Historical monuments, athletes training and tourism industry — how culture and sports develop today in Kazakhstan

At the reporting public meeting, Minister of Culture and Sports Aktoty Raimkulova spoke about the work done in 2019 and the tasks for the next year.

Much attention in ministry’s work is paid to improving legislative framework

As the minister noted, legislative measures are aimed at ensuring transparency, streamlining activities and increasing accountability.

“Since the beginning of 2019, one Decree of the president, 17 orders of the prime minister and 80 resolutions of the government have been developed. The ministry initiated and signed a number of major laws by the Head of State,” the minister said.

One of them is the Law “On the Protection and Use of Historical and Cultural Heritage Sites.”

“I would like to note that the Law has been amended for the first time since 1992 to strengthen the requirements for a special regime for the protection of historical and cultural heritage, including the development of the territory, construction work, the prevention of unauthorized excavations, the regulation of the approval of the boundaries of protected zones, licensing of activities for archaeological and scientific restoration work, the conceptual framework has been updated,” Raimkulova explained.

Despite all the measures taken, there is a need to increase responsibility for the destruction of historical and cultural heritage at the legislative level.

Until today, there were no technical norms, codes, rules, pricing methods, which did not allow to clearly determine the amount of money spent on a particular scientific and restoration work. To this end, in 2020, developed and planned to approve standards for the rates of scientific and restoration work on historical and cultural monuments. A similar document is available only in the Russian Federation and Belarus.

“Being an authorized body in the field of sports, a similar principle has been implemented in this area. Amendments and additions were made to the legislative acts on issues of physical culture and sports, in part of toughening anti-doping measures at the state level,” the minister emphasized.

Administrative and disciplinary punishments have been strengthened for athletes, coaches and managers in relation to disqualification, return of monetary rewards, housing issued to winners of the Olympic Games and other competitions, termination of payment of lifelong material support, deprivation of sports rank and rank. There is a liability in the form of a fine of 200 MCI to persons who have prescribed doping to the athlete. A single operator for the distribution of extrabudgetary funds in the field of sports has been determined.

Currently, work is underway on six bills, including on issues of culture, mass sports, tourism, gambling and lottery activities, as well as visual information.

The novelties of the bill in the field of culture are the use of phonograms, support and promotion of creative unions, the creation of a fund to support creative initiatives, payment of royalties, the activities of the national electronic library, etc.

“Recently, in Kazakh society, serious discussions have arisen around the current state of domestic pop music. Moreover, the use of phonograms, both pluses and phonograms of voices, is relevant. Such a flurry of comments on social networks and a great public outcry, therefore, to address this issue, the ministry is amending the Law on Culture of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Today this law is in the Majilis. In the government version there was a question about the use of plus, voice phonograms in open venues, at all concert venues, with the exception of recordings on television or on radio,” the minister explained.

According to her, these standards have been tightened in the direction of business structures, business entities that work on the domestic stage.

“Today we are proposing a bill to inform the audience about the use of phonograms in advance. I can say that this is indeed a very serious matter. We must consider it from different angles, in no case subjecting it to toughening towards performers who work on the stage. On the other hand, we must take into account the interests of consumers, honestly approach and inform our listeners that a phonogram is used in a particular case,” Raimkulova said.

The bill on the development of mass sports is aimed at expanding the network of children's sports clubs, developing national sports, and providing staff for sports instructors.

The tourism bill provides for partial reimbursement of private business costs, the provision of preferences for the implementation of investment projects, reimbursement of 25% of the cost of building roadside facilities for businesses, subsidizing the purchase of tourist-class vehicles, as well as the cost of maintaining sanitary facilities in the amount 30 MCI and the cost of tour operators for each foreign tourist.

“The effect of the measures envisaged, according to our forecasts, will ensure the necessary increase in the number of service facilities and locations provided for by the state program plans,” Raimkulova specified.

How Kazakhstan is going to return anti-doping laboratory license

In 2016, the Kazakhstan Anti-Doping Laboratory was denied WADA accreditation. The Ministry of Culture and Sports, together with the National Olympic Committee, carried out relevant work to restore it.

To date, the laboratory has been moved to a new building with an area of ​​1,700 square meters, modern equipment has been purchased that meets the high standards and requirements of WADA. As a result of joint efforts, the laboratory became a candidate for the restoration of WADA accreditation.

State support for developing sports for people with special needs

Along with regulatory measures, measures are also being taken to support the development of sports for people with disabilities. The law gives the right to participate in the state assignment to the National Paralympic Committee and provides for strengthening the status of the National Deaflympic Committee.

