AlmaU hosted an intellectual evening with Askar Akayev

On June 20, AlmaU hosted an intellectual evening with the First President of Kyrgyzstan, Lomonosov Moscow State University professor Askar Akayev. The event was organized by the Tan Media Group company. 

The moderator of the evening was Armanzhan Baytasov, a Kazakhstani businessman. The theme of the evening was "Living in the Age of Change" and it was chosen for a reason. After all, in the opinion of Armanzhan Baytasov, it accurately describes the fate of Askar Akayev.

At the meeting, Askar Akayev shared his story of coming to power, how the Kyrgyz Republic was ahead of Kazakhstan, and why demography is "the destiny of the people".

"I never thought when I was young that I would get into politics. I chose the profession of a researcher. I founded the Department of Computer Engineering, I was engaged in the development of mathematical models," said Askar Akayev, answering Baitasov's question about how he became president.

After receiving the post of president of the Academy of Sciences, Akayev was included in the Central Committee of the Communist Party. He did not plan to run as a presidential candidate, but his party decided otherwise.

"I wasn't going to, I had no such plans, I wanted to continue working at the academy, but they insisted, they found a night flight to Osh. The plane was delayed, they dragged me straight onto the plane and sent me away. In the morning the plane arrived, and that's how I ended up as president", the politician shared.

During the meeting, the academician shared his opinion on the socio-economic development of Kazakhstan. Askar Akayev is sure that Kazakhstan now needs to create an "innovation industry" and develop nano- and biotechnology. He emphasized that if the country starts investing in the level of education, Kazakhstan will have a breakthrough.

"Now Kazakhstan has a good rate of population growth and a good level of education. What do you need to do? You need to take up digital education, so that the level of digital literacy exceeds the critical 30%. And then you will have a technological breakthrough," suggested the former president of Kyrgyzstan.

Askar Akayevich shared an interesting opinion about the collapse of the USSR. According to him, if the Soviet Union had concentrated on the development of science and developed the production of microchips, it would have been able to modernize its economy and would have kept it from falling apart.

Moreover, the academician is convinced that there was another option for avoiding disintegration. It is noted that before the putsch in August 1991, Michael Gorbachev planned to sign a new treaty between the socialist countries, which would have united the people.

"Then, having agreed with the West, we will be able to get loans, stabilize the political situation and revive the economy," noted Akayev.

The intellectual evening brought together in the walls of AlmaU public figures, representatives of business, employees of science and culture.