News
Major New Partnership for Wales
2006/2007 saw the first intake of students into Wales Universities from the Bolashak International Scholarship, an initiative of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. The scholars are a welcome result of a major new partnership between the Kazakhstan Ministry of Education and Wales International Consortium.
The Bolashak Scholarship Scheme is designed to provide education at leading academic departments worldwide for future leaders in areas such as science and technology, engineering and medicine, economics and public policy. On completion of their programmes, scholarship recipients return to Kazakhstan to work in different Kazakhstan companies, governmental bodies and international organizations. Since 1993 over 800 Kazakhstan students have attended universities such as Harvard, Cambridge and MIT and the programme has now been greatly expanded in the UK and other destinations.
The Bolashak, or “Futures” programme was established by the Kazakhstan Ministry of Education which identified areas valuable for the country’s future development such as Engineering; Health Care; Civil Service and Public Administration, Management (particularly innovative areas such as Entrepreneurship and specialised subjects such as Tourism); Industrial, Agricultural and Technical Development.
Virginia West, Director of the Wales International Consortium (WIC) said, “The rigorous criteria for the selection of Bolashak scholars and the highly competitive nature of the process assure that only the best students, who represent Kazakhstan’s most promising young leaders, are named Bolashak Scholars. There are over 100 nationalities living in Kazakhstan and exceptionally talented and able young people of different ethnicity and from different regions of Kazakhstan can become recipients of the scholarship.”
Kazakhstan is recognised as the economic power house of the CIS, with annual GDP growth of around 10% in recent years fed by vast revenues from oil and gas, hard-rock mining and agriculture. The economy, while based overwhelmingly on the extractive industries, is stable and Kazakhstan is emerging as a major new player in the global economy.
In May this year His Excellency Mr Erlan Idrissov the Kazakhstan Ambassador to the United Kingdom visited Wales for a meeting with Mr Rhodri Morgan, A.M,. First Minister, at the National Assembly in Cardiff before visiting Aberystwyth where he presented the collected works of President Nazarbayev to the National Library of Wales and visited the Department of International Politics at University of Wales Aberystwyth, and the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research.
During his visit Ambassador Idrissov said, “Kazakhstan is one of the fastest growing economies and emerging markets. Its social and political stability, and commitment to further reform along with its vast natural resources, make it one of the most attractive places in the world for capital investments.”
In September the Wales International Consortium will be visiting Kazakhstan for the third time. During this visit staff will take part in British Higher Education Fair, joined by representatives from University of Wales Swansea and University of Wales institute, Cardiff. In March of this year visitors from Kazakhstan including agents and representatives from British Council Kazakhstan, toured several education institutions in Wales. During the last WIC visit to Kazakhstan an agreement in principle was signed between Wales International Consortium and the Centre for International Programs, part of the Ministry of Education, which administers the Bolashak Scholarship scheme.
Mr Douglas Townsend, Kazakhstan’s Honorary Consul to Wales, who has been instrumental in helping WIC to develop strategic contacts, said, “This innovative partnership for Wales, with an education programme as a building block, will path the way for future alliances as Bolashak Scholars return to their country as Wales Alumni to create the foundations of future partnerships between Wales and a country rising to become one of the most globally competitive nations of the future.”
NOTES TO EDITORS :
For more information on WIC programs including Bolashak, contact WIC at ---. For more information on Kazakhstan, contact Douglas Townsend at dat.temas@btinternet.com