Few people know how big Kazakhstan is - Ong Keng Yong
"In his latest Address "Nurly Zhol", President Nazarbayev focused on infrastructure development, strengthening the transportation links between cities of Kazakhstan. Very few people realize that Kazakhstan is a very big country. When I visited Kazakhstan it took me 12 hours to travel from Almaty to Astana by the fast train. I want to stress that transportation links are very important. As President Nazarbayev has put it, the emphasis in during the next five years will be on infrastructural development, improvement of transportation, building more roads, having more railways. These are all very essential things to bring different parts of the country together, so that they are all connected and able to work together as a group, as a nation," he noted. There must be stability, systematic development and efficient implementation of the plans that Government has initiated. And it is very important to have friendly ties with other countries. In this regard President Nazarbayev systematically establishes new ties between Kazakhstan and its neighbors and other countries beyond the immediate neighborhood, which can contribute to economic and commercial benefits. "I think the recent Address of President Nazarbayev is about future based on good infrastructural development, good economic progress and, of course, on the cooperation of all the people of Kazakhstan. So, I feel that this kind of inspiration will contribute to the future development of Kazakhstan," Ong Keng Yong said. "In his speech, the President highlighted a very important initiative that Kazakhstan is embarking on - the EXPO-2017. Thus, the plans on future development are all connected to this big event. Basically, it will be a big opportunity for the people of Kazakhstan to implement more development programs and existing plans. And I think the EXPO-2017 is going to be a climax of all the great plans," he added.