The programme of the upcoming Seventh Astana Economic Forum to be held under the overarching G-GLOBAL megaproject is comprehensive and addresses major challenges facing the world.
Alongside an extensive and diverse list of urgent topics to be discussed at the Astana Economic Forum are e-commerce, big data, green technologies, risk management, monetary policies, unconventional energy resources, customs regulations, continental transportation development, food security and internationalisation of higher education.
The range of issues to be discussed is incredibly diverse and in many ways it crystallises the year-long activities of the participants of the G-GLOBAL platform. A review of the Astana Economic Forum’s programmes for the past two years reflects a gradual development of the G-GLOBAL platform, its capability to accelerate an international discussion on various topics and produce practical recommendations for international organisations and governments.
G-GLOBAL was created under the initiative of Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev as a multifaceted platform to build conditions for the international expert community to have interactive, open and public discussions and debates concerning global issues. The project was initially focused on discussion and elaboration of mechanisms to overcome the global financial crisis and was aimed at radically expanding the number of participants in search of anti-crisis solutions.
Nowadays, G-GLOBAL connects a wide range of representatives of government, public, information and business structures in a single and equal dialogue. The platform has become an influential, if virtual, gathering of renowned economists, politicians, media and international business leaders. The uniqueness of this dialogue platform rests on its ability to connect not only renowned activists, but ordinary people, whose voice is heard by world policymakers.
G-GLOBAL has been visited by more than a million people. The G-GLOBAL dialogue seeks to elaborate, improve and evaluate the measures on such issues as stabilization of the international monetary system and regulation of financial markets; introduction of supranational payment unit of a fundamentally new class; creation of a nuclear-weapons-free world, promotion of global security; expansion of cultures and civilisations dialogue, implementation of global energy and environmental development concepts, including Kazakhstan’s Green Bridge initiative.
In his recent speech dedicated to Eurasian integration President Nazarbayev noted that “the current global instability is not only the crisis of economy, but also the crisis of international law and global politics.” He added: “G-8 and G-20 cannot deal with it. Therefore, I initiated G-GLOBAL in 2012. [Representatives from] one-hundred-sixty countries take an interactive part in it. G-GLOBAL includes fundamental principles of the world in the 21st century: evolution, justice, equality, consensus, global tolerance and trust, global transparency and constructive multipolarity.”
President Nazarbayev firmly believes that current global challenges will be overcome through profound changes in international law, foreign policy practice and methods of interstate relations. Therefore, he said, Kazakhstan’s proposals on G-GLOBAL principles are useful for the world community and are able to provide constructive measures for world development.
In a rapidly changing world environment, be it the sovereignty of governments or global energy security, women’s participation in world issues or youth development, G- GLOBAL has provided a useful resource for tackling the most urgent challenges. There is hope that this instrument will serve as an effective tool in solving problems in this multipolar world.
