Kazakhstan sums up the first year of leadership of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

Kazakhstan sums up the first year of leadership of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

     On June 12 this year it will be the first year when Kassym-Jomart Tokayev officially assumed office of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, confidently winning the presidential elections held on June 9, 2019. Taking into account his stated priorities, he built a clear line of state policy and ensured the continuity of the strategic course outlined by the First President of Kazakhstan, Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev. The head of the Kazakh state has done serious work to promote political and socio-economic transformations in the country, designed to bring the country to a new development path, signed more than 500 legal acts.

    In order to strengthen public confidence in the state and government officials, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has proclaimed new internal political paradigms: “hearing state”, “different opinions - a single nation”, “strong president - an influential parliament - an accountable government”. One of the key points on the presidential agenda was the creation of the National Council of Public Confidence, which included well-known politicians, public figures, economists and intellectuals. The work of the National Council is carried out in political, social and economic areas, the most urgent and acute issues of state development are submitted for its consideration. The Kazakhstani leader demonstrates a real attitude towards dialogue with society and joint development of decisions that will determine the development of the state. Following several meetings with the participation of the President of the country, a package of important political reforms was developed and adopted, affecting the law on peaceful assembly, the law on elections, and the law on political parties. Citizens are given the opportunity to directly ask questions to authorized bodies through their open virtual reception and social networks, promptly receiving answers to all aspects of their concerns. Being an active user of social networks, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev monitors and evaluates current events in the country (over 1000 publications are registered on Twitter).

   The President of Kazakhstan carried out a set of measures aimed at improving the social well-being of both individual segments of the population and society as a whole. A credit amnesty was held in the country for mothers with many children, families with children with disabilities, orphans, families who have lost the breadwinner, more than 500 thousand people in total. Thus, citizens who are in difficult life situations are exempted from debt. Since the beginning of 2020, student scholarships and salaries of public sector employees — educators, employees of civil protection and the law enforcement bodies — have increased. The crisis situations that befell the Kazakh people are successfully overcome thanks to effective state measures and the personal control of the President of Kazakhstan. So, in June 2019, an incident occurred in the 75 thousandth city of Arys in the south of the country - old military depots exploded, which actually destroyed the city infrastructure. On behalf of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the city was rebuilt anew in 3 months. In May 2020, a major flood occurred on the border with Uzbekistan, where more than 31 thousand people were evacuated from Kazakhstani settlements, support was provided to the local population, and operational restoration of local infrastructure was started. In connection with the spread of the coronavirus, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev introduced a state of emergency and full quarantine in the country, which lasted 2 months and today the country leaves the pandemic with minimal losses and is gradually recovering.

       From the first days of the presidency, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev set the task for the government of Kazakhstan to develop a set of measures to stimulate economic growth, develop entrepreneurship, support domestic producers, and improve fiscal and monetary policies. In particular, the National Bank of the country was reorganized, and the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market was created. The head of state focused on the formation of the revenue side of the state budget, reducing the dependence of the economy of Kazakhstan on energy exports, creating an open integrated base to combat financial fraud. During the year, he took part in hundreds of official and protocol events, including working trips to regions of the country, held meetings on numerous development issues, including with labor collectives, and visited industrial enterprises and social facilities.

     The global economic crisis caused by the pandemic and the decline in global demand for raw materials have affected the economy of Kazakhstan. Despite the global negative trend, the country has all the necessary resources to ensure socio-economic stability. Thus, Kazakhstan’s international reserves today amount to more than $ 30 billion, and the assets of the National Fund of the country exceed $ 58 billion. At the same time, the head of state is promoting a package of measures to stimulate the economy, which will help create conditions for diversification of the economy and departure from excessive dependence on the oil and gas sector. According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the country's GDP is expected to decrease by 3% in 2020, while as a result of the package of economic measures taken, international economists forecast a resumption of economic growth in 2021 at 5.5%.

      Kassym-Jomart Tokayev paid considerable attention to the spiritual values ​​of the Kazakh people, the preservation and enhancement of the cultural heritage, the national code, in particular the celebration of the anniversaries of the great Kazakh poet and enlightener Abay Qunanbayuly and the prominent thinker of the East Al-Farabi. He stated the need for the creation of modern literary works and the support of creative youth.

    All key geopolitical centers recognized the victory of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, demonstrating their interest in the stable and sustainable development of the country. The President continued his multi-vector foreign policy, took part in various events with foreign partners, held receptions of foreign statesmen and public figures, made official and working visits to Russia, China, the USA, the EU, Central Asia and the Islamic world.

     During this year, a new foreign policy concept was adopted, which outlined the priorities of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy until 2030. In addition to Kazakhstan’s traditional foreign policy directions for constructive cooperation with foreign partners, promoting international cooperation and regional integration, initiatives to strengthen global security have also highlighted new accents in the document. In particular, much attention in the new concept is paid to strengthening the economic component of foreign policy, it is about creating external conditions for realizing the economic potential of Kazakhstan and finding profitable transit corridors to world markets under sanctions, unpredictability of world markets, trade wars and protectionism. In the new global geo-economic realities, Kazakhstan is optimistic in the search for new economic niches and sources of income.