On February 22-23, 2024, AUCA School of Entrepreneurship and Business Administration participated in 2024 International Conference “Impact Central: Bridging Social Development and Entrepreneurship in Central Asia” in Astana, Kazakhstan organized by Nazarbayev University Research Center of Entrepreneurship (NURCE) and Nazarbayev University Social Development Fund (NUSDF).

AUCA Business School participated as one of the partners of the conference alongside institutions like SDU, KIMEP and MNU, which highlights our continued close cooperation with NU Graduate School of Business in developing business cases and studying entrepreneurship.

AUCA Business School had a strong representation at the conference with Urmat Ryskulov, Associate Professor and Chair of SEBA, Saikal Anvar kyzy, Assistant Professor and MBA Director, Bermet Talasbek kyzy, Strategic Development Officer and Co-Chair of AUCA Sustainability Task Force participating in the conference, heading roundtables and moderating paper presentation sessions:

–Urmat Ryskulov, Moderator of Session 1C: Sustainable and Inclusive Entrepreneurship Paper presentation Session

–Saikal Anvar kyzy, Moderator of MNU Paper Presentation Session

–Bermet Talasbek kyzy, Moderator of Session 3B: Entrepreneurial Finance Paper presentation session

The conference provided an excellent platform for networking and future cooperation with fourteen (14) state and private institutions promoting business education in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

Director of the NURCE, Professor Shumaila Yousafzai, presented her monograph titled “Together We Have It All: Women Entrepreneurs in the Tourism Sector, A Case Study of the Kyrgyzstan Community”, which provides a comprehensive examination of the experiences of female entrepreneurs driving community tourism in Kyrgyzstan. This book will be available for readers at AUCA Library.

NURCE is a research center of the Graduate School of Business at Nazarbayev University, conducting research on entrepreneurship. SDFNU is a non-commercial organization supporting social innovation. Since 2020, it has assisted over 50 social projects influencing over 50,000 people.