On the establishment of the Kazakhstan Agency
for International Development “KazAID”
Kazakhstan has provided more than 542 mln USD for purposes related to official development assistance throughout the last 20 years. Kazakhstan has transformed in a short period of time from a recipient of assistance to an international donor partnering with donor countries to help other Central Asian countries and Afghanistan on their development.
The Concept of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the sphere of Official Development Assistance (ODA) was approved by No.538 Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan on 9 April 2013.
According to the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Official Development Assistance”, adopted on 10 December 2014, Kazakhstan Agency for International Development “KazAID” has been established by the Decision of the Government of Kazakhstan on 15 December 2020. According to this Law, a designated authority in the field of ODA is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.
Goals and objectives of official development assistance
1) further integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan into the regional and international relations system;
2) establishment of external conditions favourable to the successful implementation of Kazakhstan’s development strategies and programs;
3) peace-building, regional and global security;
4) social and economic development of a partner country and the well-being of its citizens;
5) gradual transition of a partner country towards a prioritized addressing of environmental protection and climate change issues.
1) to facilitate the achievement of international goals of official development assistance supported by the Republic of Kazakhstan;
2) to support Kazakhstan’s national security;
3) to develop political, economic, educational, public, cultural, scientific and other relations of Kazakhstan with a partner country;
4) to promote the development of a partner country on the basis of Kazakhstan’s national interests and the international situation;
5) promotion of regional cooperation and assistance to the solution of regional problems;
6) poverty reduction;
7) to assist in addressing environmental and climate change issues;
8) to assist in addressing other issues within the framework of international treaties and other commitments of Kazakhstan in the field of official development assistance.
Geographical priorities for official development assistance
The challenges of global development, national capacities and the available resources were considered in determining the geographical priorities of Kazakhstan’s development assistance policy. In this regard, the Republic of Kazakhstan made the decision to provide development assistance to the countries Central Asia and Afghanistan.
With that, in order to maximize synergies in the activity of Kazakhstan as part of the global efforts in development, Kazakhstan´s official development assistance can be oriented towards the region of the Caucasus, Africa, Latin America, small island developing states, least developed countries, land-locked countries and other regions.
Sectoral priorities for official development assistance
Official development assistance shall be aimed at developing the following sectors in recipient countries:
1) Agriculture and food security;
2) Environmental protection, including assistance for the development of global and regional environmental initiatives;
3) Rational use of natural resources;
4) Assistance in addressing transboundary water problems;
5) Facilitation of simplification of border-crossing procedures;
6) Conflict management and security;
7) Combating illegal drug trafficking and transnational crime, including human trafficking, illegal migration and arms trafficking;
8) Education and science;
9) Healthcare;
10) Good governance;
11) Support for business activity and improvement of the business climate;
12) Development of regional and international trade, including through improvement of access of landlocked countries to transport and other infrastructure;
13) Other sectors included in the main directions of Kazakhstan’s state policy in the field of official development assistance.
Implementation of official development assistance
Official development assistance shall be implemented in the following ways:
1) International grants;
2) Establishment (construction) of new or reconstruction of existing facilities in priority sectors;
3) Concessional loans;
4) Voluntary contributions to international organizations for official development assistance purposes;
5) Establishment of joint funds with a partner country;
6) Technical assistance;
7) Other forms accepted by the Republic of Kazakhstan in the framework of international treaties and other commitments in the field of official development assistance.
International cooperation in the field of official development assistance
Kazakhstan has developed international cooperation in the field of ODA with key donors and international development institutions.
In particular, cooperation is being established with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Slovak Agency for International Development Cooperation (SlovakAid), and the Czech Agency for International Development (CzDA).
In 2015, a panel session titled “Kazakhstan’s ODA system. Needs and challenges of ODA today and tomorrow” was organized jointly with the UNDP in the framework of the Astana Economic Forum.
Given the importance of Kazakhstan’s participation in the global dialogue and coordination in the field of ODA, establishment and development of the cooperation with the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is one of the priority directions on the way to establish a national ODA system.
In this regard, in July 2015, Kazakhstan was awarded the official status “invited” at the OECD DAC.
Pilot projects of Kazakhstan ODA
Kazakhstan has implemented several ODA projects in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and donor organizations:
In 2014-2017, the joint project “Expert support for the establishment of ODA national system in Kazakhstan” was implemented together with the UNDP in Kazakhstan.
In 2017, a pilot project of a national ODA – a scientific and practical seminar in agricultural sector for Central Asian countries (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) was implemented in close cooperation with the UNDP in Kazakhstan and the Israeli Agency MASHAV in Almaty and Nur-Sultan (Astana).
During 2017-2018, a project “Promoting Kazakhstan’s ODA Cooperation with Afghanistan” was implemented with the assistance of UNDP and the MFA of Japan. Two seminars for female representatives of Afghanistan were conducted within the project (in the sphere of public administration in July 2017 and in the sphere of healthcare in March-April 2018).
In 2018, a project on training foreign students at the Nazarbayev University through ODA mechanism was implemented. In accordance with this project, educational grants for the 2018-2020 and 2020-2022 academic years were provided for the countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan.
In 2020, a project on supplying Tajikistan’s detention facilities with security equipment made in Kazakhstan was implemented (jointly with the UNDP and UNODC).