Kazakhstan has identified social and economic modernization as its main vector of development for the next decade, President Nursultan Nazarbayev put this across as he outlined the main priorities of this new direction in his state-of-the-nation address on January 27th.
«New tasks to strengthen the economy and improve people’s welfare represent a new stage in Kazakhstan’s development path,» the President told the members of the Parliament, the Government and the people of the country during his address televised live nationally.
He went on to note that finding the optimal balance between achieving economic success and providing public goods is vital for Kazakhstan. For this, the country needs to implement a set of tasks in ten directions, he said.
Nazarbayev named employment as the first direction. «On my instruction, the Government has approved a fundamentally new employment programme,» the President said. The programme targets tasks such as the creation of an effective system of training and employment assistance, providing greater support for entrepreneurship and increasing labour mobility. The large-scale implementation of the programme will begin this year, the President said.
Affordable housing was named as the second direction. Each year, Kazakhstan commissions six million square metres of new housing. However, more than half a million young families require their own homes. To solve the problem of housing, the President instructed the government to develop and adopt a state programme named «Affordable Housing – 2020» by July 1st.
The development of regions and small towns is the third direction. The country should build new factories and create industrial jobs and social infrastructure in economically promising areas. The President highlighted the development of small single-industry towns as a separate issue. As the Zhanaozen disturbances last December have shown, single industry towns are vulnerable to social risks. Therefore, the government was instructed to prepare a special programme on the development of one-company towns.
The fourth direction concerns improvements to the quality of public services. «It is an important aspect of combating corruption and enhancing public trust in the activities of state bodies.» For this, the country needs to develop e-government, simplify administrative procedures and improve the computer literacy of the population, the head of state said.
As the fifth direction, Nazarbayev named the improvement of human resource capacity. «Our most important task is to prepare a skilled political class of managers. I instruct the Government and the Presidential Administration to prepare proposals on candidates for the Presidential personnel corps by the end of the first half of 2012,» he said. This body will form the basis of a new managerial elite, which will lead the country in the 21st century.
The President identified modernisation of the judiciary and law enforcement systems as the sixth direction. The procedure for the formation of the judiciary needs to be radically revised, a new Criminal and Procedure Code needs to be completed and a draft bill on private detective activity is to be prepared. Another important task is to update the personnel of law enforcement and special bodies.
High quality growth of human capital in Kazakhstan is the seventh direction, which concerns the improvement of education and health. The country needs to introduce advanced techniques and technologies in the education process, improve the quality of teaching staff and increase access to education for young people. Another important task is to increase the availability and quality of medical services as well as to promote healthy lifestyle.
The eighth direction relates to the pension system. Nazarbayev instructed the Government and the National Bank to develop proposals to improve the pension system, especially as far as the overseeing of the pension funds is concerned. The industrial and innovation projects must continue to be implemented, the President said next. Therefore, he said the Programme of Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development will remain the benchmark of economic modernisation. He also outlined several major multi-billion-dollar projects that the Government is to implement within the next few years, including the construction of a power station in Balkhash, a petrochemical plant in Atyrau, a gas processing plant at the Karachanganak field and a set of gas pipelines throughout the country.
Last but not least, Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed the development of agriculture. Kazakhstan will introduce mechanisms of state support for retailers without intermediaries, create a single grain holding and establish a state system of guarantees and insurances to reduce the risks of private investment in agricultural production, the President said.
President Nazarbayev stressed that the Government needs to strengthen the innovation system of the country. Diversification of foreign direct investments in Kazakhstan remains an important issue as well. They must be directed towards promising industries such as tourism, the President said as he called for the development of skiing resorts near Almaty.
He also went over key aspects of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy for the decade ahead. «We have responded to the global challenges of the 21st century by deepening integration on the Eurasian space. As a responsible member of the international community, Kazakhstan will continue to actively seek ways to strengthen peace and security. Kazakhstan will remain committed to a balanced foreign policy, interacting both with the West and Asia,» Nazarbayev said. He listed several key events this year in the foreign policy area, including the 20th anniversary of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures which now brings together 24 states including Israel, Iran, India, Pakistan, China and Vietnam.
«Today, the whole world and every state need to find answers to powerful global and domestic challenges. By performing the tasks in the ten directions of socio-economic modernisation, we will strengthen the economy, make our society stable and improve the well-being of our people,» the President said.
President Nazarbayev referred to social modernization as the central issue for the new Parliament and the Government, as well as all responsible forces such as Kazakhstan’s parties, public associations, creative and professional unions and the media.
«We must unite all the forces for the benefit of our homeland. I call on all the citizens of Kazakhstan to take an active role in the work to achieve the identified goals», the President concluded.