The Moscow delegation visited Almaty (Republic of Kazakhstan)

The XI Kazakhstan International Book and Printing Exhibition “Along the Great Silk Road” was held in Almaty on November 21-27, 2023. The Russian side was represented by the Department for External Economic and International Relations of Moscow, the Department of Mass Media, the Moscow House of the Compatriot, the Moscow Center for International Cooperation, as well as Moscow book publishers. 

The Russian capital was represented at the exhibition by the media exhibition “Moscow Book”. Dmitry Turaev, General Consul of the Russian Federation in Almaty, took part in the opening ceremony of the stand. In his speech, he stressed the importance of Moscow’s work to popularize and promote the Russian language and culture among the population of Kazakhstan.

During the exhibition, the Moscow Book Exposition was visited by Vice Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan Tagat Yeshenkulov, General Consul of the People’s Republic of China in Almaty Jiang Wei, representatives of the authorities of Almaty.

As a part of the exhibition, the guests of the stand were presented fiction and educational literature in Russian and foreign languages – part of the publishing program of the Moscow Government. It was noted that at the end of the exhibition events, books from the stand would replenish the library collections of educational institutions in Kazakhstan, where education is conducted in Russian.

Creative meetings of schoolchildren studying Russian with children’s writer, member of the Union of Writers of Russia Anna Goncharova took place at the book exhibition, as well as at the private Russian-speaking school Lake View School. The children were able to personally communicate with the author of the popular series of children’s books about raccoons “Yeni and Eli”, which only strengthened their interest in reading in Russian and further studying it.

In addition to working at the XI Kazakhstan International Book and Printing Exhibition, delegates from Moscow held a working meeting with Consul General Dmitry Turaev. A round table was held with Russian compatriots living in Kazakhstan. Russian culture promotion in Kazakhstan and support for teachers of Russian language and literature were also discussed at the meetings. The plans for cultural events, including Christmas and Easter festivals, as well as a festival of the Russian language and the production of a film about Russian veterans living in Kazakhstan were discussed.

As a part of the visit program, members of the Moscow delegation visited the Temple of the image of the Mother of God in Almaty and met with Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan. During the meeting, agreements were reached on the support of the Moscow Department for External Economic and International Relations of the parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan as centers of consolidation of Russian compatriots abroad. The parties discussed the possibility of providing assistance in equipping the temple and the gymnasium school on the basis of the temple.

The Moscow Center for International Cooperation provided technical support to the event and ensured the presence of Anna Goncharova, a member of the Union of Writers of Russia.