the ctc foundation, afo communications, and the to trust.yfaar later, i will talk with kazakhstan's foreign minister. right now, a visit with the u.s. ambassador to kazakhstan, kenneth fairfax. >> what should americans know about kazakhstan? >> i think the short answer is a lot more than they currently do. >> thank you. >> it is the ninth largest country on earth. it is a country that has a rather extraordinary relations

the ctc foundation afo communications. >> during our recent visit to cassocks down -- has expand -- recent visit, we discover the city of contrasts. the old capital of almaty is home to culture and education while the new capital is home to the government's. in almaty, we visited a huge old world market. they call it the green bazaar, selling all kinds of goods. our translator explains. >> we are in the central market of almaty. there are a lot of ethnic groups represented here. many of them filled traditional gaps. for example, the green bazaar. they have different sweets and dried berries. >> we discovered a different kind of shopping experience in astana. the largest tent in the world designed to replicate a traditional yurt. it even has its very own indoor beach. it is similar to american malls, but this one has its own perch. kazakhstan is a huge country and business activity is very diverse. financial centers in the east. old world fishing and new world oil in the west. traditional music -- we found that, of course in a restaurant. at the magnificent opera house, there's the traditio

the ctc foundation, afo communications, and the rotondaro family trust. this year, kazakhstan celebrates its 20th anniversary of independence. on this program, we will learn about what it was like before independence 20 years ago, and how oil and a visionary president made kazakhstan the success it is today and why diversifying its economy will be the key to kazakhstan's even brighter future. >> it was a while the economy, while business economy, and a great economy mainly. today, we have a lot of public companies. our businessmen are doing international joint ventures. if you take the society as a whole, are people became much more open-minded, a free, outspoken people, and we are much different from what we were before. >> has that been exciting to be a part of? >> i was 20 years old when kazakhstan became independent. our generation of businessmen, they were not that successful because they probably did not get that much influence in communist times. good times, in a good country, to create such a career is possible only i think being born in kazakhsta

the ctc foundation. afo communications. and the rotandaro family trust. >> having heard so much about finland's successes in public education, i had a chance to sit and talk with tapio kosunen from the ministry of education in finland. why is education and finland -- wise education in finland so successful? what is the real answer? >> it is very much appreciated. >> appreciated? by the general public? >> by the general public and as a means to have a decent life. >> so, you are not so much concerned, i gather if i am hearing you correctly, not so much with scores and statistics, but more as a total human being? >> yes. that is the point. we do not use any standardized tests. >> would you say that again out loud? >> we do not use any standardized tests in finland. actually, we have won a standardized test. which is the examination after secondary school. >> towards the end of their time at secondary schools? >> yes. >> i gather tests are not important. rankings are not important. no? rankings are not important. i gather comp

the ctc foundation, afo communications, and the rotondaro family trust. later, i will talk with kazakhstan's foreign minister. right now, a visit with the u.s. ambassador to kazakhstan, kenneth fairfax. >> what should americans know about kazakhstan? >> i think the short answer is a lot more than they currently do. >> thank you. >> it is the ninth largest country on earth. it is a country that has a rather extraordinary relations with the united states, and yet most people really know either nothing or worse than nothing -- what they have seen in a movie, which is the opposite of reality, of course. there is a lot to learn. >> what are the mutual interests of the two countries, the united states and kazakhstan? >> we have many. you can look at it as an edgy, food security. lots of overlapping interests. but what would come to most people first is non- proliferation and world security. kazakhstan, after the fall of the soviet union has -- became the fourth largest nuclear weapons state and the first one to decide we don't want it. the president declared th

the ctc foundation, afo communications, and the rotondaro family trust. whether at home or traveling abroad, our goal is to use our weekly "this is america" program to learn about the social, political, and cultural lives of people around the world. we call it "this is america and the world." in the desert of oman, downtown in singapore or talking to guests in new york or washington, we are learning about the entire world. you can see all of our programs that thisisamerica.net and thisis the world.t world.tv andw v

the ctc foundation, afo communications, and the rotondaro family trust. new zealand has one of the top education systems in the world. to learn about the how and why of its success, i talked with the minister of education. i read these big reports, and they say that new zealand always is ranking in the top-10 of all school systems all over the world. what is the secret of success? >> there is no one secret of success. in order to get a system that is made up of many parts, one of them is that we have a highly inspirational culture as a society where a small country, -- we are a small country, the last stop before antarctica. we know that we have to trade to survive. to do that, we have designed -- to design products and services that the world wants. that means that our biggest resource is located between the two years of our citizens. that means we have to constantly ensure that how we contribute, we manage the resource, through our education system. we deliver those opportunities so that we have a very strong culture attitude of success and expectation.

the ctc foundation, afo communications, and the rotondaro family trust. this year, kazakhstan celebrates its 20th anniversary of independence. on this program, we will learn about what it was like before independence 20 years ago, and how oil and a visionary president made kazakhstan the success it is today and why diversifying its economy will be the key to kazakhstan's even brighter future. >> it was a while the economy, while business economy, and a great economy mainly. today, we have a lot of public companies. our businessmen are doing international joint ventures. if you take the society as a whole, are people became much more open-minded, a free, outspoken people, and we are much different from what we were before. >> has that been exciting to be a part of? >> i was 20 years old when kazakhstan became independent. our generation of businessmen, they were not that successful because they probably did not get that much influence in communist times. good times, in a good country, to create such a career is possible only i think being born in kazakhsta