OREANDA-NEWS. September 28, 2009. The Opening Ceremony of the Development Information Center (DIC) of five major international organizations operating in Kazakhstan – Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB), Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the United Nations Organization (UN) – has taken place at the National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The Center is created in cooperation with the National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan.  The mission of DIC is to provide public access to the best practices and knowledge of international organizations working for improving lives of people in Kazakhstan. The Center provides free-of-charge an open access to information on development and invites  to use the current and regularly updated resources of the international organizations.

At the Opening Ceremony there were representatives of the governmental sector, scientific community, educational institutions, libraries, archives, museums, mass media, NGOs, and international organizations. Representatives of the Asian Development Bank, Eurasian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, United Nations Organization, and the World Bank who made a welcoming address at the Ceremony, unanimously noted the significance of that common initiative which is aimed at promoting better understanding by the Kazakhstani people of the activities of international organizations, projects implemented by them in the country, as well as the processes of social and economic development.

Representatives of nongovernmental organizations and scientific community emphasized the importance of such information center that gives an opportunity to exchange  best experience in the area of development problems among colleagues all over the world. According to Gulissa Balabekova, Deputy Director General of the National Library, the DIC will be valuable for the various public groups, including students, scientists, representatives of nonprofit agencies, government officials, as well as representatives of a private sector.

Located in the country’s main library, the Center will serve as a one-stop-shop for public access to the resources on all the aspects of social and economic development, information on international organizations’ activities in Kazakhstan and around the world. DIC is a unique source of  information and knowledge that integrates the resources of four international financial institutions and many UN agencies, in order to provide a simplified and unified access. The public will be offered a number of services assisting in formation of the knowledge on development. It provides open access to the extensive data-bases on various development topics, world expertise, and up-to-date statistical and analytical information.

DIC visitors will enjoy consultations and assistance in information search, and free Internet connection.  The DIC collection includes more than 1000 publications, serial publications, multimedia materials on developmental topics, economic overviews, and sector analyses; project documents and reports from multiple international organizations active in Kazakhstan; and international publishers’ books.