As Raimkulova assured, work in this direction continues. Fifteen sports clubs are open for people with disabilities in the country, and the Paralympic training center operates in the capital, in which up to 500 people can work simultaneously. Since the beginning of this year, our Paralympic athletes have already won 49 medals at international and national competitions.

Gambling bill

The Majilis of the Parliament contains a bill on gambling. Unfortunately, in modern society there is a dependent attitude among the younger generation associated with the possibility of earning quick income without making significant efforts. A high level of criminalization is observed; in 2019, the internal affairs bodies registered 109 materials on the organization of an illegal gambling business. The number of people with gambling addiction to gambling is increasing every year. The provisions of the draft law are aimed at improving regulation and ensuring control over the activities of bookmakers and sweepstakes, combating money laundering and financing of terrorism, as well as reducing the number of citizens involved and dependent on gambling and betting.

“Just yesterday, at an expanded meeting of the Senate of Parliament, a bill on lottery issues was approved. The novelty of the bill is the introduction of a mechanism for effective and efficient state regulation in this area, the establishment of administrative responsibility for the illegal lottery, as well as streamlining the use of the word ‘lottery’ in advertising, the definition of ‘lottery distributor,’’ the minister said.

The next bill being developed by the ministry is the bill on visual information, which provides for the observance of spelling standards, meaningful and authentic translation of the text of the posted information.

In order to eradicate corruption and create an anti-corruption culture, the Adaldyq Alany project office was created, the open space platform was opened to consult the population in a service-oriented format. Offices of Adaldyq Alany operate in all subordinate organizations of the ministry.

Adaldyq Alany carries out an examination of all normative legal acts developed by the ministry. A standard audit algorithm has been developed, ‘’honesty lessons” have been conducted for students of specialized boarding schools and colleges of the Olympic reserve, and an anti-corruption audit of art universities has been conducted based on the development of the ADAL BILIM project office under the Ministry of Education and Science,” said Raimkulova.

At the same time, the film “Personal Growth Training” was released, which addresses the problem of corruption in society, a crisis of values, expressed through the prevalence of wealth over spiritual ones. In order to create an anti-corruption culture, such projects will be supported.

The ministry pays attention to the training of specialists and continuous support of talents. There is a multi-level dual training system. Forge training of highly qualified personnel in the field of culture and art are 10 creative educational institutions. In the 2019-2020 academic year, 11,014 people were trained and graduated from universities of culture and art. Every year, at least 30% of pupils and students become winners and laureates of international and national competitions.

Program "Archive – 2025"

An integral part of the historical and cultural heritage of the people are archival documents. It is no coincidence that Elbasy in his article “The Seven Faces of the Great Steppe” noted the need to organize comprehensive search and research work in domestic and foreign archives to identify, collect and systematize unique documents related to the history of Kazakhstan.

“As part of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the famous ethnographer, People's Artist of KazSSR — Alexander Zataevich, the previously unpublished ethnographer’s heritage was found in the Russian archives, which amounted to the unreleased third volume of Kazakh songs and cues. The presentation of the unique heritage of Kazakh folklore took place on Nov. 22, 2019. This work is highly appreciated by the international scientific community,” the minister said.

In pursuit of the idea of ​​Elbasy, the Archive-2025 program was developed and adopted, within the framework of which the E-ARCHIVE information system is being developed.

By the end of the year, 48 fitness centers will be opened in Kazakhstan

The priority in the field of sports is the involvement of the population in systematic physical education and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle.

For this purpose, a Comprehensive Plan for the Development of Physical Culture and Mass Sports was adopted. The sports ethics of athletes was first developed and approved.

The construction of 100 fitness centers in the country's regions is being coordinated, 13 of which were commissioned in 2019 and 48 will be completed before the end of the year. In total, about 1,300 new various sports facilities were built in the country during the reporting period. Among them are the capital multifunctional sports complex Zhekpe-Zhek, a fitness center named after Olympic champion Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov, a modern athletics arena named after Olympic champion Olga Rypakova.

“I would like to note that in order to create a healthy generation, conditions have been created for children and adolescents. In 2019, 11 new youth sports schools were opened. In total, there are 477 youth sports schools in the country, where over 350 thousand children and adolescents are studying. Moreover, sections in these sports schools are held free of charge. In this direction, we will continue our work,” the head of the department said.

