Wednesday, january 17, 2017 inside nation healthcare minister reports on new infrastructure development plan A2

A7

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2017

OPINIONS

“It is critical to ensure the efficiency of the labour 

market by creating conditions that enable everyone to 

fulfil their potential. It is necessary to develop modern 

standards for all major occupations. It is necessary to 

develop new or update existing educational programs 

in line with professional standards.”

“To fit with the new times, we must unite  

as a single nation – a nation on the verge  

of a historic ascent under the conditions  

of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

An efficient and reliable connectivity and 

access to the world financial, economic, 

political and latest technological systems 

would keep Kazakh businesses in line 

with world trends. The vision of President 

Nazarbayev for a smart nation would place 

Kazakhstan on the world map in gold.

Kazakh President’s vision good for country, investment

By Anurag Thukral

The priority tasks as outlined 

in 10 important areas by Presi-

dent Nursultan Nazarbayev in 

his state of the nation address 

Jan. 10 represent a great vision 

of a great leader of Kazakhstan. 

It shows how a strong dream and 

a powerful vision paves a strong 

foundation to build a strong na-

tion. After reading the address 

and understanding the depth and 

passion, I am completely sold 

on the vision of President Naz-

arbayev.

One can envisage that this pro-

gramme will benefit and improve 

the life of an ordinary Kazakh. As 

this programme gets implement-

ed, Kazakhstan will be a leading 

country in terms of growth inter-

nationally and every citizen will 

be a proud Kazakh.

As implementation of the 

President’s priority programme 

unfolds it will empower Kazakh 

industry and its business entre-

preneurs to become world-class 

leaders. The programme would 

lead to increased labour produc-

tivity, improved quality of goods 

and services, would encourage 

new business start-ups and en-

hance industrial output through 

modern and innovative technolo-

gies. This initiative of the Presi-

dent  will  definitely  make  Ka-

zakhstan a strong and competent 

business hub.

Development and smart man-

agement of infrastructure and 

transportation systems as initi-

ated by the President would en-

hance international  confidence, 

increase connectivity and ensure 

timely delivery of goods and ser-

vices. Efficient materiel handling 

and lowered transportation costs 

would  increase  profitability  and 

export.

President Nazarbayev has his 

eyes on making Kazakhstan a 

smart nation. A smart nation 

would use its resources and en-

ergy  efficiently,  reduce  opera-

tional and management costs 

and overheads. A greater con-

nectivity would encourage inter-

national and national businesses 

to have improved confidence. An 

efficient  and  reliable  connectiv-

ity and access to the world finan-

cial, economic, political and lat-

est technological systems would 

keep Kazakh businesses in line 

with world trends. The vision of 

President Nazarbayev for a smart 

nation would place Kazakhstan 

on the world map in gold.

The President wants the Ka-

zakh government and public 

bodies to effectively participate 

in nation building by simplifying 

administrative procedures. He 

is encouraging innovation and 

development of public policies 

that would encourage businesses 

and would improve the life of the 

citizens. An efficient administra-

tion would demonstrate national 

pride, and adopting systems that 

demonstrate integrity would im-

prove the confidence of ordinary 

citizens when working with pub-

lic bodies. The President wants 

the government to be account-

able of their actions and prepare 

for self-governance. This is a 

great initiative that shows that 

the President’s policies are down 

to earth and he understands the 

needs and the difficulties of citi-

zens.

President Nazarbayev has 

placed a great emphasis on the 

health and welfare of the citi-

zens of Kazakhstan. A healthy 

nation is a strong nation. When 

the top leader of the nation has 

his focus on improving the life 

and living standard of its citi-

zens, the citizens would have 

greater pride and passion, and 

would pay back to the nation by 

staying within the country. An 

improved healthy environment, 

greater employment opportuni-

ties, improved medical systems, 

healthy living and enhanced pos-

sibilities of growth and satisfac-

tion of achieving professionally 

and  financially  will  encourage 

the young generation to stay in 

Kazakhstan. The retained young 

talented workforce would be 

the biggest and most valuable 

national asset Kazakhstan will 

have for all times. I can clearly 

see that the implementation of 

the President’s programme will 

make every Kazakh patriotic.

The President has vowed to 

make Kazakhstan self-reliant for 

food by boosting agriculture as 

an important sector of the nation. 

