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At a press conference in Almaty the general director of Microsoft Kazakhstan, Aydar Dauletov, declared that the volume of sales of Microsoft in Kazakhstan and the countries of Central Asia in the 2006 financial year grew by 47% in comparison with the last fiscal year. Dauletov added that sales in Kazakhstan have made up the greatest share of sales among all the Central Asian countries - 96%, in comparison with Uzbekistan - 2% and Kyrgyzstan - 1%. Sales in the corporate sector have grown by 52%, and in the small and medium sector businesses by 44%.

In addition, Microsoft together with its Kazakhstani partners, has completed a number of large projects using its products and technologies. Within the framework of the "Unlimited Potential" and "Partnership in Education" initiatives, 19,000 schoolchildren, 1,300 teachers and more than 5,000 ordinary Kazakhstani citizens have received training free of charge. Memorandums of cooperation with four institutions of higher education were signed in which the universities received books published by Microsoft Press and other educational materials free of charge.

The complete text of the article is available in Russian from CNews at the following URL: http://www.cnews.ru/news/line/index.shtml?2006/10/06/213059.

Comment:These developments are significant for two reasons. One is that it shows that computer users in Central Asia (or at least in Kazakhstan) are purchasing more licensed copies of Microsoft software. Illegal software pirating and usage is rampant throughout much of the developing world, and Microsoft is no doubt pleased with its new official customers. In addition, Microsoft is displaying its prowess in social entrepreneurship. By providing Kazakhstani schools and universities with free training and materials, it not only helps raise the computer literacy rate of Central Asia, it also increases Microsoft's customer base in the region.