Kazakhstan 25 Years, Bravo!
At the International Conference themed "25 Years of Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan: Outcomes, Accomplishments, Vision For the Future" local and international speakers concurred that the country has done remarkably well within a short period of time and is well positioned to forge ahead.
Today, Kazakhstan, the world's largest landlocked country, is the economically dominant nation of Central Asia. It generates 60 percent of the region's gross domestic product (GDP) much through its oil/gas industry and is rich with other mineral resources as well.
For Malaysia, Kazakhstan is a major trading partner in Central Asia with exports to Kazakhstan valued at US$76.2 million and imports valued at US$396,300 from January to October 2015.
Kazakhstan views Malaysia as an important trade and diplomatic partner in Southeast Asia. The country has even emulated some of Malaysia's development strategies, including the setting up of the new capital Astana, like Malaysia's very own Putrajaya.
The forum kicked off with the chairman of the Majilis of the Parliament Nurlan Nigmatulin pointing out to the audience on the country's many sterling achievements under its visionary president Nursultan Nasarbayev since its independence in 1991.
Nurlan Nigmatulin pointed out that Kazakhstan is the most outstanding developing nation compared with other Commonwealth Independent States.
Due to its political stability and far sighted economic planning, Kazakhstan has received more than USD250 billion in direct foreign investments and a GDP growth of 8 percent for more than a decade.
The rapid economic development has brought vast employment opportunities, wage increasing by 17 folds and per capita GDP of USD14,000 at present.
Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov noted how the country, which diplomatically started from the scratch, has stamped its mark in international diplomacy.
Most recently, it became the non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2017-2018 term.
Erlan Idrissov noted that there were huge challenges for the country with 14,000 km of shared border to establish its territorial sovereignty, but had somehow done remarkably well by establishing pragmatic policies and cooperation with its neighbours.
Kazakhstan has also led the efforts in disarming and safely discarding the former Soviet states' nuclear arsenal in Central Asia.
The predominately Muslim nation also wants to see more engagements with the Muslim world through platforms like Organisation of Islamic Conference.
Dr. Frederic Starr, Chairman of Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, John Hopkins University, best summed up the country's achievements as 'Kazakhstan 25 years, bravo!'
He is highly confident of the country's way forward and believes some tweaking is needed in its goals, like diversifying the economy, creating a strong society and reforms in the education system.
The speakers overwhelmingly pointed out that credit should go to Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev who not only led the country to independence after the fall of Soviet Union in 1991, but also contributed immensely towards nation building that included massive infrastructure development and forward economic planning, as well as greater international presence.
Believing that more needs to be done in becoming a developed state, in 2015 the 76 year old Nazarbayev introduced the Nurly Zhol vision and the 100 concrete steps in bringing institutional reforms in creating a modern and professional civil service, ensuring the rule of law, ensuring industrialization and economic growth, creating a unified nation for the future and promoting greater transparency and accountability.
Source: BERNAMA