UST-KAMENOGORSK – Chairman of Kazakhstan’s Senate Kassym-Jomart Tokayev led a delegation from the Senate of Kazakhstan on a visit to the East Kazakhstan region on March 28 to discuss the implementation of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s state-of-the-nation address.
Speaking to students and faculty at Shakarim State University in Semey (formerly Semipalatinsk), Tokayev emphasised that Kazakhstan’s current achievements and its own development model form the basis of a new political course presented by the President in his address, “The Kazakhstan Way 2050: Common Goal, Common Interests, Common Future.”
“The world community recognises our country as a democratic state pursuing a path of political and economic modernisation, and having significantly improved the quality of people’s lives,” Tokayev said. President Nazarbayev’s successful participation in the recent Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague is further evidence of that, Tokayev added. In The Hague, Kazakhstan and the United States adopted a Joint Statement on Cooperation in the Sphere of Nonproliferation and Strengthening Nuclear Security, which covers further work to strengthen physical security at the former Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site.
Speaking on the implementation of the Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy, Tokayev stressed that the future and the implementation of the Mangilik El (“Eternal Nation”) concept is largely dependent on the younger generation. He addressed issues related to the government’s youth policy, emphasising education, financial support for students and further legislative innovations securing a minimum guaranteed social package and systemic socioeconomic measures.
Tokayev also used this opportunity to call upon the country’s youth to be industrious and work hard because “a dignified life, well-being [and] attaining a new quality of life are to be achieved only through hard work.” At the same time, young people must be mobile and ready to endure tough challenges, Tokayev said. “You should live in those places of our country where your work is needed, respected, and well paid,” he told the audience.
In Semey, Tokayev also visited the SemAZ factory, which assembles trucks, buses and agricultural machines.
In Ust-Kamenogorsk, the regional centre of East Kazakhstan, Tokayev met with the region’s prominent personalities, entrepreneurs and general public. Addressing the assembled guests, he expanded upon the tasks for the country and the East Kazakhstan region in light of the President’s long-term strategy.
“Our country is trusted as a reliable partner in international affairs, and is respected for its genuine contribution to nuclear disarmament, strengthening international security, integration and for multilateral economic cooperation,” he said. “At the same time, a key course of our activities was and will be peace and stability in the country, equality of all people and ensuring citizen’s rights.”
According to Tokayev, the task of the legislative and executive branches of power is to create economic, legal and social conditions enabling citizens to accomplish their aspirations and hopes.
He emphasised the importance of the President’s recent instructions to the government and the National Bank to ensure fiscal stability, lower the percentage of inactive loans, revive the stock market, decrease the state’s participation in the economy, cut down the shadow economy, improve the investment climate and increase the competitiveness of the agricultural sector.
Tokayev called East Kazakhstan a dynamic region with a unique nature, huge industrial potential, a diverse social infrastructure and a strong agricultural sector. The region is developing steadily, contributing to the country’s overall positive socioeconomic trends. In particular, the region is among the leaders in financing industrial and innovative development projects.
Tokayev stressed that Kazakhstan’s senators are actively implementing their constitutional authorities for the development of the regions they represent. “This is very important, taking into consideration the vast territory, diverse climatic conditions and various levels of economic development of the country’s regions,” he said.
The delegation also visited a new sports cluster taking shape in Ust-Kamenogorsk and the Bobrovka+ agricultural farm.
