Kazakhstan has opened its first McDonald’s

CITIZENS of one of the world’s most obscure and poorly understood nations have just bitten into their first Big Macs.

THE nation made famous by Sacha Baron Cohen in the Borat film has finally embraced one of the West’s most iconic brands.

Kazakhstan opened its first McDonald's yesterday in the capital city of Astana, drawing long queues as citizens waited to get their first taste of the chain’s fries, burgers and secret sauce.

Kazakhs queued for hours to get their first taste of Maccas.

It was a sight that would surely have pleased Borat, the fictional Kazakh reporter who set out to film a documentary about “what makes America a great nation” in the 2006 comedic film.

The lime green mankini-wearing joker drew a lukewarm reaction from Kazahks, with some taking offence at the alleged portrayal of the former Soveit Republic as backward and degenerate when Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was released.

That mankini.

Borat.

Despite the fact that the film is not actually about Kazakhstan, the little-known Central Asian country became so enmeshed with Borat that a spoof national anthem from the movie was played during a medal ceremony at a 2012 international sporting event.

Maria Dmitrienko won a gold medal for Kazakhstan at the Arab Shooting Championships in Kuwait, with outraged government officials labelling it a “scandal” and demanding an investigation, The Guardian reported.

Kazakhstan went to great lengths to bolster its as a vibrant, modern country, reportedly taking out promotional adverts in major US and European newspapers.

Borathad a lasting impact on Kazakhstan’s image.

Now that longtime President Nursultan Nazarbayev has officially opened Kazakhstan’s first McDonald’s, there are hopes of luring foreign investors to the country to combat the economic downturn caused by plummeting oil prices.

The fast food giant is one of several Western companies to be welcomed with fanfare in Kazakhstan in the past few months, including United States coffee chain Starbucks and French supermarket giant Carrefour, Newsweek reports.

McDonald’s had been in talks on opening its restaurants with the Kazakh authorities for several years, before the franchise was awarded to businessman Qairat Boranbaev.

Boranbaev’s daughter is married to the grandson of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, Radio Free Europe reported.

The president’s spokesman told Newsweek that the leader’s visit was not necessarily an endorsement of fast-food culture.

“Dining that is above all a matter of personal choice. It must be pointed out that opening a McDonald’s has become a much anticipated event for Kazakhs,” the spokesman said.

Speculation about whether the menu in the horse meat-mad country would include an equine burger has been laid to rest, with a McDonald’s spokesman telling RT.com last month that Boranbaev had been “misquoted” when he told journalists: “We’ll try to adjust our consumers’ requests and cater to Kazakh national cuisine.”

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