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| Monday March 07, 2011 |
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Building the future together Sikander Shah Nursultan Nazarbayev’s penchant to see the next Kazakh generations live in a country which would not be left in the wayside of global events by 2030. His government’s achievements have raised patriotism and united all people of Kazakhstan. Here is a man who as President of the new independent nation state of Kazakhstan had to wrestle with extraordinary crises. On the strategic front his greatest challenge was that he had inherited ownership of the world’s fourth largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. Second only to these nuclear dramas were the succession of economic crises. He led Kazakhstan from Communism towards privatisation and free markets. In these turbulent years the discovery of huge oil and gas riches in the Caspian gave a massive boost to the economy. According to President Nazarbayev, 2011 is especially valuable for Kazakhstan in view of the approaching 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence. “We have conquered significant tops along this way, which led dependent people to independent days of present time,” Nazarbayev says. “The Summit OSCE, recently held in Astana, convened the heads of the 56 state and government and is an outstanding evidence of this. “And even before this major and glorious achievement, we have reached many goals. “We have become one of the three states in the world, which convened its compatriots, “scattered as millet” in different times of history. “In these years, more than 800,000 compatriots came back from foreign states and the number of population increased by one and a half million. “We have built a beautiful and prosperous Astana in the wide steppe of Sary-Arka. We have established the capital, which became the symbol of our dynamic development, on the banks of Yessil River . “Only the nation which lives in harmony and understanding will reach the fruitful future. Until 2014, Nazarbayev government plans to implement 294 investment projects worth 8.1 trillion KZT. 161,000 new permanent jobs will be created and 207,000 new jobs will be available for the period of construction. The main outcome of the first year of the first industrial five-year plan is the commencement of serious structural changes in the economic growth thanks to the real economy sector. In his address to his people, Nazarbayev reiterated the purpose of the Strategic Plan for the next decade. By 2020, Kazakhstan intends to achieve the following indices: Overall GDP growth will be no less than 30 percent. Growth in processing industries will exceed or reach the level of extractive industries. The National Fund assets will comprise no less than 30 percent of the GDP. Domestic and foreign investments in non-raw materials economy sectors will increase by at least 30 percent. The share of small and medium-sized businesses in the GDP will comprise 40 percent. The population will grow to 18 million people. The share of qualified specialists will make 40 percent. The unemployment rate will stay under 5 percent. Labour productivity in agriculture by 2014 will increase twofold, by 2020 fourfold. An unprecedented project to develop beef husbandry will be implemented in the agricultural sector. Already in 2016, meat exports will comprise 60,000 tons, which is equivalent to exports of four million tons of grain. For this purpose, the state will allocate 130 billion KZT as credits. This will allow creating more than 20,000 jobs in the countryside, and will provide a source of income for more than one hundred thousand villagers. This will allow increasing the number of breeding stock and breeder cattle of all kinds. All this will stimulate the growth of production in related industries: agricultural engineering, chemical and food industries, feed production, and equipment repairs. The government, the Akims [governors] of all regions have been tasked to deal with this most important part of rural industrialisation. Competitiveness of economy should be based on efficient technologies, which ensure reduction of energy consumption. In order to develop non-raw materials sectors, he charged the government with developing and adopting the Comprehensive Plan for Energy Efficiency. Industrialisation forms a new paradigm for regional policy. The government together with the Akims has been ordered to develop and approve a Programme for Development of Regions. According to Nazarbayev, if we want to live better and richer, we must implement this work. “I am a supporter of the principle: a strong business means a strong state. For the first time, we adopted the Law ‘On State Control and Supervision’.” The uniform principles and procedures for monitoring by all state agencies are now established. This is done in order to further reduce the administrative pressure on businesses. Within the framework of reform of the law-enforcement system 16 laws were adopted. Legal mechanisms for protection of property were introduced; humanisation of criminal legislation on crimes, which do not pose a grave threat to society, was carried out; the scope of non-confinement punishments, as well as preventive measures alternative to arrest, was expanded. Due to this, only this year about two thousand people convicted for crimes of small and medium gravity would be released from prison. The staff of the law enforcement system was reduced 15 percent. Their structure was optimised. The functions unusual for law-enforcement agencies were transferred to the private sector. Significant changes are taking place in the judicial system. An uncompromising fight against corruption is under way. Currently, according to international experts, the anticorruption legislation in Kazakhstan is recognised as one of the most effective. In total, for the last two years more than 40 officials at the national level, more than 250 officials at regional and city levels, including 39 Akims and their deputies, were charged with criminal offence. Criminal cases were filed against a minister of environment protection and a