President Nazarbayev’s strategy 

is on track with his agricultural 

policies  to  produce  sufficient 

food for its citizens and lead the 

world food supply.

The President has touched all 

aspects and all areas of the nation 

to make it a great nation. I take 

this opportunity to congratulate 

Kazakhstan for having a great 

leader in President Nazarbayev.

His strong leadership and 

clear  visions  are  reflected  in  his 

straightforward and timely execu-

tion. He has already commenced 

the implementation of his vision 

through his leadership team.

To encourage international 

businesses to get established in 

Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Asia 

Pacific  Trade  and  Investment 

Chamber (KAPTIC) was formed 

to provide a welcoming platform 

for international companies to 

collaborate and form mutually-

beneficial relationships. STARIN 

Ltd is a founding member of the 

KAPTIC.

The author is Managing Di-

rector of STARIN, an Austral-

ian investment company.

President Nazarbayev’s annual address seeks to digitise 

Kazakhstan, strengthen social protection

Continued from Page A1

First,  industrialisation is to be 

the flagship of the new technolo-

gies introduction. The new instru-

ments aimed at modernising and 

digitising enterprises with a focus 

on exporting products have to be 

developed and tested. The best ex-

periences on the digitisation of in-

dustrial enterprises will be widely 

expanded.

Innovation centres, such as the 

Nazarbayev University, the Asta-

na International Financial Cen-

tre (AIFC) and the International 

Technology Park of IT Startups 

will be actively involved in the 

digitisation process. A serious re-

vision is required of the organisa-

tion of the activities of the Alatau 

Park of Innovative Technologies.

To deal with associated risks of 

a large-scale release of work force, 

an agreed policy on the employ-

ment of the released work force 

should be worked out in advance.

In 2018, the development of the 

third  five-year  industrialisation 

period devoted to the development 

of the “digital age” industry will 

be started.

Second,  the 21st century’s 

world still consumes natural re-

sources. It is necessary to criti-

cally rethink the organisation of 

commodity industries, approaches 

to the management of natural re-

sources.

It is important to increase the 

requirements for energy efficiency 

and energy saving of enterpris-

es, as well as the environmental 

friendliness  and  efficiency  of  the 

energy producers themselves. Ka-

zakhstan will increase the share of 

alternative energy to 30 percent 

by 2030. Akims (governors) of 

the regions should take measures 

on the modern disposal and recy-

cling of solid domestic waste with 

a broad involvement of small and 

medium-sized enterprises.

Third, the wide use of the smart 

technologies in the agricultural in-

dustry should ensure a radical in-

crease in labour productivity and 

growth in exports of processed 

agricultural products at least 2.5 

times within the next 5 years. This 

will allow entering world markets 

with high-quality end products. 

The state, together with business, 

should find strategic niches in in-

ternational markets and promote 

domestic production in these are-

as, creating and promoting a brand 

of natural food “Made in Kazakh-

stan.”

The entire agricultural industry 

should be radically reoriented and 

based on agrarian science. Agrar-

ian universities need to update 

training programmes and become 

centres for the distribution of the 

most advanced knowledge and 

best practices in the agro-industri-

al sector. It is necessary to focus 

on the transfer of new technolo-

gies and their adaptation to do-

mestic conditions.

It is necessary to encourage 

those who use the land with the 

best returns and take measures to 

address inefficient users. It is also 

necessary to overhaul ineffective 

subsidies to reduce the cost of 

bank loans for agribusiness enti-

ties.

Fourth, it is necessary to in-

crease  the  efficiency  of  transport 

and logistics infrastructure within 

the framework of transcontinen-

tal corridors passing through Ka-

zakhstan. The transit of goods 

through Kazakhstan in 2017 in-

creased 17 percent to almost 17 

million tonnes. The new task is to 

bring annual revenues from transit 

in 2020 to $5 billion.

It is necessary to ensure the 

large-scale introduction of digital 

technologies, such as blockchain, 

to track the movement of goods 

online and to ensure their unhin-

dered transit, as well as to simplify 

customs operations.

An Intelligent Transport Sys-

tem introduction is required to 

effectively manage transport 

flows and determine the require-

ment for further infrastructure 

development.

To improve intra-regional mo-

bility, it is important to increase 

funding for the repair and recon-

struction of the local road network. 

