Kazakhstan in top 30 developed countries: to improve governance, rule of law and “knowledge” economy
During the session, heads of public service agencies and experts from Afghanistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, North Macedonia, United America and Ukraine provided the unique experience in public service development and discussed the common challenges.
Kazakh Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the USA Yerzhan Kazykhanov said that the region’s States determined their own courses of reforming the public service after gaining independence, underlining that Kazakhstan sees the improvement of governance as well as the rule of law and “knowledge” economy as the main tools towards joining the top 30 countries of the world.
The event was also attended by Former Personnel Management Minister of Korea, Prof. Pan Suk Kim, who spoke of human resources services’ professionalization as one of the priorities of the public service reforms in the region and expressed an intention to share their experience.
“The countries of the region need to improve the recruitment, selection and promotion of civil servants based on the principles of meritocracy. We are ready to share our experience in this area”, he said.
In turn, ASPA Executive Director William Shields outlined the partnership with the Astana Civil Service Hub, consisting of 40 member-countries, as well as good cooperation in developing and producing scientific publications in the public administration area, mentioning of the intention of ASPA representatives to partake in the Hub’s annual conference, which, according to him, became a “traditional platform for networking and knowledge sharing on public service issues between different experts”.
All the participants, including well-known experts in public administration former director of the US Federal Executive Institute, Dr. Chester Newland, former Chairman of the US Federal Salary Council, Dr. Stephen Condrey, Executive Director of Governance Solutions International (USA) Guido Bertucci, noted the Astana Civil Service Hub’s crucial role in the experience exchange and partnership enhancement between public service agencies, public administration schools and experts from different countries.
On 13 February 2019, the Astana Civil Service Hub’s same session in the field of public service took place within the 7th 2019 World Government Summit in Dubai, brining together heads of government agencies, leading international experts from over 15 countries to discuss not only the reforms in the post-Soviet countries but also modern trends and innovations in public administration.
In this session, the Chairman of the Astana Hub’s Steering Civil Service Committee, Alikhan Baimenov, noted that the technological progress and digitalization of society place massive claims on governance systems around the world.
“Globalization and the expansion of technological innovations bring new challenges for civil service development. Citizens are getting more informed and have an opportunity to compare and assess the solutions applied in other countries”, he said.
He added that the governments are constantly searching for effective solutions, which is especially significant for the countries of our region.
“Over the last three decades, they have come a long way of social, economic and political reforms implemented with different depth and pace”, he said.
In turn, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Future, Chairman of the World Government Summit Organization His Excellency Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi underlined the need to transform governments to compete with the private sector.
AIFC Governor, Kairat Kelimbetov, suggested that the public service needs to be open, international and adaptive to the best practices.
This summit gathered over 4000 participants from 150 countries, including heads of state and government, high-level representatives of 30 international organizations. The summit is a large global platform showcasing future trends in civil service, public administration and innovations.
Adlet Seilkhanov
