From the 7th to the 13th of August 2011, Professor Myrkhalykov, Pro Vice-Chancellor of South Kazakhstan State University (SKSU), and Mr Maulenov, Director of the “Ontustik” Special Economic Zone, visited Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) and three leading textile companies in the UK.

The representative of the higher education sector and his business partner had a series of meetings at MMU where they discussed the integration of curriculum and business needs, joint research and the academic mobility of Masters students. They also became acquainted with new technology in the form of a body scanner, used for the fitting and sizing of models, which takes measurements accurate to 5 cm. Professor Myrkhalykov made a presentation to his British colleagues on the current situation in Kazakhstan and on initiatives taken by the South Kazakhstan State University to advance the process of internationalization of HEIs. Mr Maulenov made a presentation about the creation of preferential conditions for investors until 2030 in the Ontustik Special Economic Zone.

During the trip, the Kazakh visitors and their British colleagues visited the Textile Institute in Manchester and the textile company, Matalan Ltd. Later, the partners also had meetings at Marks and Spencer and Asda. The trip gave the visitors an opportunity to find out about the latest developments in the UK textile industry first hand and allowed the partners and potential technology investors to assess opportunities for collaboration.

Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom, Kairat Abuseitov, met the Kazakh and British partners in London. The Ambassador was interested to learn about the joint British Council project behind the visit and offered the support of the Embassy of Kazakhstan in the UK for strengthening collaboration between the partners. “The joint work carried out by partners from Manchester Metropolitan University and South Kazakhstan State University together, with Ontustik, is one of the first initiatives of its kind. This partnership is in line with the aim of Government of Kazakhstan to boost industrial and innovative development in the country”, said the Ambassador.

As a result of the visit, representatives of South Kazakhstan State University and Manchester Metropolitan University agreed on a project work plan until March 2012, planned a reciprocal trip to Shymkent and agreed on the delivery of a series of lectures by MMU academics at SKSU this autumn. Sourcing Director of Matalan, Jason Hargreaves, and Technical and Corporate Purchasing Director, David Mellett, have put a visit to South Kazakhstan Oblast in their diaries. Several other UK textile companies have become interested in the attractive conditions created in the Special Economic Zone and have expressed an interest in visiting Shymkent in the near future to examine the possibilities for investing technology and building factories.

The visit was conducted within the British Council three-year project, “Academic collaboration of HEIs for sustainable development of the textile cluster in South Kazakhstan Oblast”, which is aimed at strengthening academic and research collaboration between universities in Kazakhstan and the UK.

As a follow-on from the visit and a continuation of the partnership between the two universities and business, the UK participants received an invitation from their Kazakh colleagues to take part in the forum, “The  Innovation Attractiveness of the Region”, which will take place at the end of October this year in Shymkent and will be attended by high profile representatives of the political and business sectors.

	Ambassador and partners			At the laboratory
	At the manufacturing department			Exchange of ideas
	Matalan			Professor Myrkhalykov at Matalan
	Partners at Asda			Partners together