Kazakhstan has joined the program "Effective Governance for Economic Development in Central Asia"
Within the framework of the official visit to Astana, British Foreign Minister James Cleverley met with Chairman of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan Aset Irgaliyev.
The parties expressed interest in cooperation within the framework of the program "Effective Governance for Economic Development", to which Kazakhstan has been joining since 2023, and signed a memorandum of understanding.
"The signing of the memorandum of understanding will make an additional contribution to strengthening strategic partnership and cooperation between our countries. The subject of the agreement signed today is the provision of mutual support within the framework of the program "Effective Management in the interests of economic development" in our country. The expected result of the partnership will be the effective and transparent implementation of economic reforms identified by the participants as part of a program that helps to carry out reforms throughout the region," Asset Irgaliyev said.
The program supports countries' efforts to collect reliable data and use it to develop policies and implement economic reforms, improve coordination within the government and improve interaction with citizens. In this regard, the Bureau of National Statistics of ASPR RK, as the main producer of statistical data, plans to assist in improving literacy in the use of data, both among civil servants and ordinary citizens.Currently, the Bureau has developed a training course "Data literacy", designed to promote more efficient use of data in decision-making at various levels.
"We see great potential in improving job literacy with data. Cooperating within the framework of the program "Effective Governance for Economic Development", we plan to assist in improving data literacy, both among civil servants and ordinary citizens. We propose to extend this initiative as a competence center for the entire Central Asian region. Kazakhstan will act as a hub for educational projects on working with data" said Zhandos Shaimardanov, head of the Bureau of National Statistics.
Following the meeting, the participants expressed their gratitude for the business conversation that took place and stressed the importance of further relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
For reference:
The "Data literacy" program is aimed at improving statistical literacy and introducing a culture of data-driven decision making through applied and adapted cases for Kazakhstan. The program will increase the demand for data from the population and government agencies, which will affect the quality of decision-making. The program is focused on different levels of knowledge and needs of participants, ranging from the most basic level of knowledge to the most advanced level of data analysts and data scientists. As of today, an agreement has been reached with the Academy of Public Service on the inclusion of a course for all newly enrolled employees in state bodies.
Effective Governance for Economic Development (EGED) is a program of the British Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) program implemented by the World Bank in 2020-2025 in Central Asian countries (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). The main goal of the Program is to increase the efficiency, accountability and transparency of economic policy in Central Asian countries.