Senate Speaker Ashimbayev calls on experts for cooperation to implement tasks of President’s address
The Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the Kazakh President held a meeting of the KazISS GPS: Gylym. Pikir. Sayasat discussing the role of the parliament in implementing the state-of-the-nation address of the Kazakh President, with the participation of Senate Speaker Maulen Ashimbayev, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
The meeting focused on the cooperation between the parliament and experts to improve the law-making process.
During the event, Ashimbayev pointed out that in order to implement the tasks set by the President it’s necessary to join the efforts of all state and public bodies. It’s important to redress the imbalances between the monetary and fiscal policies, and, according to the Senate Speaker, the main message of the state-of-the-nation address is to ‘live within our means’.
The President of the country instructed the government to take effective measures to rationalize budget expenditures and enhance control over their efficiency. Besides, the task was set to increase the efficiency to manage the National Fund and optimize inter-budget relations, which also require improvement in order to avoid inefficient utilization of funds at the local level. At the same time, the tax policy should become the instrument to stimulate quality economic growth, said Ashimbayev.
Senate Speaker Ashimbayev also stressed the importance of increasing the scientific and expert potential of the Senate through cooperation with independence experts and scientific institutions, leading to creation of effective and relevant laws.
Presently, the Senate is facing the task to adopt quality laws aimed at implementing the initiatives of the Head of State. The work is to be intensified in this direction, including in interaction with experts within the experts club and other platforms, said Ashimbayev.
For his part, KazISS director Yerkin Tukumov speculated about a number of items from the address, highlighting the necessity to strengthen parliamentary control, especially over projects with environmental risks, such as the construction of a nuclear power plant.
As the phone survey, commissioned by the KazISS, revealed, half of the Kazakhstanis surveyed, support the construction of a nuclear power plant. At the same time, a third of the respondents expressed concern about possible accidents and their impact on the environment. Parliamentary control over the construction and exploitation of the NPP could reduce possible risks, he said.
Speaking about the tax policy, Senate Deputy Bibigul Zheksenbay highlighted the importance of informing the citizens about the aim behind tax collection.
For the new Tax Code to have a positive impact on the promotion of entrepreneurship, it’s important to hold the most transparent and open discussions of this document, including with the participation of relevant public organizations. This will allow to prevent some injustices in the tax policy and reduce the shadow business, said the Senate deputy.
