Astana-Finance Executive Director: Experience of great people - source for inspiration

ASTANA. April 6. KAZINFORM /Aliya Keldesheva/- There are brilliant examples in the world proving that an aspiration can help one achieve goals and improve their life. As a first step it would be useful to pay attention to the brightest examples in the sphere of business, and try to do a small part of what was successfully done in other countries by other people who are the same people as we are, - alumnus of "Bolashak" educational program, Executive Director of Astana-Finance JSC Daurzhan Augambay shared his thoughts in an interview to Kazinform.

- Could you please tell us about your education and professional background? I studied in Great Britain at one of the leading business schools where I enriched my knowledge and broadened my mind, and made new friends with whom we have kept in touch till now. Some of my foreign friends who are presently working at investment banks, have recently paid their first business visits to Kazakhstan. These connections will be useful in the future, and student relations between business partners will allow addressing certain issues more quickly. This is a human factor which we cannot avoid. Now I am the Chief Executive of Astana-Finance JSC, and my work is very interesting and always requires me to keep fit. Working with the international capital markets, co-operating with foreign counter-partners, potential investors and rating agencies, one must always possess information and know the situation in the markets and in the country. My work is interesting as it requires to communicate a lot and learn a lot, and as a result it never lets to sit back and relax. - Having arrived from abroad and received new knowledge and experience, how do you view Kazakhstan at present and what would you like to change in the country? Indeed, it is easy for a modern person who has seen the world to compare the living standards and norms of public behavior in their home country to the countries which he or she visited. For instance, any one would be surprised at the high culture and respect on traffic roads in European and Asian cities, whereas the principle of mutual impatience and disrespect prevails in our country. This is one of the numerous micro-situations of our life which fairly reflects the mood and mutual relations ruling in our society which is easy to find in other spheres of our live. There are endless examples regarding the quality of services and attitude which eventually influence the development of both social system and entire country. In my opinion, first of all it is important to improve the quality of education in our country. Students should learn self-sufficiency and be engrained the values which will make them sound members of the society. They should be taught making plans and study programs independently and living on the principle of usefulness, thus to help them become responsible and thoughtful of their country and countrymen. We should always compare our achievements with the initial level, and do our work in a simple, thrifty and moderate fashion. Perhaps, in the time of prosperity the principles of simplicity, thrift and humility might not be taken seriously, but in the difficult time of the global crisis and tough competition a presumptuous, sophisticated and spendthrift company would lose totally. - What can you tell about the solution of the global economic crisis as a financial expert? - Many economists think over the solution of this problem. I would like to take examples from the life of great Japanese entrepreneur and philosopher Konosuke Matsushita, founder of the biggest company ?Matsushita Electronics?, whose lessons we should follow. Being the head of such a big company he always respected the ideas of his workers and was a follower of collective idea. ?Business is not made by me only, but is made by the people and a handful of my assistants?, Matsushita used to say. According to him, when a company has the authority, the workers feel great satisfaction and work more productively. Secondly, it is necessary to serve the society: to provide good quality products and services on favorable prices, contribute to the welfare and peace in the world. It is important to be honest and fair in all business operations and personal deeds, always make decisions free of prejudices. Constant perfection implies improvement of personal and corporate results, even in the most unfavorable circumstances. One may disbelieve all these principles if the rules would have been outlined by someone else instead of Matsushita- the man, who grew up in poverty, started working at the age of seven, lived through the deaths of his brothers and sisters, who despite a severe illness founded a famous company. He did not give in even after a mortifying defeat of Japan in the World War II. I think the measures of the Government in overcoming the world economic crisis will help our country come out of the crisis smoothly, prevent personnel cut in many companies, bankruptcy of many firms and growth of unemployment. I would like to finish with the words of Japanese businessmen and thinker Konosuke Matsushita saying that the most important is to be open for the new. Thank you very much for the interview.