It's not often that you land in a business city that's younger than you are. But that's the case with Astana, which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary on 6 Julycommemorating the day on which the city replaced Almaty as the capital of Kazakhstan.
A teenage capital The city is still growing, as evidenced by the many building projects currently underway. The buildings are growing vertically, while the extra-wide avenues on the ground are reminiscent of the Soviet era: this is the abscissa and ordinate of a business destination that is establishing itself as a leading hub in Europe. Central Asiaand beyond.
However, the transfer of economic sovereignty from Almaty is still underway. The local population is often originally from the former capital, in a way perpetuating the tradition. nomad of the Kazakh people. As for foreign visitors, they often come for economic rather than tourist reasons.
Blessed with natural beauty, Kazakhstan has much to attract business travellers. Oil, gas, uranium The subsoil is brimming with strategic resources. "The Kazakhs have Mendeleyev's table under their feetIt's a great place to live", says an agricultural engineer used to travelling to Astana, with a touch of humour. An abundance of goods does no harm: it has given the President Nazarbayev resources to match its ambitions, equipping the capital with XXL infrastructure designed by leading architects. global stars of architecture.
For the time being, the facilities in the business district on the left bank of the River Ichim seem excessive. But they are paving the way for Astana to become a key crossroads on the New Silk Road. The symbol of this ambition is theInternational exhibition in 2017, built to the south of the brand-new business district. After helping to place the destination on the world atlas, it is now set to welcome a brand new "Astana Financial Center. Clearly, you can have oil, but you can also have ideas...
GETTING THERE
The only direct flight between Paris and Astana is operated by the national airline Air AstanaIn partnership with Air France or Lufthansa, this new service offers three flights a week from Paris-CDG on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays and from five provincial cities. The 6.15-hour flight is operated by a Boeing 757 whose configuration can be adapted to the occupancy rate: in addition to economy and business classes, there is also an offer of Economy SleeperThe Air Astana seat, in a cabin at the front of the aircraft, offers a low-cost business travel experience, allowing passengers to lie down on a mattress fitted to the three seats in a row. These facilities have enabled Air Astana to be named by Skytrax as "best airline in Central Asia" since 2012. Since last year, Astana airport has been equipped with an all-new new terminal dedicated to international flights and equipped with a business lounge. Another project underway is a rail link between the airport and the city centre.
Air Astana > Tel : 01 53 89 77 76 > Internet : www.airastana.com
AIFC: a new business unit
The International Exhibition held in 2017 transformed the southern part of the business district, which now boasts top-of-the-range hotels and, above all, a vast exhibition site. All that remained to be done was to ensure the long-term future of this ultra-modern infrastructure. This will soon be the case with the inauguration, planned for this year, of an ambitious new business hub, theAstana International Financial Center (AIFC). This is an area under the common law system derived from British law, to make the legal framework clearer and simpler. "We are creating a 'zero bureaucracy' environment "An AIFC official summed up the situation in the local media. The authorities are hoping to attract not only banks, but also international institutions, and even a start-up incubator.
