ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN, LEADER OF THE NATION, N.NAZARBAYEV «STRATEGY KAZAKHSTAN-2050»: NEW POLITICAL COURSE OF THE ESTABLISHED STATE»

ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN, LEADER OF THE NATION, N.A.NAZARBAYEV


STRATEGY «Kazakhstan-2050»

New political course of the established state

CONTENTS

I. Established Kazakhstan - trial by crisis of our statehood, national economy, civil society, social harmony, regional leadership and authority in the international community

1.A Strong and Successful State 2.Sustainable Process of Democratization and Liberalization 3.Harmony and Peace among disparate Social, Ethnic, and Religious Groups 4.National Economy. Our Role in International Division of Labor. 5.Strong Social Policy to Ensure Social Stability and Harmony 6.Globally Recognized Country 7.Our Proactive Role in Promoting Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime 8.Strategy Kazakhstan 2030: Key Outcomes

II. Ten global challenges of the 21 century

1.First challenge is the accelerating course of history 2.Second challenge is the global demographic imbalance 3.Third challenge is the global food security threat 4.Fourth challenge is the water shortage 5.Fifth challenge is the global energy security 6.Sixth challenge is the exhaustion of natural resources 7.Seventh challenge is the Third industrial revolution 8.Eighth challenge is the growing social instability 9.Ninth challenge is the crisis of our civilization’s values 10.Tenth challenge is the threat of a new global destabilization

III. Strategy “Kazakhstan-2050” – is a new political course for new Kazakhstan in a fast changing world

1.The new paradigm of challenges 2.Where are we going? Goals of the New political course

  1. Economic policy of the new course – all around economic pragmatism based on the principles of profitability, return on investment and competitiveness

1.Universal economic pragmatism 2.New personnel policy 3.Modernization of the macroeconomic policy 3.1Budgetary policy 3.2 Tax policy 3.3 Monetary policy 3.4 Policy of managing public and external debt 4.Infrastructure development 5.Modernization of the system of managing the state assets 6.New system of managing natural resources 7.Plan for the next phase of industrialization 8.Modernization of the agricultural sector 8.1 Development of farming and SME in agricultural processing and trade 9.Policy regarding water resources

  1. Comprehensive support of entrepreneurship – leading force in the national economy

1.Development of small and medium enterprises 2.New model of public private partnership: “Strong business – strong state”. 3.New stage of privatization – changing role of the state

  1. New principles of social policy – social guarantees and personal responsibility

1.New Principles of Social Policy 1.1. Minimum social standards 1.2. Targeted social support 1.3. Addressing social imbalances in the regions 1.4. Modernization of the labor policy 2.Protection of motherhood. Appeal to all the women 3.Children’s rights 4.Health of the nation is basis of our successful future 4.1. Key priorities in healthcare 4.2. New approaches in healthcare for children 4.3. Improving medical education system 4.4. Quality of medical care in rural areas 4.5. Physical training and sports

  1. Knowledge and professional skills are key landmarks of the modern education, training and retraining system

1.Our priorities in education 1.1. Extending “Balapan” program until 2020 1.2. Developing engineering education system 1.3. Developing system of social responsibility in education 1.4. Modernization of teaching methods 2.New innovative research development policy 2.1. Technology transfer 2.2. Cooperation of science and business 2.3. Roadmap of development prospective national clusters 3.Appeal to the youth

  1. Further strengthening of the statehood and development of the Kazakhstan democracy

1.New type of state governance 1.1.Improving system of state planning and forecasting 2.Decentralization of power 2.1. Dividing responsibilities and power between center and the regions 2.2. Development concept of local self-governance 2.3. Election of the rural governors 3.Creating a professional state apparatus 3.1. Second stage of the administrative reform 4.New system of interaction between state apparatus and business community 5.Introducing “zero tolerance” principle towards disorder 6.Fight against corruption 7.Reforming law enforcement bodies and special agencies

  1. Consistent and predictable foreign policy is promotion of national interests and strengthening of regional and global security 1.Foreign policy modernization priorities 2.Development of economic and trade diplomacy 3.Strengthening regional security 4.Contribution to global security 5.Strengthening national defense capacity and military doctrine

  2. New Kazakhstan patriotism is basis for success of our multiethnical and multi-confessional society 1.New Kazakhstan Patriotism 2.Equality of citizens of all ethnic groups 3.Kazakh language and three-side unity of languages 4.Culture, traditions, and distinction 5.Role of the national intelligentsia 6.Religion in Kazakhstan of 21st century 7.What Kazakhstan do I see in future? 8.Appeal to the nation

Fellow citizens!

Today we have gathered on the eve of our Independence Day.

It has been more than 20 years since we started to proudly celebrate this great holiday.

On December 16, 1991 we, the people of Kazakhstan, chose sovereignty, freedom and openness to the world as our founding principles. Today these values have become a part of our daily life.

As we began our journey as a nation things were vastly different. Now thanks to our joint efforts we have transformed our country into a wholly different place.

Today we are a successful state with our own characteristics, perspectives and identity. We have paid a great price to achieve these milestones.

For over 20 years our country has worked to strengthen its sovereignty and political influence - a goal which we have accomplished. The formation of our nation has been successfully completed.

21st century Kazakhstan is an independent and self-confident state.

We are not afraid of the ongoing changes in the world caused by the prolonged global financial crisis. Indeed, we are prepared for them. Our goal is to continue our sustainable development into the 21st century while maintaining and building on our existing achievements.

By 2050 we want to have created a society based on a strong state, a developed economy with universal labor opportunities.

A strong state is especially important to ensure accelerated economic growth. This is not about survival, it is about planning, long-term development and economic growth.

