Kazakhstan: Tokayev's new-period priorities stress infrastructure and protecting business

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev set out priorities for economic growth, infrastructure modernisation, a better investment climate and business development in his address to the people of Kazakhstan, titled “Current Tasks of Kazakhstan in the New Historical Period.” Tokayev said the shared goal of these priorities was to raise people's well-being. He said the new Constitution had given a major impetus to reforming the political system and proposed declaring next year the “Year of People's Construction.”

The address cited the opening of a new Hematology Center in Oskemen, which will serve adults and children from East Kazakhstan, Pavlodar and Abai regions. In Shymkent, a 300-seat dormitory was commissioned for a complex for children with special educational needs. Of 466 planned construction projects, 383 have been completed.

On business, Tokayev stressed the importance of protecting entrepreneurs from unfounded pressure and unlawful criminal prosecution. Registered criminal cases against businesspeople fell from 134 to 104, according to the address. Prosecutors are overseeing 3,500 investment projects worth a total of 105 trillion tenge; the rights of 2,080 investors have been restored and 670 problems resolved.