Representatives of international organizations were briefed on economic development priorities of Kazakhstan

On 17 September 2020, the World Economic Forum hosted an online meeting of the Eurasia Policy Group with the participation of Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the UN Office and other International Organizations in Geneva Zhanar Aitzhanova.

At the meeting, Ambassador Aitzhanova presented economic development priorities of Kazakhstan in the new reality, highlighted by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in the State of the Nation Address, to the participants, including representatives of international economic and financial organizations,  such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Asian Development Bank. 

The Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan shared information about the main institutional decisions, such as establishing the Senior Presidential Council for Reform headed by President Tokayev and the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms, which are taken place in response to systemic challenges for the economy of Kazakhstan. 

The participants were also presented with the country's plans to ensure the stability of legislative conditions for strategic projects by introducing a new instrument such as the strategic investment agreement.

It was noted that President Tokayev defined digitalization as a basic element of all reforms and a key instrument for achieving national competitiveness. In this view, the Permanent Representative shared the successful experience of cooperation between Kazakhstan and UNCTAD on digitalization of customs procedures as well as export and import operations to simplify the business environment, which allowed Kazakhstan to improve its World Bank “Doing Business” ranking. 

The Eurasia Policy Group was created by the World Economic Forum as a platform for regional dialogue and cooperation to develop a New Vision for Eurasia and jointly develop strategies for the region's economic development during the post-COVID period.

This group includes representatives of various international organizations, research centres, academia, the European Commission, as well as high-level representatives from countries of the Eurasian region. In particular, Governor of the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan T.Abdygulov, Deputy Minister of Finance of Uzbekistan O.Isakov and Deputy Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan R.Najaf attended the meeting.