The Embassy of Kazakhstan in Russia held a round table dedicated to the Message of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev “A Just Kazakhstan: Law and Order, Economic Growth, Public Optimism”, with which he addressed the nation on September 2. For about three hours, renowned Russian experts discussed the new initiatives of the head of Kazakhstan, shared opinions and expectations.
“Developing cooperation for the benefit of our countries”
Opening the meeting, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Russian Federation Dauren Abaev drew attention to the fact that many of the initiatives outlined in the speech are closely related or intertwined with Russia. According to him, the President’s proposals to eliminate the imbalance between monetary lending and fiscal policy, create a favorable investment climate and conditions for doing business, remove unnecessary administrative barriers, develop nuclear energy, continue social support for citizens, etc., are relevant for Russia.
“This suggests that parallels can be drawn with regard to what is happening in our countries, experiences can and should be exchanged. But overall I am sure that the processes taking place in Kazakhstan will, to one degree or another, have a positive impact on strengthening bilateral relations,” the diplomat concluded.
Aleksey Vlasov, Assistant at the Office for Interregional and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, noted that the presidential address contains about 100 different initiatives addressed to different ministries, departments and civil society institutions, and agreed that most of the issues raised by Tokayev are in line with the problems that the Russian leadership is currently addressing.
“And this circumstance,” the Russian expert believes, “creates conditions for a professional exchange of experience and opinions in solving such complex problems as strengthening the country’s human resource potential, modernizing the system of social support for citizens, improving the environmental situation and, of course, improving the investment climate and conditions for doing business. We cannot use trial and error, but rely on the experience of our friends, allies and partners in solving the problems facing our states.”
Among the initiatives of the head of Kazakhstan, Vlasov singled out the proposal for high-quality personnel training. According to him, this is one of the most urgent problems facing our countries and, in this regard, he highlighted the interaction between Russia and Kazakhstan in the field of higher education.
“This is due not only to the opening of branches of the best universities in our countries, the number of which continues to increase, but I would like to remind you that Kazakhstan is leading in the number of students studying at Russian universities, and many of them study in the regions of Russia, which, among other things, shows a close connection along the border regions,” the expert stressed.
Olga Birichevskaya, Deputy Head of the Third CIS Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, believes that in addition to the common tasks facing our countries, Russia and Kazakhstan still have much in common: first of all, a common history and spiritual values. “Therefore, we support all the reforms initiated by President Tokayev, because Russia, more than anyone else, is interested in a stable, highly developed and prosperous neighbor,” Birichevskaya said. In addition, in her opinion, the position of the Head of State in the fight against radicalism, extremism and social vices is extremely important.
“Reading the Message, one clearly sees opportunities to develop equal and mutually beneficial cooperation for the benefit of our countries,” the expert concluded.
Responsible policy
Sergey Afontsev, Corresponding Member of the RAS, Deputy Director for Scientific Work of IMEMO RAS, noted the consistency of President Tokayev’s line in his messages on paying attention, first of all, to the problems of the people and to the problems on the solution of which the country’s economic and social development depends. The expert also considers it significant that the decision to build a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan was made based on the results of a national referendum.
“I was very pleased that the President’s thoughts run through the Message like a “red thread”: on issues affecting the interests of the people, it is necessary to consult with the people. Tokayev believes that issues such as the construction of nuclear power plants should be resolved on the basis of a broad national dialogue. In my view, this is exactly what responsible politicians should do,” Afontsev concluded.
Andrei Margolin, Vice-Rector and Director of the Institute of Finance and Sustainable Development of RANEPA, drew attention to the title of the Message, in which “Fair Kazakhstan,” according to the President, is, first of all, “law and order, economic growth, public optimism.” The scientist recalled that today the demand for justice is noticeably growing in society. “And although the great Omar Khayyam wrote: “There will be no escape from the truth in this world, justice has not ruled the world forever,” it seems to me that Kazakhstan will be able to refute this truth,” Margolin said.
The expert called the fact cited in the speech about the removal of more than 10 thousand redundant and irrelevant requirements that restrict entrepreneurial activity within the framework of reforms “an important psychological moment”. “The removal of administrative barriers,” the director of the Institute of Finance is sure, “is absolutely fundamental. One of our graduate students conducted a study on how administrative barriers influence decision-making within the investment cycle. It turned out how they influence and slow down! And the fact that President Tokayev’s attention is focused on these “bureaucratic slingshots” is very, very important.”
“The word belongs to the people of Kazakhstan”
According to Azganush Migranian, PhD in Economic Sciences and Senior Researcher at IMEMO RAS, the goal of justice set out in the discourse is characterised by pragmatic approaches to finding ways to achieve it.
“Through fair taxation, bank revenues will be redirected to investments within the country, without becoming speculative capital. This is not written in the Message, but it is clearly legible. This is a very serious step that can radically change the way the financial system in general and the banking system in particular are regulated,” says the Russian expert.
Marcel Salikhov, President of the Institute of Energy and Finance and Director of the Center for Economic Expertise at the Higher School of Economics of the National Research University, called the proposal to put the issue of building a nuclear power plant to a national referendum correct. In his words, given the experience gained from the consequences of nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk test site, “this is not only an economic issue, but also a psychological one.”
At the same time, the Russian economist recalled that Kazakhstan suffers from an acute shortage of electricity, imports about 2 billion kWh, and according to estimates by the Ministry of Energy, by 2030 this deficit will increase fivefold – to 10 billion kWh. “After all, Kazakhstan is the largest producer of uranium in the world, the republic has experience in nuclear power generation and has the appropriate personnel. That is, from an economic point of view, there are prerequisites for the construction of a nuclear power plant. And, by the way, I think that Russia and Rosatom have a good chance of becoming Kazakhstan’s partners in this project. Now it is up to the people of Kazakhstan to decide,” the expert added.
Director, Senior Researcher of the Center for Central Asian Studies of the Institute of Modern China and Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Associate Professor of the Higher School of Economics of the National Research University Dmitry Novikov also expressed his views on the upcoming referendum on October 6.
“It was possible not to hold a referendum. However, many countries are faced with the task of transforming economic models. The crisis of legitimacy of the decisions taken greatly hinders these reforms. In this context, constant communication with the people must be maintained. Otherwise, as we remember from the former USSR, the lack of legitimacy and understanding of the decisions of the authorities ultimately led to disastrous consequences,” the Russian scientist concluded.
The expert described Tokayev’s annual message as a whole as “a working roadmap without unnecessary slogans and with clearly defined tasks,” which, in his opinion, “gives hope for its successful implementation.”