Today, on the eve of our Independence Day, I present to you my vision of our nation’s development prospects.

This is a new political course.

I. Established Kazakhstan - trial by crisis of our statehood, national economy, civil society, social harmony, regional leadership and authority in the international community

In 1997 we adopted the Development Strategy of Kazakhstan 2030.

That was fifteen years ago when the post-Soviet chaos has not been overcome, there was an economic crisis in South East Asia and Kazakhstan faced a difficult period too.

As we faced these challenges and others our strategy served as a beacon to guide our way forward and keep us focused on our target.

Remember 1997?

After my speech in Parliament in 1997 there was some confusion and bewilderment. As I outlined our ambitious goals many people asked: “Was that propaganda? Or a promise of manna from heaven?”

Yet, as the saying goes, “the eyes may be frightened, but the hands are working”.

We set ourselves an enormous task – to reverse the downward trend Kazakhstan faced and continue on the road to developing a new country.

To reach this aim we had to work to improve three areas: build a modern nation state by making the leap towards a market economy, lay the foundation of a social system and, finally, transform people’s thinking and outlook. We had to define our own path. This path was outlined in the “Kazakhstan 2030 Strategy’’. This strategy helped define our strategic goals and targets and provided a crucial breakthrough in our world outlook.

Only with the objective in mind can we set targets that will lead us to success. Today I’m honored to announce that we made the right decisions all those years ago. Our resilience through the 2008-2009 global financial crisis has proved that. Kazakhstan has withstood. The crisis has not destroyed our achievements, but has made us stronger.

The political, socio-economic and foreign policy model of development that we chose proved to be the right one.

  1. A Strong and Successful State

Our key achievement is that we have established an independent Kazakhstan.

We have legally formalized our borders. We have put together our nation’s integrated economic space. We have recreated and reinforced economic ties that bind our country. Our domestic regions are united in their activities.

We have implemented historically important constitutional and political reforms that have established a system of public administration based on the division of branches of power.

We have built a new capital – Astana. It is a modern city that has turned into a symbol of our country that we take pride in. We have unleashed the potential of the capital to showcase our country’s capabilities to the entire world. This is exactly why the international community elected Kazakhstan to host the EXPO 2017 international exhibition. This would be impossible without Astana. Very few cities have received such an honor. It’s enough to say that our country turned out to be the first post-soviet nation to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, host the Summit of the Organization, and the EXPO 2017 – a world-scale event.

  1. Sustainable Process of Democratization and Liberalization

We have a clear formula to follow: “Economy first, then politics”. Every step of our political reforms is closely tied to our level of economic development. The only way to modernize our country and make it competitive is to progressively follow the path of political liberalization.

Step-by-step our society is approaching the highest standards of democratization and human rights.

We have secured fundamental rights and liberties in our country’s Constitution. Our citizens have equal rights and opportunities.

  1. Harmony and Peace among disparate Social, Ethnic, and Religious Groups

We have worked to restore our historic Kazakh culture and language after many years of decline. Besides our ethnic, cultural and religious diversity, we have maintained peace and stability in our country.

Kazakhstan is home to over 140 ethnic and 17 religious groups.

Civil peace and interethnic harmony remains a key value for us. Peace and accord, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue in our multi-ethnic country has been recognized as a global model.

The Kazakhstan’s People’s Assembly has become a unique Eurasian model of intercultural dialogue.

Kazakhstan has turned into a center of global inter-religious dialogue.

  1. National Economy. Our Role in International Division of Labor.

We were the first in the Commonwealth of Independent States to develop a modern market economy based on private property, free competition and openness. Our model is based on a proactive role of the government in attracting foreign capital.

To date we have attracted over $160 billion of foreign investment.

We have established basic conditions for entrepreneurship, as well as a modern taxation system.

We have systematically diversified our economy. I set forward a clear task to accelerate the industrialization program – to help transform the shape of our economy, make it immune to global commodity price fluctuation within the decade.

Over the 15 years following the adoption of the 2030 Strategy, our state joined the top five dynamically developing countries of the world.

There are recognized rankings which countries use to track their development. By the end of 2012, Kazakhstan will enter the top 50 largest global economies and is already ranked 51st in terms of economic competitiveness.

  1. Strong Social Policy to Ensure Social Stability and Harmony

A major criterion for me has always been and will be the level of our people’s living standards.

Over the past 15 years the incomes of our citizens have grown 16 fold.

The number of people with an income below subsistence level is seven times as low as it was, the number of unemployed is twice as low as it used to be.

We have laid the foundation of a social-oriented society.

We have managed to achieve substantial progress in improving our nation’s health

To improve the efficiency of our healthcare system, we have reformed its organization, management and funding. Over the last five years, maternal mortality rate decreased threefold, while the birthrate is 1.5 times as high.

We have created equal opportunities for education. Over the last 15 years our education expenditure has grown 9.5 times. We have implemented an Education Development Government Program designed to radically modernize education at all levels, from pre-school to higher education.

Thanks to our long-term human capital investment policy we have brought up a talented generation of today’s youth.

  1. Globally Recognized Country

In world politics, our country is a responsible and reliable partner with an indisputable weight in the international arena.

We play an important role in strengthening global security and supporting the international community in its fight against terrorism, extremism, and illicit drug trafficking.

Our initiative to convene a Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) has seen CICA grow into an organization with 24 member countries that have a combined population exceeding 3 billion people. CICA is a critical element of Kazakhstan’s security.

For the last 2-3 years the Republic of Kazakhstan chaired the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Collective Security Treaty Organization.

At the Astana Economic Forum we proposed a new dialogue format – G-Global. The initiative has been designed to combine the efforts of all to establish a fair and secure world order.

We have a decent contribution to ensuring global energy and food security.