Kazakh government responds to Nazarbayev's State of the Nation Address

Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov has held a swift government meeting on Tuesday, November 11,  to develop a comprehensive action plan for implementation of the instructions that President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev voiced in his unexpected State of the Nation Address earlier the same day, Tengrinews reports citing the official website of the PM.

Speaking to the members of the government, Massimov noted the enormity of the tasks, the specific timing of their implementation and stressed there was "no time to lose."

"Our task is to execute properly and as soon as possible those orders given by the President of the country," Massimov said.

In connection to the announced additional allocation of up to $3 billion annually in 2015-2017 from the National Fund, Massimov ordered the Ministry of National Economy, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice together with other interested bodies “to prepare corresponding draft legal acts and discuss them at the government sitting on November 14."

The Ministry of Economy was instructed to submit a draft plan of five-year infrastructural development until December 10. The ministries responsible for specific areas of this plan was tasked with presenting their topical projects by November 20.

The Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of National Economy to prepare before the month's end a draft decree to adopt the Joint Action Plan of the Government and the National Bank for financing businesses. He also ordered the Ministry to develop a draft National Plan for the Implementation of the President's Address together with the Administration of the President and the involved state bodies and consider it at the next government sitting.

"Every order of the President in the Address is a personal responsibility of a particular executive. The responsibility for quality and timeliness of their execution, as the President said, will be very high," Massimov emphasised.

"We need to ensure a clear and coordinated work, effective and efficient use of allocated funds from the National Fund for the development of the economy. Big tasks have been set and we have to fulfill them," Massimov concluded.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev gave an unscheduled State of the Nation Address onNovember 11. He announced a new economic policy called “Nurly Zhol” designed to address the challenges that Kazakhstan faces amid the external risks and the global economic slowdown in the coming years and stressed the importance of interethnic unity and stability of the nation.

By Dinara Urazova