Kazakhstan, a country worth discovering

My assignment in Kazakhstan was an extraordinary experience professionally but also on a cultural and human level.

Professionally, the assignment consisted of supporting two young Kazakh entrepreneurs, Zhanibek Kenzhebayev and Asfendiyar Kenzhebayev, who are starting a cosmetics business named Re-Biomed, in the Kazakhstan market.

To start they wanted to introduce 15 new products. They will buy the bulk ingredients outside the country and will do the packaging and labelling in their plant. Their office is located in Astana, the Kazakh capital, and the plant is in Stepnogorsk, 200 km north of Astana. At the time of the assignment, the plant building was being finalized.For two weeks, seven days a week, we worked to help move the project forward:

• Audit of the premises, audit of the supplier, practise session regarding operational flow, writing up operational procedures related to equipment, training in cosmetics regulations, ISO standard (ISO 22716) on good manufacturing practises, types of product analysis, identifying and visiting an analysis laboratory, etc.
• A plethora of relevant documents were produced for Re-Biomed: manufacturing standards for cosmetics, microbiology standards, cleaning and disinfection procedures.
• Several procedures and documents were created.
• A potential Chinese supplier was also inspected.
• We travelled from Astana to the plant on several occasions.

On the cultural side of things, I had the opportunity to live in one of the owners’ apartment, which was both economical and efficient. The Kazakh people were very warm, welcoming and respectful toward us. This opportunity to mingle on a daily basis and to discover their culture, their country, their history, their language, their political system, their way of life and their food was extremely rewarding and pleasant.

Kazakhstan, a country worth discovering! A well-kept secret.