The College of Social Sciences of KIMEP University and The Trade and economic representative office of Belgium in Kazakhstan (AWEX Almaty) boast a noticeable history of cooperation. We, as the educational institution, greatly appreciate opportunities provided by The Trade and economic representative office of Belgium in Kazakhstan (AWEX Almaty) to students and fresh graduates in obtaining professional skills during internships and various events.
On November 22 – 24, in the framework of development of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, a multi-sectoral collective mission of Belgian companies to Kazakhstan took place. The participants of the mission visited the cities of Nur-Sultan and Almaty in order to explore the new opportunities for Belgian business.
Ms. Chantal De Bleu, General Director of the Wallonia Export-Investment Agency (AWEX), headed the delegation.
The event has been organized by the Trade and economic representative office of Belgium in Kazakhstan, representing the regions of Belgium – Wallonia, Flanders, Brussels, and the relevant export-investment agencies: AWEX – Wallonia Export-Investment Agency, FIT – Flanders Investment & Trade and Hub.Brussels.
Students of International Relations program of KIMEP University took part in the event as translation assistants during meetings in Almaty and were inspired by their experience. Let’s listen to students:
Nargiz Issina: The event was amazing, honestly it was such a pleasure for me to have a chance to work with them, because I love meeting new people and networking. I had two Belgians (Guibert and Colas from Fockedey Transports) whom I assisted and I enjoyed it. Not only did I work as an interpreter, but I did much more. I had a chance to meet and get to know them, I learned about their company and about Belgium, I also was a representative of Kazakhstan because it was their first time here and therefore we had some cultural exchange
P.S. I also had a chance to practice my French.
Elmira Mukanova: I worked with the Belgian Director of Export – Vincent Jadoul from “Qualiphar” company. Certainly, I enjoyed working with Belgian enterprise because I learned so many soft skills such as: managing time between meetings, communication skills on a business level and of course, translation skills. To be honest, I always doubted is I should work as a translator, but thanks to this chance I decided to challenge my fears and I am very happy about that. Translating was not so hard for me even though I never used specific medical terminology before. “Qualiphar” is a pharmaceutical company, so working for 2 full days with the professional employee of the company I gained a lot of knowledge, including understanding of export, marketing & sales and logistics. Overall, I liked working as a translator and I will be looking forward to new opportunities to work like this again.
P.S. Belgian enterprise gave me a recommendation letter, so I am planning to continue translating jobs in the future.
Gauhar Zhumadilda: I would like to thank the Trade and economic representative office of Belgium in Kazakhstan (AWEX Almaty) for sharing the information about this event and for their help. In general, I liked this translation experience, and I believe it helped me to develop soft-skills that will be useful for my future. I think that this event made me understand a lot about challenges and opportunities that farmers of Kazakhstan face when trying to either import or export livestock from Belgium and the EU in general.
Gulshat Rozyyeva: It was such an honor to translate for Mr. Dubois. I believe this meeting was a win-win situation for both of us. I had a chance to immerse myself into the world of metallurgy. It was a great challenge, yet I believe I developed a new set of skills as a translator and as an International Relations student. Similarly, I got a chance to meet virtually with representatives of the leading metallurgy factories in Kazakhstan. Overall, it was a unique, challenging, yet rewarding experience for me.
Taking this opportunity, the College of Social Sciences thanks Aizhan Mussakanova, Trade and Economic Counselor, and Aitolkyn Ilyassova, Development officer, for their cooperation and providing opportunities for professional development to our students.