minister of healthcare, a chairman of the statistics agency, vice ministers of the ministry for emergency situations and the ministry of defence, the chairmen of the “Kazakhstan Temir Zholy”, “KazMunayGaz” and “Kazatomprom” companies, resulting in convictions. In three years, Kazakhstan’s rating in the global anticorruption index has improved by 45 points. According to this index, Kazakhstan is at the top positions throughout the CIS. In the World Bank report, in 2010 Kazakhstan was recognised as the leader of reforms in the interests of businesses. In the global ranking of countries with the most favourable business climate, Kazakhstan takes the 59th place among 183 countries of the world. In general, the facts of unreasonable interference of state bodies in the activity of economic entities were minimised. Last year, the Customs Union of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus was launched. According to the results of the 10 months of 2010, the volume of trade with Russia and Belarus increased by 38 percent. Exports of Kazakhstan’s goods to the Customs Union countries increased 52.4 percent. At that, contribution from customs duties to our budget increased by 25 percent. All these facts objectively show that the Customs Union is a very pragmatic and concrete project, which solves the economic problems of our countries. Social modernisation – a new social policy The Nazarbayev government has clearly defined plans for industrialisation and technological development of economy. The main objective of the programmes is to improve people’s wellbeing. Therefore, special attention is being paid to achieve social modernisation. In this regard, three major state programmes have been adopted: development of education, health and languages. By May 1, Nazarbayev instructed the government, together with Akims, to develop and adopt principally new programmes on: · new employment strategies; · modernisation of housing and public utilities; · providing the population with quality drinking water. These programmes are aimed at solving everyday problems of millions of ordinary people of the country. The main aspects of the new social policy are: Education Nazarbayev wants the government must continue to modernise education. As of today, the computerisation of schools is totally completed. They are equipped with multimedia classrooms, interactive equipment. The introduction of a 12-year secondary education model is under way. Lifelong learning should be the motto for all the people of Kazakhstan . Healthcare All these years has done everything necessary to improve the health of the people of Kazakhstan. Healthcare financing has increased from 1.9 percent of the GDP in 2002 to 3.2 percent in 2010. Today, for the first time, the most complex medical surgeries are done across the country. A total of 150 tele-medical centres connected with the leading international hospitals were established. As a result of the work done, a 25 percent growth in birth rate, an 11 percent decrease in death rate, and the speeding of the population growth by 1.7 times have been achieved. By 2013, the Unified National Healthcare System will be fully introduced. We must seriously deal with preventive medicine and improve the quality of primary medical care. According to international assessment, about five percent of the population with the basic types of diseases use about 70 percent of all health services. Under well-organised prevention activity, the diseases may be prevented at early stages. Therefore, Kazakhstan government has been asked to implement a set of national health surveillance programmes of targeted groups of population. Languages Peace and harmony in the multilingual and multi-faith Kazakh society is Nazarbayev government’s common achievement. The task is to make sure that by 2017 the number of people in Kazakhstan who have mastered the state language reaches at least 80 percent. And by 2020 no less than 95 percent. In ten years, 100 percent of high school graduates will speak the state Kazakh language. Nazarbayev has always said that knowledge of three languages (Kazakh, Russian and English) is an obligatory condition of one’s wellbeing. Therefore, Nazarbayev believes that by 2020 a share of Kazakh population speaking English should be no less than 20 percent. New Employment Strategy For two years, within the framework of the anti-crisis “Road Map” programme, Nazarbayev government has ensured employment of the population, reduced the level of unemployment and improved infrastructure in cities and villages. These programmes have received broad support and gratitude of the people of Kazakhstan. Nazarbayev assigned the government, together with the Akims of regions, and cities of Astana and Almaty, until May 1, 2011, to develop a brand new programme on employment of the population. Modernisation of Housing and Public Utilities The best indicator of quality of life of citizens is the comfort level of housing. Over the past 10 years, the housing fund expanded by 30 million square meters. This means that more than one million of Kazakh citizens now live in new apartments. Quality drinking water The issue of providing quality drinking water to people in Kazakhstan is the most important task of improving people’s health. Work on ensuring quality drinking water started 8 years ago, and there are positive results. Nazarbayev instructed the government to develop effective incentives for maximum involvement of private capital in the hydro-economic sector. In 2020, access to central water supply in urban areas should reach 100 percent. In the countryside, it should increase twofold, to 80 percent. Increase of Revenues - a New Quality of Life This year we will increase the amount of pensions, scholarships, salaries of public sector employees by 30 percent. For two years in a row, Nazarbayev’s government has been increasing them by 25 percent. As it was planned in a People’s platform of the “Nur Otan” party, by 2012 the average size of pensions, salaries in the budgetary organisations and scholarships will increase twofold compared to 2008. |
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