On December 8-9, professional women from 6 countries will discuss international trends in the integration of women into the industrial sector of the economy, the development of mentoring projects for young professionals and the implementation of cross-country initiatives within the framework of the global women’s agenda in Astana.
At the plenary session of the Congress, representatives of the women’s professional communities of Russia and Kazakhstan put forward an initiative to create a consolidated action plan and initiatives for women from 20 participating countries of the International Council for the Support and Development of Women in Industry and Technology and their further methodological support within the framework of Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the Council, taking into account all the topics of the working groups: women's entrepreneurship, women in science, women and girls in STEM.
The speakers of the forum were more than 30 experts from Kazatomprom, Rosatom, the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Atomic Energy, the Nuclear Society of Kazakhstan, Atameken, KAZENERGY, the Civil Alliance of Kazakhstan, the HPP of AlES JSC, the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Qazaq Green Power, the People’s Party of Kazakhstan, TechnoWomen, VTB Medicine, PAO Rosseti, Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Turkish Academy of Defense Industry, SIBUR and other organizations.
Opening the congress, Deputy Chairman of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Atomic Energy Zhantikin Timur thanked the organizers of the Congress and noted that this year is important for Kazakhstan, the country has begun construction of the Balkhash nuclear power plant jointly with Rosatom,
«The project is a driver of development for local companies. About 30% of the work will be carried out with the involvement of Kazakhstani enterprises and specialists. This will be an incentive to create a full-fledged nuclear industry in Kazakhstan, new jobs and increase the skills of local personnel. During the construction of the nuclear power plant, up to 10,000 workers will be required, and about 2,000 people will serve it. And here all paths are open to our esteemed women, whose professionalism and competence are becoming the driving force of progress».
On the zero day of the Congress, the Nuclear Society of Kazakhstan and the Rosatom Women’s Community, with the support of the Rosatom State Corporation and the Council of the Eurasian Women’s Forum, conducted a practical mentoring laboratory, Women Career Lab, in which more than 120 young girls, together with leading experts, explored stereotypes when choosing professions in the industrial sector of the economy, current trends in the labor market and challenges of the future they also developed individual career plans. The participants of the first Women Career Lab had a unique opportunity to break down their careers into “particles” and create their own successful set of skills and competencies that will allow them to build a successful career.
«The Women Career Lab has become our first international women’s mentoring project within the framework of the International Council, whose members are professional women from 20 countries. It is symbolic that we launched the Laboratory as part of the year of Kazakhstan’s presidency in the person of the President of Women in Nuclear of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Council. The plans for 2026 also include joint initiatives with women’s professional communities in Kazakhstan, which are developing and being created in various industries – mining, AI, petroleum, energy, ESG, nuclear industry, processing, entrepreneurship, etc. The International Council has created a stable platform for consolidating women’s professional communities in different countries», - said Alexandra Ryabykh, Head of the Rosatom Women’s Community, member of the Council of the Eurasian Women’s Forum at the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
The business program of the congress brought together women of working professions, top managers of large industrial companies in Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey, Egypt and Serbia, who discussed the importance of women’s participation in working professions and their cross-country cooperation within the framework of the Year of Working Professions, announced by President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.