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Kazakhstan Completes Three-Year, EU-Backed Project to Reform

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Kazakhstan Completes Three-Year, EU-Backed Project to Reform +13° / +4°C WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018 No 19 (157) www.astanatimes.com President focuses on improving daily Astana to host Sixth Congress life in state-of-nation address of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions of World and Traditional religions Staff Report took place Sept. 23-24, 2003 at the initiative of Kazakh President Nur- ASTANA – Eighty-two del- sultan Nazarbayev. egations from 46 countries repre- Its objectives are to seek uni- senting the world’s religions are versal guidelines among world expected to gather in Astana Oct. and traditional religions and to be 10-11 for the Sixth Congress of a permanent platform for interna- Leaders of World and Traditional tional interfaith dialogue. Religions. The main priorities of the congress The Congress is to be held under are to promote peace, harmony and the subject of “Religious Leaders tolerance as the unshakable princi- for a Secure World” and will in- ples of human existence, to achieve clude the third session of its Coun- mutual respect and tolerance among cil of Religious Leaders. religions and ethnic groups, as well Religious leaders, religious or- as to prevent religious beliefs from ganisations and political repre- being used to fuel the escalation of sentatives are expected to discuss conflicts and military action. four topics: A specially designed C Section – The manifesto “The World. of this issue will offer our read- The 21st Century’ as a “concept of ers more in-depth information global security.” about the Congress of Leaders of – Religions in changing geopoli- World and Traditional Religions, tics: new opportunities for the con- its history and activities, as well solidation of humankind. as the opinion of Kassym-Jomart ing the quality of life, creating a create stable sources for business be a central element of economic – Religion and Globalisation: Tokayev, Chairman of the Senate By Malika Orazgaliyeva comfortable living environment, growth and foster private invest- policy, Nazarbayev said. Challenges and Answers. of Parliament of the Republic of creating a citizen-focused gov- ment and facilitate freedom of the “I instruct the government to al- – Religious leaders and politi- Kazakhstan and Head of the Sec- ASTANA – Kazakh President ernment, maintaining effective market. It is business that creates locate additional 500 billion tenge cians in overcoming extremism retariat of the Congress, and inter- Nursultan Nazarbayev directed the foreign policy and engaging all new jobs and provides higher in- (US$1.3 billion) to support the and terrorism. views with leaders from religious government to work to improve citizens in the transformation of come to the majority of Kazakh manufacturing industry and non- The first Congress of Leaders communities in the country. the lives of Kazakh citizens dur- the country. citizens,” he said. commodity export in the next three ing his annual Oct. 5 state-of-the- The President underlined the im- Nazarbayev pointed out that years. To address the issue of af- nation address. portance of growing the incomes business should be protected from fordable loans for priority projects, “Over the past 20 years, the of hard-working professionals. He unlawful administrative pressure I task the National Bank to allocate country has raised $300 billion instructed the government to raise and criminal prosecution threats. long-term tenge liquidity of no less of direct foreign investment. We the minimal salary by 1.5 times He instructed to raise from Jan.1 than 600 billion tenge (US$1.6 bil- Kazakhstan completes three-year, see the development of small and from 28,000 to 42,000 (US$75- the threshold of criminal liabil- lion). The government together medium-sized enterprises serving $113) tenge from Jan. 1, 2019. ity regarding tax violations up to with the National Bank needs to as the foundation for our economic “From now on, the minimal sal- 50,000 monthly calculated indi- ensure strict control over the tar- geted use of these funds. To imple- EU-backed project to reform prosperity. Kazakhstan now ranks ary will not depend on the subsist- ces (MCI) and increase fines. He 36th among 190 countries in the ence level. In general, the amount also asked the government to take ment big breakthrough projects, we need to consider the establish- World Bank Doing Business in- of the new minimal salary will measures to reduce the shadow ment of a direct investment fund in dex. We have always responded boost the labour remuneration economy by at least40 percent the non-commodity sector that will criminal justice system to external challenges in a timely covering the whole economy. I within three years. function based on the principle of Staff