The Ministry of Trade explained how time zone changes could impact Kazakhstan's economy.

"We reviewed the operational data on trade turnover - both wholesale and retail trade have increased by approximately 1.1% compared to the same period in 2023. While this may not seem like a significant percentage, in absolute terms, it amounts to billions of tenge.

Internal trade turnover is also on the rise. Regarding exports, we have seen a growth of about 9.8% in operational data over the past 9 months. Therefore, we do not indicate any negative consequences for trade; rather, we observe an overall growth in the sector. We hope this trend will continue. The dynamics in trade are positive," stated Shakkaliev.

Today, the government announced that the current unified time zone UTC+5 is considered a return to the historical time zone, as UTC+6 was noted to have been introduced during the Soviet era.

According to the Minister of Trade and Integration, Arman Shakkaliev, the same time as now was in Kazakhstan until the 1930s, before it was shifted one hour forward.

He mentioned that the International Alliance of Advocates for Natural Time (IANT) provided a positive conclusion on the government's decision to establish the UTC+5 time zone for the central and eastern regions of Kazakhstan.

On November 10, Majilis deputy Erkin Abil, who proposed transitioning all of Kazakhstan to a unified UTC+5 time zone last November, addressed opponents of this transition and advised them to "review their school science curriculum."

Earlier, the NUR.KZ editorial team prepared a piece on how different regions of the country appear at the same time. It was noted that the difference in the onset of twilight in various cities has become more pronounced with the arrival of colder weather.

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