The total budget allocated annu-

ally for this should be increased to 

150 billion tenge ($454.5 million) 

in the medium term.

Fifth,  the introduction of mod-

ern technologies in the construc-

tion and communal sectors should 

ensure 30 square metres of hous-

ing per capita by 2030. Currently, 

the volume of housing construc-

tion in Kazakhstan exceeds 10 mil-

lion square metres per year. The 

financial system for house savings 

effectively makes housing afford-

able for the public. The provision 

of housing per capita has increased 

30 percent in the last 10 years and 

is now 21.6 square metres. It is im-

portant to apply new construction 

methods, utilise modern materials 

and adopt fundamentally different 

approaches to the design of build-

ings and urban planning.

It is necessary to establish 

increased regulations for the 

quality, environmental 

friendliness and energy 

efficiency  of  buildings. 

It is important to intro-

duce appropriate changes 

in legislation, including 

regulating large hous-

ing consortiums. Akims 

(governors) need to more 

actively address issues of 

modernisation in hous-

ing and communal infra-

structure on the basis of public-

private partnerships. To solve the 

issue of providing rural settle-

ments with high-quality drinking 

water, the government needs to 

provide at least 100 billion tenge 

($303 million) annually.

Sixth,  “reloading”  the  financial 

sector, which means cleaning out 

“bad” loans from the bank portfo-

lio. Bank owners will have to bear 

economic responsibility, recog-

nising losses. The withdrawal of 

funds from banks by shareholders 

for the benefit of affiliated compa-

nies and individuals will be con-

sidered a serious crime.

It is necessary to increase the 

speed that the law on bankruptcy 

of individuals is adopted. The Na-

tional Bank should finally resolve 

the issue of mortgage loans that 

were provided to Kazakh citizens 

before Jan. 1, 2016, when the law 

to prohibit their issuance to indi-

viduals was introduced.

The National Bank and the gov-

ernment should jointly address the 

issue of providing long-term busi-

ness lending at rates that take into 

account the real profitability in the 

sectors of the economy.

It is important to further improve 

the investment climate and the de-

velopment of the stock market 

within the framework of the Asta-

na International Financial Centre, 

applying English law and adopt-

ing modern financial technologies. 

The successful listing of Samruk 

Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund 

companies through the initial pub-

lic offering (IPO) will also contrib-

ute to the development of the stock 

market.

Seventh, human capital is the 

basis of modernisation. It is nec-

essary to accelerate the creation 

of Kazakhstan’s advanced edu-

cation system, covering citizens 

of all ages. The key priority of 

educational programmes is the 

development of the skills which 

allow students to constantly adapt 

to changes and assimilate new 

knowledge.

Preschool education should, 

by Sept. 1, 2019, have uniform 

standards for early childhood de-

velopment and provide enhanced 

social and self-learning skills. In 

secondary education, Kazakhstan 

has launched a transition to updat-

ed content and will complete it in 

2021.

To improve the prestige of the 

teaching profession, the salary of 

teachers who are versed in the up-

dated contents of teaching materi-

als will increase 30 percent. The 

updated contents are modern pro-

grammes of study, which meet in-

ternational standards. These have 

been adapted in the Nazarbayev 

Intellectual Schools.

In order to improve the effec-

tiveness of diagnosis and treat-

ment, it will be necessary to estab-

lish  genetic  testing  and  artificial 

intelligence in medicine. The qual-

ity of healthcare personnel training 

is an important issue. The medical 

centres should be integrated within 

all medical universities.

A new edition of the Code on 

Public Health and Healthcare Sys-

tem should be developed to imple-

ment these and other measures.

It is critical to ensure the ef-

ficiency  of  the  labour  market  by 

creating conditions that enable 

everyone  to  fulfil  their  potential. 

It is necessary to develop modern 

standards for all major occupa-

tions. It is necessary to develop 

new or update existing educational 

programs in line with professional 

standards. The work of the Atame-

ken National Chamber of Entre-

preneurs on training businesses 

deserves support.

The full-scale implementa-

tion of an online labour exchange 

database is required, where all 

information on vacancies and 

job-seekers will be collated and 

advertised. Citizens will be able 

to take vocational guidance tests, 

learn about training courses and 

state  support  measures,  and  find 

interesting work without leaving 

their homes. The law on electronic 

labour exchange must be adopted 

before April 1.

