We need to triumph over difficulties, says Kazakh President
"Today all of us are witnessing and participating in rapid global changes and difficulties. This includes wars, terrorism, extremism, and countries' sanctions standoff. Unfortunately, among the great powers, there is no consensus that could maintain the world more peaceful. We need to overcome these difficulties, they certainly do harm to Kazakhstan as well," the Head of State told the 31st plenary session of the Foreign Investors' Council.
According to the President, modernization is needed to resolve these problems.
"To this end, I set the task for the third modernization of our country a year ago. We have created in the country the required foundation for that. Macroeconomic stability is ensured, business is improving, the Minister of National Economy has already highlighted those indicators today. The international reserves of our country have exceeded $90 billion. All this is the foundation for creating a second economy and resolving the infrastructure problems, and for the social well-being of the people. In the World Bank's Doing Business Ranking, Kazakhstan has climbed from the 64th to 36th position over the past 10 years," the Head of State underlined.
Nursultan Nazarbayev also mentioned the capital, which is indicative of a successful development of entire Kazakhstan.
"All our guests admire this city nowadays, and Kazakhstanis are very proud of it. (...) And this year the beautiful million-plus city will celebrate its 20th Anniversary since it appeared in the country. This is also a growing point of economy," the Head of State concluded.
President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev announced the main directions on the way toward the country's modernization.
"In order to further modernize and improve the economy, I believe the following directions are needed: the first is to improve the regulatory environment. A new Code on Mineral Resources and Subsurface Use and new Customs Code have entered into force. I have recently signed a package of business regulation legislative amendments, where we made changes to numerous laws and codes that let our businesses work without any control and calmly. In all directions, these legislative acts are implemented in line with OECD standards," the Head of State said.
The President stressed that Kazakhstan has always given special attention to the rule of law, mentioning that foreign investors have greatly helped our country in this process.
"Secondly, it is the diversification of the economy and the introduction of new technologies. Kazakhstan is rich in natural resources, oil, gas, and metals of the entire periodic table. However, we face known issues. Therefore, the creation of an alternative economy is very critical for us. That's why we started industrialization 6 years ago and have introduced 1,200 new enterprises. Over that time, the list of non-resource export goods has expanded to 800 items. This is what happened due to the participation of your companies in our economy," the President emphasized.
According to Nursultan Nazarbayev, high expectations are also placed on the country's agro-industrial complex.
"There is an investment and export strategy, which I think is specific and clear. The next serious driver, as we consider, is our agricultural sector - the huge opportunities of Kazakhstan enable us to produce organic products and hope that we will work here well. The target is to enhance the labor productivity and increase the exports by 2.5 times within 5 years. This can only be achieved by processing the products. Markets are open everywhere nowadays - these are Russian and Chinese markets, the Middle East market. To this end, we have built all the transport corridors," he added.
