Almaty Akimat. These measures contribute to economic growth, job creation, and an improved quality of life for residents.
Almaty, Kazakhstan – Construction of a major industrial complex for the production of interior doors is set to commence in the Almaty Industrial Zone. The plant's launch is scheduled for August 2026.
The enterprise will be located on a 0.84-hectare site and will include production workshops with a total area of over 2.4 thousand square meters, raw material and finished product warehouses, an administrative building, and associated infrastructure.
Upon launch, the complex will have a production capacity of up to 120,000 doors to meet market demand. The product range will include frame-and-panel (tsargovye) doors, painted doors, as well as models with modern finishes such as laminate, PVC, veneer, enamel, and anti-vandal films.
Production processes will be organized in accordance with European Green Standards (EU Green Standards). The manufacturing will utilize eco-friendly materials and coatings free of carcinogens and non-carcinogenic, making the doors completely safe for installation in schools, kindergartens, and medical institutions.
The finished products are aimed at both import substitution and export to Central Asian and Eastern European countries.
The project is expected to create at least 25 new jobs. Anticipated tax revenues for the city budget are estimated at no less than 70 million tenge over five years.
The project is being implemented by "Le porte M" LLP with financial support from "Almaty Finance" LLP – a subsidiary of the "Almaty" Social-Entrepreneurial Corporation. Financing of 280 million tenge has been provided for a term of up to 7 years at a 6% annual interest rate. The primary guarantor is "Absolyut Flor" LLP, an operating company and distributor for "Le porte M" LLP, which works with all major developers and companies across 16 regions and cities of Kazakhstan.
"The project is focused on developing local production and improving the quality of door products in the country. Furthermore, the plant will create new jobs and contribute to the development of Almaty's industrial infrastructure," said Berik Kusainov, Chairman of the Board of Almaty Finance.
ALMATY – The outcomes of the Almaty Business-2025 program were presented by Berik Kusainov, Chairman of the Board of JSC "Almaty Finance," during a briefing at the Almaty Regional Communications Service.
Berik Kusainov reported that in the first nine months of 2025, Almaty Finance and its microfinance organization "MFO Almaty" financed 70 projects to the tune of 9.8 billion tenge, which led to the creation of 793 new jobs. "Support was provided to entrepreneurs in a wide range of sectors, including manufacturing and processing, healthcare, education, social entrepreneurship, the creative economy, tourism, sports, and public services," he noted.
Since the program's launch, subsidiaries and affiliates of "Almaty SPRC" have financed a total of 774 projects, with a combined value of 52.7 billion tenge, creating 6,168 jobs. The largest share of funding was allocated to projects in manufacturing and processing (32%), healthcare (14%), social entrepreneurship (9%), tourism (7%), the creative industry (7%), the service sector (6%), and education (5%). The program also financed the construction of 18 small industrial parks.
A budgetary allocation of 25.6 billion tenge was leveraged through a revolving fund mechanism to secure total financing of 52.7 billion tenge. The Bostandyk and Alatau districts were the leaders in terms of the number of projects financed.
Program Background:
The Almaty Business-2025 program was approved in 2019 by the Almaty City Maslikhat. Its primary goals are to foster entrepreneurship and improve access to business financing. For its implementation, JSC "Almaty Finance" and its subsidiary "MFO Almaty" were established and integrated into the "Almaty SPRC" group of companies.
The program provides preferential lending to micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSBs). Loans are offered for up to 7 years at annual interest rates of either 2% or 6%. The 2% rate is available to low-income large families, individuals with disabilities (Group I and II), families raising children with special needs, and residents of small industrial parks. The 6% rate is intended for both existing and start-up MSB entities in Almaty.
For the first half of this year. SME product output in Almaty increased by 28.4% to 5.5 trillion tenge. In January-September, the number of operating SMEs increased by 6.2% to 361.1 thousand units. This was reported by the city economics department. According to their forecasts, Almaty’s budget for 2025 will increase by 20% to 2.1 trillion tenge.
“To support SMEs in 2024, 53.1 billion tenge was allocated from the state budget for subsidies, guarantees and loans. Over the 9 months of 2024, 1.7 thousand new SME projects received support for a loan amount of 113.1 billion tenge, and more than 2 thousand projects approved in previous years continue to receive support in the form of subsidizing part of the interest rate,” the economics department reported.
This helps to increase the share of SMEs in Almaty’s GRP to 60% in 2024, and to 62% in 2025. For the first quarter of 2024, the share of SMEs was 55.2%.
As noted by the Almaty Department of Economy, 87 investment projects are being implemented at the sites of the Industrial and Special Economic Zones for a total amount of 452 billion tenge. In 2024, 40 projects worth 220 billion tenge will be commissioned with the creation of 4.5 thousand new jobs.
