Supreme Council for Reforms formulates Kazakhstan’s midterm goals
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev recently chaired the third meeting of the Supreme Council for Reforms, and what has been discussed at the meeting is in a Strategy2050.kz latest material.
The meeting focused on the development of Kazakhstan’s 2025 National Development Plan, new state planning system, privatisation plans until 2025 and a package of urgent reforms as well as national census planned for October.
The creation of the agency was first voiced by Tokayev in his address to the nation in September 2020.
The council is chaired by Tokayev and co-chaired by former president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Sir Suma Chakrabarti."In the time of pandemic and crisis, the current system of state administration is working at its maximum. Addressing urgent tasks takes time and resources. But we should not lose our long-term focus,” said Tokayev back then.
Among the members in the council are also Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Askar Mamin, and Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms Chair Kairat Kelimbetov.
National Development Plan
Kazakhstan's mid term targets and goals are envisioned in the national development plan until 2025 that outlines three key objectives - quality of institutions, welfare of citizens and strong economy.
The document consists of 12 strategic areas across three main blocks - institutional, economic and social.
The key targets in the document are a 5 percent economic growth by 2025, increasing share of small and medium sized enterprises in GDP to 35 percent and fixed capital investment to 30 percent of GDP, boosting non-resource exports twice to 41 billion tenge, and labour productivity by 45 percent.
The measures in place may extend life expectancy by 75 years and improve Kazakhstan’s positions in international rankings.
The reforms will also require holistic interaction between the government and the Parliament, as many reforms may need changes to the national legislation.“Taken together, all indicators should aim at achieving our main goal, which is increasing the level of competitiveness and joining the ranks of the world's most developed countries," said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
According to Kelimbetov, National Development Plan along with Territorial Development Plan and National Security Strategy are first level documents.
Second level documents are the policy documents that define inter-regional and inter-sectoral objectives, while third level documents are implementational documents that include development plans for regions, state agencies and quasi-state organisations.They define cross-cutting common goals and objectives for the state apparatus at both central and regional levels. The National Development Plan effectively replaces the 2025 Strategic Plan and provides an effective platform for the implementation of the Nur Otan party's election program. The Territorial Development Plan is aligned with the National Development Plan and captures the importance of the regional development in Kazakhstan taking into account the needs of each region," said Kelimbetov in an interview to Kazpravda newspaper.
New public administration system
Kazakhstan needs new state planning and an improved public administration system. The government will develop the concept for public administration development until 2025 that will ensure the transition from administrative focus to a people oriented approach in the way the government and citizens interact. The document will seek to improve the professionalism of the state apparatus, its accountability to society, enhance regulatory policy, increase the efficiency of public services, and optimise the quasi-public sector, among other goals.
Privatisation plans"Focus on people is a fundamental value of reforms. None of them are meaningful if the ultimate goal is not to improve the life of every single Kazakh citizen.
736 state companies will be privatised, according to the country’s plan, an increase from the previous 176.
The state participation in the economy is expected to go down to 14 percent with nearly 5 trillion tenge in state assets privatised.
The privatisation process should follow the plan, should not be delayed and should not result in the creation of private monopolies.
“Transparency and fairness in the privatisation process is required,” said Tokayev.Package of urgent measures
Tokayev previously instructed to develop a package of urgent measures aimed at ensuring quality and sustainable economic growth. This will be done by reducing tax burden on the payroll for micro and small businesses, reducing the VAT rate for new manufacturing companies by 70 percent, including microfinance organisations in subsidy programs of the Business Road Map.
Once the measures are adopted by the Parliament, they are expected to come into effect starting July 1.
National census
Kazakhstan plans a national census for October this year. This will be the third census for Kazakhstan over the years of independence.
The census will be held both online and in traditional format by visiting households.
According to Tokayev, the campaign should generate important analytical data, including age and sex composition of the population, level of urbanisation and incomes. The final data will be made available in the mid-2022.
A special working group headed by the First Deputy Prime Minister will be created to oversee the preparations to the census.