Postcard from Bishkek

This seems to be a month of elections … In America there was the Presidential election, not to mentions State Governors, Senators, Members of the House of Representatives and a whole host of referenda on items as varied as the legislation of marijuana, gay marriage and so on; In China there is the election of […]

September 20th each year is another one of those “professional holidays” commemorated here in Kyrgyzstan: it is Entrepreneurs’ Day. The word is a loan word derived from French and is used to describe someone who undertakes a business venture accepting the risk involved in the possibility of failure …  someone who is enterprising and shows […]

Taxes are extremely unpopular but are an essential fact of life.  Logic dictates that if we want the state to fulfill its functions then we have to ensure that it has the resources to do so.  As the demands on the government rise, so does its need for additional resources and so many inventive initiatives […]

I went to one of the banks where we have an account in order to withdraw some money so that I could pay some bills.  There was nothing unusual in that … it happens on a fairly regular basis as we have to keep some petty cash for paying small everyday bills, we can’t pay […]

Over the weekend, I undertook one of the tasks which make up my regular routine: checking newsletter of the legal database to which I subscribe for any amendments to the legislation which may affect out operations here in Kyrgyzstan. As well as keeping me up to date in the various zakon, postanavleniye, ukaz and prikazes, […]

July 1st is another of those professional holidays which were a feature of the Soviet Union which has been passed over and continued in the newly independent states that emerged – including the Kyrgyz Republic.  This one is Tax Inspectors’ Day! The role of the tax inspector is to ensure that people pay the right […]

Last week I read an article where the author asked: “How easy is it for people to do business with your organization?”  He advised that, “if you don’t know, you’d better find out—and fast.” The experience is basically instrumental in both attracting and retaining a customer … and hence in the firm’s income stream, turnover, profit […]

Recently, the country’s most popular newspaper, Vecherniye Bishkek, (Evening Bishkek), published an interesting infographic under the headline “What do businessmen complain about?”. Although it was called an Infographic, I am not sure to what extent it really qualified as such. Let me explain:  An infographic presents information in a visual representation, rather than in words […]

Channel News Asia, (CNA), is an English language news network based in Singapore where it started in 1999.  It underwent an international launch two years later and is now viewed in 24 territories across Asia – but, sadly, not here in Kyrgyzstan although the channel’s satellite footprint stretches across the Middle East, much of Asia, […]

I had been out of the office attending some meeting or other, and when I got back I was told, (as, indeed, often happens), that all the time I had been away the phone hadn’t stopped ringing with people wanting, (or needing (!)), to speak with me. Well, I thought to myself, someone’s presumably exaggerating […]