In the Zhetysu district in the microdistrict. In Ainabulak, the reconstruction of heating networks, begun by order of Almaty Heating Networks LLP two years ago, has been completed. The total length of heat supply networks is 5865 m.
In 2022, 1730 m were reconstructed, in 2023 – 2000 m and in 2024 – 2135 m.
This year, reconstruction was completed on the section of the TM-18 “Ainabulak” heating main on the street. Makataev (from Zhumabaev St. to Pavlodarskaya St.).
The main construction and installation work was completed before the onset of the autumn-winter period of 2024-2025.
Currently, the site is being improved - paving the road surface with a fine-grained layer, after which road markings will be applied.
It should be noted that the heating main was put into operation in 1981, its service life was 43 years, while the standard service life is 25 years.
The project will provide high-quality heat supply to residents of 344 apartment buildings, 11 schools, 3 healthcare facilities and 483 other facilities.
This year, on behalf of Almaty Akim Erbolat Dosayev, 20 km of heating networks were reconstructed; work was carried out in 6 districts of the city during the inter-heating period. Landscaping of areas after reconstruction is carried out in stages depending on weather conditions.
For the first time in history, the Asian Hockey Championship will be held under the auspices of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The tournament will begin on November 6 in Almaty.
The competition will take place from November 6 to 9 at the Halyk Arena multifunctional sports complex.
The rivals of the Kazakhstan team will be teams from Japan, Korea and China.
Tournament match schedule:
November 6, 2024, 16:00 – Japan – China.
November 6, 2024, 19:30 – Korea – Kazakhstan.
November 8, 2024, 16:00 – Japan – Korea.
November 8, 2024, 19:30 – Kazakhstan – China.
November 9, 2024, 16:00 – China – Korea.
November 9, 2024, 19:30 – Kazakhstan – Japan.
Tickets for matches can be purchased at prices ranging from 1 to 3 thousand tenge.
It is worth noting that the upcoming tournaments will be preparatory competitions for the 2025 Asian Games, which will be held in Harbin, China from February 7 to 14.
В целях реализации механизмов по стабилизации цен на социально значимые продовольственные товары в г. Алматы, АО «СПК «Алматы» заключило договор займа с птицефабрикой АО «Алатау-құс». В рамках договора в городе будут зафиксированы цены на мясо кур (окорочок и бедро) производителя.
Цена продукции на полках в фирменных магазинах АО «Алатау-құс» и магазинах у дома в Алматы составит не более 1 100 тенге за килограмм.
Общий объем контрактации – 1 818 тонн. Срок стабилизации – 24 месяца.
Адреса точек реализации продукции можно узнать на сайте almatyazyk.kz.
In Almaty, the results of the “Green Dvor” campaign for the free distribution of seedlings to residents have been summed up. The distribution of seedlings took place on October 12 and 13 at the Eco Almaty LLP and in community centers in each district.
This season, 305 applications from citizens were received for the promotion, of which 133 applications for 1,156 seedlings were approved. The most active regions were Auezovsky, Bostandyksky and Alatausky districts.
As part of the campaign, residents received seedlings of birch, ash, apple, catalpa, elm and shrubs. It should be noted that according to the rules for the maintenance and protection of green spaces, all deciduous seedlings are at least 2.5 meters tall, the diameter of the trunk from the upper root system of the seedlings is at least 3 centimeters, at a height of 1.3 meters of the stem part.
In general, as part of the annual Green Yard campaign, more than 20 thousand seedlings have been planted in recent years.
Almaty is actively implementing the practice of working around the clock libraries. It should be noted that a year ago, during the second meeting of the National Kurultai, Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev put forward the initiative to create libraries that will work 24 hours a day.
Two libraries in Almaty – the Zhambyl City Youth Library and the library of the Alatau Creative Hub Center – hosted readers around the clock for the first time during the academic year (2023-2024). The Department of Culture of Almaty notes that this technique is in great demand among schoolchildren, students, undergraduates, as well as doctoral students. In this regard, another library of the metropolis is now working 24/7, it is located at 141 Abai Street.
"Now there are three libraries in Almaty that receive readers 24 hours a day. Everyone can come at any time convenient for them. With the introduction of a new format of work, that is, since September 2023, the number of visitors has also increased: if the Zhambyl City Youth Library was visited by 27,650 people, then the library of the Alatau Creative Hub Center had about 28 thousand readers. Well, the number of visitors to city libraries annually is at least 3 million," the message of the Department of Culture of Almaty says.
It should be noted that there are 28 city libraries in Almaty. 95% of them have been modernized: the material and technical base and the book fund have been updated, cozy reading rooms for individual work and Internet rooms have been created. Almaty librarians have also been trained in South Korea, Germany and Switzerland.