GROWTH OF KAZAKHSTAN'S WELFARE: IMPROVING INCOME AND QUALITY OF LIFE
Dear Kazakhstanis!
We have done a lot of work over the years of Independence.
By creating a modern progressive state with a dynamically developing economy, we have ensured peace and social harmony.
We have implemented high-quality and historically significant structural, constitutional and political reforms.
We have achieved an increase in the international authority of Kazakhstan and the strengthening of its geopolitical role in the region.
We have established ourselves as a responsible and sought-after international partner in solving regional and global problems.
Kazakhstan became the first state among the CIS and Central Asian countries that was chosen by the world community to host the international exhibition "EXPO-2017".
We have built a new capital – Astana, which has become the financial, business, innovation and cultural center of the Eurasian region.
The country's population has exceeded 18 million people and its life expectancy has reached 72.5 years.
We have formed a solid economic Foundation.
Over the past 20 years, the country has attracted foreign direct investment in the amount of 300 billion us dollars.
Small and medium-sized businesses are developing, which are the basis of the economy's prosperity. In the world Bank's doing business ranking, Kazakhstan has risen to 36th place among 190 countries.
We always responded to external challenges in a timely manner and were ready for them.
In this regard, I put forward the necessary program initiatives to modernize the country. Their implementation has become the main factor of successful development.
Our strategic goal is to become one of the 30 developed countries in the world by 2050.
In 2014, we launched a comprehensive program "Nurly Zhol" aimed at modernizing the country's infrastructure.
Three years ago, the national Plan "100 concrete steps"was published.
Then we started the Third modernization of the country. Its main task is to create a new model of economic growth that will ensure the global competitiveness of Kazakhstan.
The sustainable development of our country gives great hope for further improvement of living standards.
We are ready to meet new challenges.
Dear compatriots!
Recently, the processes of global political and economic transformation have been intensifying.
The world is changing rapidly.
The foundations of the global security system and the rules of international trade are collapsing.
New technologies, robotics and automation complicate the requirements for labor resources and the quality of human capital.
A completely new architecture of financial systems is being built. At the same time, stock markets inflate a new "soap bubble", which can provoke another financial crisis.
Today, global and local problems are intertwined. In these conditions, the answer to the challenges and the key to the success of the state is the development of the main wealth-the human being.
The government, every head of a state Agency, and a state-owned company need to change their approach to work. The main priority should be to increase the well-being of Kazakhstanis.
It is by this parameter that I will now evaluate personal effectiveness and compliance with the positions I hold.
* * *
The well-being of Kazakhstanis depends primarily on stable income growth and quality of life.
INCOME GROWTH OF THE POPULATION.
Income increases when a person is hardworking, is a professional in their field, receives a decent salary or has the opportunity to open and develop their own business.
Only by working together can we create a society of Universal Labor.
First, I instruct the Government to increase the minimum wage by 1.5 times from January 1, 2019 – from 28 to 42 thousand tenge.
This will directly affect 1 million 300 thousand people who work in all industries at enterprises of various forms of ownership.
The increase will cover 275,000 employees of budget organizations, whose salaries will increase by an average of 35%.
For these purposes, 96 billion tenge should be allocated annually from the national budget for 2019-2021.
At the same time, now the minimum wage will not be tied to the subsistence minimum. The new minimum wage will be a catalyst for wage growth across the economy.
I hope that this initiative will be supported by large companies in terms of raising the salaries of low-paid workers.
Secondly, we need to create stable sources of business growth, encourage private investment and promote market freedom.
It is the business that creates new jobs and provides most of the people of Kazakhstan with income.
FIRST. Back in 2010, we launched the business Roadmap 2020 program.
During my trips to the regions, I was convinced of its effectiveness.
The program should be extended until 2025.
For its implementation, it is necessary to provide at least 30 billion tenge annually.
This will allow to create at least 22 thousand new jobs in 3 years, ensure the receipt of 224 billion tenge of taxes and production of 3 trillion tenge.
SECOND. It is necessary to take decisive measures to develop competition in the economy and restore order in tariffs for housing and utilities services and natural monopolies.
In the sphere of public services and regulation of natural monopolies, the pricing and spending of funds collected from consumers is still not transparent.
There is no effective monitoring and control of investment obligations of monopolists.
The government needs to consider this issue within three months and reform the work of the Antimonopoly Agency, significantly strengthening the functions of competition protection.
This is important because it increases business costs and reduces people's real incomes.
THE THIRD. It is necessary to increase the protection of businesses from unlawful administrative pressure and threats of criminal prosecution.
I instruct you to raise the threshold for criminal liability for tax violations to 50 thousand MCI from January 1, 2019, with an increase in fines.
It is also necessary to reorganize the economic investigation Service, transferring its functions to the financial monitoring Committee, whose main task should be to combat the shadow economy.
We must move towards a"cashless economy". This should be based not only on repressive, but also stimulating tools, such as encouraging businesses to use cashless payments.
Completing the integration of tax and customs information systems will increase the transparency of administration.
The government needs to take effective measures to reduce the shadow turnover in the economy by at least 40% over 3 years.
In order for businesses to start working from scratch, I instruct them to start conducting a tax Amnesty for SMEs starting from January 1, 2019, writing off penalties and fines provided that the principal amount of tax is paid.
FOURTH. Export-oriented industrialization should become a Central element of economic policy.
The government needs to focus on supporting exporters in the manufacturing sector.
Our trade policy must stop being inert.
We need to give it a vigorous character in order to effectively promote our products on regional and global markets.
At the same time, we need to help our enterprises develop a wide range of consumer goods and develop the so-called "economy of simple things".
This is important not only for realizing the export potential, but also for saturating the domestic market with domestic goods.
I instruct the Government to allocate an additional 500 billion tenge to support the manufacturing industry and non-resource exports over the next 3 years.
To solve the problem of affordable lending to priority projects, I instruct the national Bank to provide long-term tenge liquidity in the amount of at least 600 billion tenge.
The government, together with the national Bank, should ensure strict control over the intended use of these funds.
In order to implement major, breakthrough projects, we should consider creating a direct investment Fund in the non-resource sector, which will operate on the principle of co-investment with foreign investors.
It is also necessary to strengthen the development of transport and logistics and other services sectors.
Special attention should be paid to the development of inbound and domestic tourism to exploit our rich natural and cultural potential. The government should adopt an industry-specific state program as soon as possible.
FIFTH. We need to fully realize the potential of the agro-industrial complex.
The main goal is to increase labor productivity and export of processed agricultural products by 2.5 times by 2022.
All measures of state support should be directed at large-scale attraction of modern agricultural technologies to the country.
We should use the best experience in managing the industry by introducing flexible and convenient standards and attracting "gray heads" - authoritative foreign experts in the field of agriculture.
We need to build a system of mass training of rural entrepreneurs in new farming skills.
I instruct the Government to provide at least 100 billion tenge annually for these purposes in the next 3 years.
SIXTH. Special attention should be paid to the development of innovative and service sectors.
First of all, it is necessary to ensure the development of such areas of the "economy of the future" as alternative energy, new materials, Biomedicine, big data, the Internet of things, artificial intelligence, blockchain and others.
The country's place and role in the global world depend on them in the future.
I instruct the Government, together with Nazarbayev University, to develop special programs in each direction with the definition of specific projects.
One of them may be the creation of a research Institute for the development of artificial intelligence technologies on the basis of the University.
SEVENTH. It is necessary to strengthen the role of the financial sector in the development of the real economy and ensure long-term macroeconomic stability.