Nearly 6 million Kazakhstanis regularly go in for sports

It is only natural that the number of people systematically involved in sports is steadily growing. Today, this indicator has reached 5.7 million people, including 544 thousand children and adolescents.

Sports of the highest achievements are also developing. Since the beginning of 2019, the national team has won more than 1,000 medals.

“Despite the coronavirus pandemic, all athletes conducted their workouts at home and recently resumed their workouts as usual,” the minister emphasized.

It is worth noting that in connection with the pandemic around the world, the schedules of major sports competitions have been changed.

“As you know, the Olympics, which was supposed to be held in late July - early August, have been canceled. In this regard, the schedules of international and licensed competitions were adjusted, as well as the preparation of athletes for these major competitions. I would also like to say that today athletes have resumed their training, but due to the fact that the Olympics was postponed to 2021, a significant amount was saved in this half-year, this is 4.3 billion tenge and returned to the state budget. That is, these funds were optimized and returned to the budget,” Raimkulova informed.

According to the head of the department, over the past 20 years, Kazakhstan for the first time participates in teams archery competitions.

“During the pandemic, thanks to the measures taken by our state commission, the work of our commission received the highest rating from the World Health Organization. At the moment, all the guys in the ranks are training. Since June 1, we have already allowed training in compliance with all safety measures. Our guys continue to train and prepare for qualifying tournaments. Those who received the license are already preparing for the Olympic Games. The mood is good. I think that we, as planned, will win more than 100 licenses. We will have more than 110 athletes participating in the Olympic Games. We believe in the success of our children, our girls, our team,” said the minister of culture and sports.

Map of tourism of Kazakhstan

Measures are being taken to further develop the tourism industry in the country. A map of tourist development of Kazakhstan has been formed, where the TOP-10 of the main tourist destinations are determined. Burabay, Bayanaul, Alakol, Balkhash, the coast of the Caspian Sea are being improved. The emphasis is on the development of their infrastructure, the construction of roads, roadside services, hotel complexes, and the arrangement of the territory.

In general, within the framework of providing tourist zones with the necessary engineering, communication and transport infrastructure, together with the akimats of the regions, with the support of the government, financing was provided for 44 projects from the republican budget under the programs Nurly Zher, Employment Roadmap and Enbek; Over the past years, infrastructure in individual tourist areas was not funded at such a priority level.

The ministry continues to work for the mass attraction of international tourists. To attract foreign tourists, the Tax Free VAT refund system was introduced, the E-Konak system was developed, the list of countries for visa-free travel was expanded to 73, the registration of foreigners was canceled up to 30 days, etc.

At the same time, in order to develop the human resources potential of the tourism industry in one of the most ancient cities of Central Asia - Turkistan, the International University of Tourism and Sports is opening up, which is called to become one of the leading universities in Central Asia in its field. The university will train highly qualified specialists in the field of tourism, sports and in the areas of handicraft and restoration.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the tourism industry. About 5,913 tourists, citizens of our country, were returned to the country through a system of guaranteeing the rights of citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan during a pandemic by charter and regular flights,” said Raimkulova.

Unprecedented measures have been taken to support the tourism industry. A whole package of anti-crisis measures, including tax and credit exemptions. As part of the bill, investment preferences for entrepreneurs are being worked out, as well as reimbursement of their costs.

An interdepartmental commission under the government recommended a phased exit from quarantine, approved the procedure for observing the sanitary-disinfection regime in the operation of tour facilities and the algorithm for opening the tour season for the regions.

“The tourism industry worldwide has suffered significant damage. Plans with the development of inbound tourism are adjusted. On a daily basis, the government, the state, and representatives of the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, with representatives of the tourism community hold ongoing meetings on measures to support the tourism sector.” State institutions did not suffer any losses. All cultural and sports workers who work in state institutions retained their salaries and preferences guaranteed by the state. Private cultural and sports organizations received support as part of state support for small and medium-sized businesses,” the minister explained.

Ministry’s online projects gained over 60 million views

During the quarantine period, the Ministry of Culture and Sports launched numerous online projects that scored more than 60 million views. The systematic work on digitizing the funds of concert-entertainment and theater organizations, museums, museum-reserves, libraries and other cultural and leisure groups allowed us to adequately present the entire range of online services to the attention of citizens of our republic and foreign countries.

