FOB Business Forum:w0x%A:e(j5?!@.H4d
FOB Business Forum3_&A%|7N7v/h8v
Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice-president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), holds the Olympic flame upon its arrival at Almaty airport April 1, 2008FOB Business Forum&O*j8m5H+_2M8W U+z
FOB Business Forum8d-u:s @*\1~:C
Almaty, which is nestled in a valley and means "rich with apple", is the first stop of the global relay which will also cover 20 cities outside China from yesterday to May 3.
.i,s;Q4Q6^'u#~
'D!f1[2Y'[$q!u7Zwww.fobshanghai.comThe city is spruced up to witness the Olympic torch make its first-ever appearance on its "journey of harmony" in the vast landlocked central Asian nation.
,X+]-R9]+H9WFOB Business Forum
8z P7^*[7J!F*d"j3\www.fobshanghai.com"Our country deserves this honor because Kazakhstan citizens have spent so much time to get up to the very top of the Olympic pedestal," said Almaty Mayor Imangali Tasmagambetov.*h6`'^(v'H+r'\

#p$c.t0`0vbusiness forum,trade forum,business opportunity,Business China,Business India,Brazil businessEighty torchbearers will carry the flame in this country, once a key staging post on the renowned Silk Road linking ancient China and Europe.www.fobshanghai.com+H9R8a)]9a:H

7G7k6D0u/f(J'W8Ybusiness forum,trade forum,business opportunity,Business China,Business India,Brazil business
'_5}/v.u:M(W.w'B0I%fFOB Business ForumKazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev is expected to join the relay, possibly by lighting the community cauldron before passing the torch to Athens Olympics boxing champion Bakhtiyar Artaev, the country's first torchbearer, sources close to the local Olympic Committee revealed.[A Professional Business Forum]9W1m+g8q)l;R2@
www.fobshanghai.com(R!_1O4F)F1y.o6S2{
Former boxer Ermakhan Ibraimov, who collected a bronze medal in the Atlanta 1996 Olympics and won gold four years later in Sydney, will also carry the torch.6Q k9i1{1I%u8B \
FOB Business Forum'i+j$H7f6T'o9I:b6f2J4A
"It's the first time, and a great honor to be a torchbearer for the Beijing Olympic Games. I'm very, very proud of it," he told a press briefing yesterday afternoon.business forum,trade forum,business opportunity,Business China,Business India,Brazil business&?0w6`4?3Q0s
%o4n&A*D8D+F
The relay is a new experience for the young country, which became independent only 17 years ago and where the median age is just over 29 years old.FOB Business Forum9z5[;u&z-`#D1?

)a(h4\#D(^5O#K [7Q,s6rIt is also expected to enhance its relationship with China, its eastern neighbor.www.fobshanghai.com,z&E*m%D*U+u
www.fobshanghai.com0K&c!I#D,U(}
Ibraimov said Chinese and Kazak boxers had participated in many joint training camps in recent years. The Chinese boxing team has made remarkable progress as a result of such exchanges; and today, Russia, China and Kazakhstan are the only three countries that have won 10 licenses in boxing, he said.business forum,trade forum,business opportunity,Business China,Business India,Brazil business4_*J3v r0C5E

)`1M%}*L9d2Q$N)I;F$r9[-fFOB Business ForumThe second leg of the torch relay begins in Istanbul, Turkey, tomorrow afternoon.
1A;S/W)C$B:b7K&dwww.fobshanghai.comFOB Business Forum5\/l3D#c-I2u*i
                                                                        
2D$k$o+E s |7B0w[A Professional Business Forum]business forum,trade forum,business opportunity,Business China,Business India,Brazil business5Y,U F;T1R3V(|
[ Last edited by jackylau at 2008-4-2 14:28 ]