Kazakhstan, the Asian country made famous the world over by the 2006 Sasha Baron Cohen film Borat, has joined the ranks of countries where McDonald’s operates.
Borat did not paint the most flattering picture of Kazakhstan, depicting it as a backward country populated with seedy characters.
In fact, Kazakhstan was so offended that it banned the film initially, but retracted the ban when it realised that Borat was resulting in a significant uptick in tourism.
And all these tourists will be glad to discover that they can now also enjoy McDonald’s in Kazakhstan. McDonald’s has arrived in the country in very grand fashion.
A massive $3,5 million restaurant has been opened that is capable of seating 200 people. Even President Nursultan Nazarbayev was in attendance at the opening.
The opening of McDonald’s follows hot on the heels of the arrival of Starbucks in Kazakhstan at the end of 2015.