“About 160 concerts and productions of republican organizations were uploaded openly, the Kazakhfilm studio uploaded 223 national films, about 60 thousand copies of literature in electronic format are available in the library stock. Leading museums, theaters, libraries of the country organized free online broadcasts of concerts, performances, productions, films, special video excursions for people with hearing impairments, 3D tours of popular museums and tourist routes,” the minister said.

In addition to concert and entertainment content, within the framework of the project #ONLINE-da bol, the ministry organized master classes, training webinars in the field of tourism and librarianship, online courses in teaching the state language, online events for improving the alphabet, online courses for teaching 10 UN languages ​​and other.

Despite the current situation, international cooperation continues. The practice of holding online conferences on the Zoom platform has been introduced. In this format, international online conferences “Abay and Spiritual Heritage” and “Heritage of Abu Nasyr al-Farabi and the Present” were held.

Under the auspices of UNESCO, an international conference was held with the participation of ministers of culture from 130 countries, the agenda of which was topical issues of the development of the cultural sphere. Promising tourism support measures and effective tools to overcome the current crisis were discussed during a virtual conference sponsored by UNWTO.

Thus, with the participation of international and domestic experts, extensive discussions are held on an ongoing basis, the exchange of experience on the resumption of work in the fields of culture, sports, tourism in the post-quarantine period.

“The stars of the Kazakh stage, who supported the Kazakhstani with their work in the framework of the 'Quarantine Star’ project, did not stand aside. Despite the circumstances and difficulties, they came to the studio to speak in front of the Kazakhstani people. We conducted 42 online concerts on YouTube with 20 million viewing,” said the head of department.

Athletes launched the action #TeamKZ, #AlgaKazakhstan, in the framework of which they conducted online exercises every morning and showed various exercises that anyone could perform at home.

In addition, the Republican online contest “Onerli Oren,’’ Alaman #StayHome e-sports tournaments, online tournament on blitz chess, etc. were held. Several dozens of motivating videos were created under the hashtags #Bizbirgemiz, #Birgeenseremiz, #BizUidemiz featuring musicians, artists and athletes.

The European Broadcasting Union, which is about 70 countries, praised the video clip with the participation of Astana Opera lead singer Maira Mukhamedkyzy, where she performed the “World Prayer” — dedication to the world's doctors.

Also, the Kazakh singer Dimash Kudaibergen performed the new song “We are One” in support of doctors fighting coronavirus worldwide.

Events to be held as part of celebration of anniversaries of Abay and Al-Farabi

In the framework of the celebration of anniversary dates, the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan launched active work. According to the speaker, in 2020 marks the anniversary of the outstanding poet and thinker of the Kazakh people Abay Kunanbaev, as well as the 1150th anniversary of the world famous scientist Abu Nasr al-Farabi.

So, on Jan. 21, 2020, at the Astana Opera Theater, the official opening ceremony of the anniversary of the great Abay took place. The Republican plan for the preparation and holding of the 175th anniversary of Abay Kunanbayev was also approved, and the Abay Academy Research Institute was established on the basis of the Eurasian National University named after L.N. Gumilyov.

“Currently, scientific and restoration work is underway in the Abay house-museum, the Abay-Shakarim memorial complex in Zhidebay, a concept has been prepared to transform the Abay museum-reserve Zhidebay-Borili into a full-fledged research center. In general, work is ongoing at 18 sites,” the minister said.

In order to promote Abay’s work in the country and abroad, his works have been translated and will be published in 8 languages ​​of the world, the Abay Cultural Information Center in Prague has been opened, Abay Readings, exhibitions, round tables in Bratislava, Budapest, Berlin have been held.

In October 2020, an international presentation of the anniversary of Abay will be held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

On the occasion of the 1150th anniversary of Al-Farabi, in the settlement of Otyrar, work has begun on the restoration of the northern gate, fortress walls, residential quarters, main streets, a mosque and a ceramic workshop. The opening of the Al-Farabi exposition hall is planned, his works in 7 volumes are published in three languages. The premiere of the documentary "The Return of the Teacher" is scheduled for September.

More than 40 research and cultural events to be held for 750th anniversary of Golden Horde

The most important event of this year is the 750th anniversary of the Golden Horde. The action plan has planned more than 40 research and cultural events.

As the minister noted, today scientific and restoration work is underway in the mausoleum of Zhoshy Khan, and a historical and cultural complex will appear there. Also, in order to attract domestic and foreign tourists to the cradle of the Golden Horde — Ulytau — the following tourist routes have been developed: Kasyetti Ulytau, Khan Zholy, Terekti Auliye and Qorgasyn Qypiyasy.

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