Kazakhstan – U.S. Cooperation: Women’s Economic Empowerment

March 1, 2023 - The Astana International Financial Center (AIFC), with the assistance of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the United States, hosted a virtual round table "Kazakhstan – U.S. Cooperation: Women’s Economic Empowerment". The event is held for the third year in a row and has become a good tradition for the two countries to “compare notes” on promoting equality, security and empowerment of women.

The topic of the event is closely related to the priorities of the agenda of President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the Decree of the President on further measures of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of human rights, where gender equality is defined as one of the main directions.

Among the speakers of the event were CEO of AIFC Authority JSC Yernur Rysmagambetov, Minister Counselor of the Embassy of Kazakhstan to the United States Rauan Tleulin, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Policy, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State Rafik Mansour, Chairman of the National Commission for Women Affairs, Family and Demographic Policy under the President Lyazzat Ramazanova, as well as representatives of the Chevron and Coca-Cola companies.

Opening the event, AIFC CEO Rysmagambetov said that the first graduation of the Academy took place in February 2023. Thanks to the training program, Kazakhstani entrepreneurs will be able to become more competitive market participants.

The Embassy representative Tleulin emphasized that Kazakhstan has paid considerable attention to the problems of gender equality for 30 years, reinforcing its commitment with practical steps and legislative norms. He also noted the pioneering role of the Women's Entrepreneurship Academy, launched in August 2022 at the AIFC, which has trained more than 100 Kazakhstani businesswomen in entrepreneurial skills.

During the session, the speakers discussed specific projects on which Kazakh-U.S. cooperation is based in the field of women's economic empowerment, gender equality and entrepreneurship, as well as the importance of the recently completed Academy of Women Entrepreneurs program, an initiative of the US State Department implemented by the AIFC.