We want to make Kazakhstan one of the safest and most comfortable countries: Senate Speaker

Senate Speaker Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has shared his vision for Kazakhstan’s transformation in the coming four decades, Tengrinews correspondent reports from a round table discussion dedicated to "Implementation of the Kazakhstan-2050 Strategy and Kazakhstan's role in the international community". The meeting was attended by foreign ambassadors in Kazakhstan. 

Tokayev updated them on the progress Kazakhstan had achieved. Unemployment was reduced from 12.8 percent in 2000 down to 5.2 percent in 2013. During the same period the share of citizens living below the poverty line decreased more than 4 times, while pensions increased more than 6 times. Investments in education grew 8 times and spendings on healthcare increased 10 times.

In the past 15 years Kazakhstan built 1,000 hospitals, 1,100 schools, 4,000 kindergartens. The average monthly salary in Kazakhstan by the end of 2013 exceeded 107 thousand tenge per month ($589), Tokayev said.

Tokayev assured that life in Kazakhstan would continue improving, and the primary goals were to reduce poverty and social inequality and improve the living standards.

"We plan to introduce the standards of quality of life that would correspond with the key indicators of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Important things like job security, affordability of housing, availability of clean drinking water, quality of the consumer basket, access to education, health, cultural and consumer services and social benefits will be the target indicators," the Kazakh Senate Speaker said.

While working to achieve these goals the country will also be working towards increasing its GDP per capita 4.5 times - from the current $13,000 to $60,000 in 2050, he said.

"It is planned to greatly increase the size of the middle class that will the producing more than half of the GDP. The life expectancy of Kazakhstanis will reach an average of 80 years. Much attention will be paid to creating an advanced world-class education system. Thereby we want to turn Kazakhstan into one of the safest and most comfortable countries," Tokayev said.

He added that the government predicted a growth of 5 percent this year with the nominal gross GDP of about 36 trillion tenge ($198 billion). Kazakhstan’s foreign reserves now total at $105 billion.
 
Reporting by Renat Tashkinbayev, writing by Dinara Urazova