“I don’t know if it is the first in Eurasia, but it is most likely in Kazakhstan,” said Saule Akhmetova, a partner and branch director at GRATA Law Firm in Almaty. “As the name suggests, it is supposed to be a systematic training program focusing on business law and IP. Kazakh universities offer master’s programs in a more general direction – private law, jurisprudence and others – allowing students to narrow their field of study and choose the topic of their dissertation.”

“Perhaps the proposed program’s focus on narrow areas of law will be an interesting choice for students. However, it is difficult to say [with regard to] the practical benefits because the disciplines of IP and business law are taught by other universities and master’s programs, and students have the opportunity to choose these programs at other universities, among others,” she added. 

- Espie Angelica A. de Leon