Report cluding the Supreme Court, MIA, manner and have been prepared hope this initiative will be sup- The government must focus on co-investing with foreign inves- Office of the Prosecutor General, for them,” said Nazarbayev. ported by large companies in terms supporting exporters in the manu- tors,” he said. ASTANA – Kazakhstan marked Academy of Law Enforcement The main ideas of the address of increasing the salaries of low- facturing sector because export- Oct. 4 the completion of a three- Agencies and Kostanai Academy are raising incomes, increas- paid workers. Second, we need to oriented industrialisation should Continued on Page A2 year project to improve its crimi- of the MIA, were fulfilled ahead nal justice system. of time,” EUCJ Strategic Director The project, titled Enhancing Bill Mazer told a conference held Criminal Justice in Kazakhstan to mark the end of the project and (EUCJ), is the first project to seek discuss its results. institutional change to Kazakh- The $6.3 million project was Key Belt and Road node bears potential for stan’s Supreme Court, Office of funded by the European Union the Prosecutor General, Minis- under an agreement between try of Internal Affairs (MIA) and Kazakhstan and the EU and im- academies. plemented by Northern Ireland much gain for Kazakhstan, China and beyond The project sought to strengthen Co-operation Overseas (NI-CO) the rule of law and the reform of in partnership with the Ministry Kazakhstan’s judiciary through of Justice of the United King- supporting national policies to hu- dom, the Dutch Probation Ser- manise the justice system. vice and National School of Ju- It sought specifically to increase diciary and Public Prosecution, individual protections, move Ka- Poland. zakhstan’s criminal justice system The effort involved working toward international standards and with international experts who reform the penal process and judi- helped facilitate Kazakhstan’s cial act enforcement, according to reforms. More than 60 people the EUCJ website. were involved in developing pro- “All of the project’s objectives, grammes to reform state bodies. agreed with Kazakh partners, in- Continued on Page A2 Kazakhstan, China sign $1.9 billion investment agreements in Beijing states, President Nursultan Naz- By Elya Altynsarina arbayev and Chairman of the Peo- ple’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, ASTANA – First Deputy Prime Kazakhstan and China have achieved mats and just as many local and The Khorgos SEZ was estab- ture and by 2020 will spend an ad- Minister of Kazakhstan Askar a high level of cooperation across the By Elya Altynsarina foreign journalists to showcase the lished in 2011 and is part of Ka- ditional $8.4 billion to revive the Mamin and First Vice Premier of the spectrum of bilateral relations. The facilities’ development and infra- zakhstan’s Nurly Zhol (Bright ancient Silk Road on its territory, State Council of China and co-Chair- conjugation of the Nurly Zhol Infra- KHORGOS – A large group of structure and to present opportuni- Path) infrastructure development KTZ President Kanat Alpysbayev man of the Kazakhstan-China Coop- structure Programme of Kazakhstan foreign ambassadors, local and in- ties for cooperation with foreign programme to reconnect once told the visitors gathered against eration Committee Han Zheng over- and the Belt and Road Initiative of ternational journalists toured Oct. 6 companies. disparate regions of the country. the background of containers be- saw the signing of agreements and China has led to a high level of invest- the area of the Kazakh-Chinese bor- Khorgos, a dusty point on the bor- It was launched to transform the ing reloaded from narrow-gauge contracts for 11 new joint projects ment cooperation between our coun- der that includes the Khorgos East- der surrounded by brown-coloured country into a key transit conduit platforms to wide-gauge ones. worth $1.9 billion during Mamin’s tries,” Mamin said during the talks. ern Gate Special Economic Zone mountains, is considered by some between China and Europe and be- One specific result of this massive Sept. 26 visit to Beijing. China is one of Kazakhstan’s pri- (SEZ), the Khorgos Dry Port and to be a key node along the new Silk tween Russia and countries to the spending already is the construc- Mamin also met during the visit mary trade partners with bilateral the Khorgos International Centre of Road of the 21 Century being rec- south. tion of 2,500 kilometres of modern with leaders of major investment, trade growing 30 percent in 2017. Boundary Cooperation (ICBC). reated as part of China’s Belt and Kazakhstan has invested $30 railways across Kazakhstan, he financial, industrial, construction, Both heads of state have set a goal of Kazakh officials organised the Road Initiative, with a great poten- billion over the last 10 years in its noted. transport and logistics corporations.
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