ATF Managing Director: Bolashak graduates must know modern world system

ALMATY. February 26. KAZINFORM /Yelena Ilyinskaya/ President Nursultan Nazarbayev has repeatedly urged to develop a strong personnel reserve for the future. Raising a new breed of specialists in the new conditions is the main goal of the national project the core team of which will be set up by Bolashak alumni – Shukhrat Sadyrov, an alumnus, told Kazinform. Today Shukhrat Sadyrov who is Managing Director of ATF Bank, runs the sector of retail business and small and medium business clients. In 2007 he graduated from Cranfield School of Management in Great Britain and took Master?s degree in Finance and Management.

As an alumnus of international educational program Bolashak precedently and a qualified expert today, what results did you achieve in your life and carrier due to participation in this program? This program gave me a lot ? knowledge, exchange of experience and relations abroad which are of immense help in today?s globalization conditions. The most important is that we have learnt self-reliance and personal growth and we have learnt how the world works. When living abroad one has to learn to live in a new way, become more self-motivated and develop different way of thinking which is very important for new formation of Kazakhstan specialists in building a successful nation. This program has existed for more than 15 years, with changes happening continuously. If earlier there was the need in lawyers and financiers, today the country needs technical specialists, engineers in various fields, education and health specialists. President Nazarbayev called Bolashak ?a breakthrough project?. How do the program graduates integrate in Kazakhstan?s society and how do they contribute to the development of the country? In 2001 the Association of Bolashak Alumni was founded which helps us align and implement specific projects, and the current crisis gives an impulse for dynamic actions. We have a joint action plan, social and educational projects and certain projects to help new graduates. It is not a secret that Bolashak alumni hold positions in governmental bodies and private companies and these positions help resolve the employment issues and search of qualified personnel among the alumni. This Association does help them get integrated, yet a lot of work is to be done. We need the Association to strengthen its position as a nongovernmental organization to fulfill the advisor role in the development and implementation of various governmental programs and reforms, for instance, similarly to the interaction of Kazakhstan Association of Financiers with public institutions and banks. What in your opinion should new graduates be, given the new objectives and the world crisis environment? What do you think of the Intelligent Nation-2020 project? Will it truly serve as a tool in raising a new breed of specialists and turn Kazakhstan into the country with strong human resources? Obviously new graduates should know the world system very well. As for the crisis, it has brought changes in the life of the world community. As President Nursultan Nazarbayev said, we need people who know how to work in the XXI century, professionals who have the knack for internal and international processes, patriots and excellent managers. As for long-term projects, I personally take them cautiously. I work in the private sector where plans are always neat and imply exact actions. When it comes to a national project I am on for it. Having enormous territory and resources in our possession we are obliged to be intelligent, but the question is how when and by who it will be implemented. Because half of Kazakhstan population lives in rural areas, it will be difficult to fulfill such a project, the issue being access to information and internet technologies. The program needs an action plan, internet and digital television. In rural areas they have 3 or 4 TV channels at most. Yes, the government does the best it can, but it requires much more. Since you are a banker, I cannot but ask your opinion about the situation in the banking sector of the republic, the actions upon the anti-crisis program and participation of your bank in it. Our bank participates in ?Damu? anti-crisis program which was created to provide support for small and medium businesses. Besides, our bank uses its own funds, thus it is a co-financing program. This year ?Damu? fund budgeted up to KZT 10 billion, in its turn ATF bank will finance the same amount. We plan to extensively provide loans for small and medium businesses. Thank you for the interview and good luck.