The pension system is fully de-

pendent on length of service. Ex-

penditure on the social sector in 

2018 has increased by 12 percent, 

exceeding 4.1 trillion tenge ($12.4 

billion). An increase in social ben-

efits, including pensions, will raise 

the income of more than three mil-

lion Kazakhstan citizens.

A new method of providing 

targeted social assistance to low-

income population groups will be 

shifted from 2018. The threshold 

has risen from 40 to 50 percent of 

the living wage. From Jan. 1, soli-

dary pensions have risen by 8 per-

cent. The allowances for disabled 

people, families who have lost 

their primary income, and families 

raising disabled children have in-

creased 16 percent.

Eighth, effective public admin-

istration should be further ensured 

to reduce the expenses of the busi-

nesses and the wider population, 

when they apply for public admin-

istration. It is necessary to ensure 

the digitalisation of public services 

for businesses, and their rendering 

on a “one-stop-shop” principle. 

State bodies should use modern 

digital technologies to listen to 

citizens’ remarks and suggestions 

in real time and provide prompt 

responses.

Integration of state information 

systems will help to move from 

the provision of an individual 

public service to the provision of 

a set of services on the “one ap-

plication” principle. The quality 

of natural monopolies services 

should be improved. It is im-

portant to establish reasonable 

tariffs for these and for energy 

producers, taking into account 

investment programmes.

The civil servants’ salaries in 

the regions and the centre will be 

rebalanced taking into account the 

nature and effectiveness of their 

work. The potential of the effec-

tiveness of the public service in 

the regions should be more fully 

revealed through increasing their 

economic independence and re-

sponsibility. In general, the focus 

of regional policy will be shifted 

away from equalising expendi-

tures and towards stimulating the 

growth of the region’s own rev-

enues. Domestic tourism is one of 

the most promising sources for any 

region.

Since Jan. 1, in cities of district 

significance,  as  well  as  villages 

and rural districts with a popula-

tion of more than two thousand 

people, the legislation provides for 

the introduction of an independent 

budget and municipal ownership 

of local government. From 2020, 

these norms will operate across all 

settlements.

Ninth,  the digitisation of pro-

cesses in government bodies, in-

cluding their interaction with the 

public and business, is most im-

portant in the fight against corrup-

tion and ensuring the rule of law. 

Citizens will see how their appeals 

are reviewed and receive timely 

and qualitative answers. Institu-

tional reforms of judicial and law 

enforcement systems are being 

carried out. Norms providing for 

strengthening the protection of the 

rights of citizens in criminal pro-

ceedings, reducing its repressive-

ness have been introduced to legis-

lation. The rights of lawyers have 

been expanded, as well as judicial 

control at the pre-trial stage. The 

powers and areas of responsibility 

of law enforcement bodies are be-

ing delineated.

Tenth, Kazakhstan will promote 

smart cities for a smart nation. 2018 

is the year of the 20th anniversary 

of the capital of Astana. Modern 

technologies provide effective so-

lutions to the problems of a fast-

growing metropolis. Comprehen-

sive management of the urban 

environment based on the Smart 

City concept and the development 

of competences of those people 

moving to the city should be intro-

duced. “Benchmark” standard for 

a Smart City should be formed tak-

ing into account the experience of 

Astana. The best practices of Asta-

na and an exchange of experiences 

between the cities of Kazakhstan 

has to be expanded. Smart Cities 

will be the engines of regional de-

velopment, spreading innovations 

and improvement to quality of life 

throughout the country.

Concluding his address, Presi-

dent Nazarbayev underscored that 

thanks to political stability and 

public consensus, Kazakhstan will 

begin to modernise its economy, 

policy and national consciousness. 

“The impetus for a new stage of 

technological and infrastructural 

development has now been pro-

vided. Constitutional reform has 

established a more precise balance 

of power between the different 

branches. We are in the process of 

updating our national identity,” he 

said.

“In fact, these three basic as-

pects are a comprehensive triad of 

Kazakhstan’s modernisation. To fit 

with the new times, we must unite 

as a single nation – a nation on the 

verge of a historic ascent under the 

conditions of the Fourth Indus-

trial Revolution,” President Naz-

arbayev stressed.

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