The Head of State delivered his Address to the people of Kazakhstan

September 01, 2021

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at a joint session of the chambers of the Parliament published his Address to the people of Kazakhstan "The unity of the people and systemic reforms are a solid foundation for the country's prosperity".

The Head of State put forward a number of initiatives aimed at further development of the country in the post-pandemic period, improving the efficiency of health systems, providing quality education, improving regional policy, forming an effective ecosystem in the labor market, political modernization, protecting human rights and consolidating society.

Addressing the people of Kazakhstan, the President called the 30th anniversary of Independence the highest value of our state.

Having outlined the main priorities of the Address, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stressed that the well-being of all Kazakhstanis is his main goal as President of Kazakhstan.

To achieve this goal, the Head of State put forward five key initiatives.

First, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced his decision to increase the minimum wage from January 1, 2022 from the current 42.5 thousand to 60 thousand tenge. This measure will directly affect more than one million people, and indirectly-all workers.

Secondly, the President stated the need to increase the wage fund, which over the past 10 years has lagged behind the profits of business owners by almost 60 %. In this context, the Government was instructed to develop "soft" measures to encourage businesses to increase the salaries of their employees. For employers who increase the salaries of employees, benefits will be provided within the framework of regulated purchases, as well as preferential access to state support.

The third initiative is aimed at reducing the burden on the wage fund. The Head of State proposed to introduce a single payment from the wage fund for micro and small businesses with a reduction in the total load from 34% to 25 %. This will stimulate the business to "bring out of the shadows" thousands of employees who will be able to become full-fledged participants in the pension system, the social and medical insurance system.

Fourth, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed to increase the salaries of a number of categories of public sector employees (employees of cultural institutions, archives, libraries, etc.) by 20% annually from 2022 to 2025.About 600 thousand of our compatriots will feel the effect of this initiative.

Fifth, the President considers it necessary to allow the transfer of part of pension savings above the sufficiency threshold to an account in Otbasy Bank for the subsequent purchase of housing. In his opinion, this will stimulate the habit of accumulating funds, managing them competently.

Addressing the deputies present at the meeting, the Head of State emphasized the importance of high-quality preparation of the adopted draft laws. He believes that parliamentarians should always be persistent in protecting the interests of the people, their every decision should be taken taking into account the needs of citizens and the capabilities of the state.

Summarizing his speech, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pointed out the need for effective work of the state apparatus.

The full text of the President's Address to the people of Kazakhstan can be found here. https://akorda.kz/ru/poslanie-glavy-gosudarstva-kasym-zhomarta-tokaeva-narodu-kazahstana-183048

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