-16° / -22°C WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016 No 3 (93) www.astanatimes.com Kazakh President: Central Asia Should Kazakh-Turkish Remain a Region of Cooperation Bilateral Relations that Kazakhstan will strengthen its By Aiman Turebekova strategic partnership with Russia, China, the United States, the Eu- ASTANA – During the Nur Otan ropean Union, the Commonwealth Discussed in Astana Party’s 17th congress on Jan. 29, of Independent States and its Cen- President Nursultan Nazarbayev tral Asian neighbours. placed great emphasis on the sta- Moreover, Nazarbayev high- bility of Central Asia necessary to lighted that nowadays in the age pursue peace and security. of new threats to security, the “Kazakhstan once again calls on country calls on the international its Central Asian neighbours to re- community to restore global con- sume multilateral cooperation for- fidence. mats. This will strengthen the eco- “We urge all countries to unite nomic and geopolitical potentials in order to eliminate threats of of the entire region. We will do the spread and improvement of everything possible to strengthen weapons of mass destruction and the process of Eurasian integra- international terrorism. This has tion. I would unequivocally say to be done today so that tomor- that the Nur Otan party has posi- row our children and grandchil- tioned itself as a party of Eurasian dren could live in peace,” added optimists,” said the Kazakh Presi- the President. dent. President Nursultan Nazarbayev speaks at the 17th congress of Nur Otan Party. Nazarbayev set March 20 as the Nazarbayev also noted that in date for the early parliamentary By Aiman Turebekova geopolitical tensions around Tur- the framework of the Eurasian gramme for creation of enterprises The head of state recalled the election. The previous parliamen- key has an impact on Kazakhstan. Economic Union, it is important with Chinese capital in chemical, signing by Kazakhstan of agree- tary election in January 2012 led ASTANA – The main directions “Today, it is necessary to continue to implement consistent steps to metallurgical, energy and transport ments on enhanced partnership to the three-party Mazhilis (lower of bilateral cooperation, such as the search for new ways out of the establish a common market. industries as well as mechanical and cooperation with the European house of Parliament) with the rul- strengthening political dialogue prevailing situation. Many of the “Kazakhstan will take part in engineering. Kazakhstan initiated Union (EU) and its accession to the ing Nur Otan party holding the and a cultural exchange, devel- causes of the events remain unclear. China’s Silk Road Economic Belt. a new large-scale idea to open World Trade Organisation (WTO). overwhelming majority out of opment of relations in the field The conflicts in Syria and Iraq have We have already signed a joint pro- Eurasia,” said the President. He also drew attention to the fact 107 seats. of transport, energy, tourism and shown a lack of unity among Mus- infrastructure were discussed dur- lims. We have become closer to a ing Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet time of a conflict between Sunnis Davutoğlu official visit to Kazakh- and Shiites, which was earlier pre- stan on Feb. 6, the Akorda press dicted by the West. The crisis in office reported. relations between Turkey and Rus- Kazakh Economy Improves Ranking Kazakh President Nursultan sia has become a big concern for Nazarbayev noted that this visit Kazakhstan. The two countries are shows the importance of Turkey our important allies and partners,” for Kazakhstan’s foreign policy. highlighted the Kazakh President. on Index of Economic Freedom “This year, Kazakhstan will cel- In turn, Davutoğlu maintained need for economy diversification and remains unsolved. Local content re- from corruption, fiscal freedom, ebrate the 25th anniversary of its that he always regards trips to Ka- By Julia Rutz the reduction of its dependence on ex- quirements and sectoral barriers im- control of government spending, independence. From the first days zakhstan as coming to his home. ports. Moreover, the study highlighted pede foreign investment and the num- business freedom, labour freedom, of our sovereignty, we have been He congratulated Kazakhstan on Kazakhstan climbed one place four further problem zones of the Ka- ber of non-performing loans in three monetary freedom, trade freedom, making every effort to bring closer its 25th anniversary of independ- from last year’s position in the zakh economy: the rule of law, limited largest banks remains high. investment freedom and financial our fraternal peoples. By work- ence and praised Nazarbayev for annual ranking of the Index of government, regulatory efficiency and At 68th, this year Kazakhstan freedom. Kazakhstan has partici- ing closely over the years with the his contribution to the strengthen- Economic Freedom, reported the open markets. is ranked between Thailand and pated in the ranking since 1997. leadership of your country, we have ing of bilateral relations. Washington-based Heritage Foun- Concerning the rule of law, the the State of Samoa. The country The Index of Economic Freedom restored ties between Kazakhstan “Relations between Kazakh- dation. In the global ranking, the study marks a high level of corrup- has left behind such countries as is the annual measure of economic and Turkey. I became an initiator of stan and Turkey are intensively Central Asia’s largest economy is tion at all levels of government, as France (75th), Saudi Arabia (78th), freedom around the world. It is pub- the Cooperation Council of Turkic- developing in all directions. We 68th out of 178, while in the Asia- well as throughout the judicial sys- Italy (86th), Brazil (122nd), China lished jointly by The Heritage Foun- Speaking States. There is a Turkic have implemented joint projects in Pacific region Kazakhstan is in tem. More successful government (144th), Russia (153th), Belarus dation and The Wall Street Journal. Academy in Astana, where scien- transport, energy and other fields. 12th place. is needed to improve the pubic (157th) and Ukraine (162nd). In 2014, the ranking marked its 20th tists are exploring common culture And trade relations have been The current status of Kazakhstan dept, which now composes about The ranking’s leaders remain anniversary of existence. and history of both countries. The strengthening. If Turkey is a gate- was evaluated as a country with a 15 percent of GDP. This is espe- the same as in the previous year – According to Ryan Olson, a re- value of Turkey is very large for Ka- way for Kazakhstan to Europe, moderately free economy. Among cially vital in the current situation Hong Kong, Singapore and New search assistant in the Centre for In- zakhstan, and we will never give up Kazakhstan for Turkey is the way our cooperation,” said Nazarbayev. major achievements named were when large oil revenues can’t keep Zealand. The top ten of world free ternational Trade and Economics at to Eurasia,” Davutoğlu said during He also emphasised that growing trade freedom and management of the budget balanced any longer. economies also included Australia, The Heritage Foundation, the Index his talks with Nazarbayev. public finance. According to the report, Kazakh- Switzerland, Canada, Chile, Ire- has the potential to be a vital tool According to the authors of the stan also has burdensome licensing land, Estonia and Great Britain. for a large constituency, from inves- study, the Kazakh government prom- requirements for running a business, The Index of Economic Free- tors to students to policymakers and ised large-scale privatisation reforms as well as erratic enforcement of the dom is calculated on the basis of beyond. With the help of this tool, in the coming years, however, the labour code. Despite the fact that ten factors ranked on a numeric individuals can improve their busi- EBRD Advises implementation progress of these re- Kazakhstan became the 162nd mem- scale from zero to 100. The prin- nesses, advocate good public poli- forms is not obvious yet. The coun- ber of the World Trade Organisation ciples of economic freedom in- cies and help build a society where try’s significant problems remain the in 2015, the matter of open markets clude property rights, freedom freedom and prosperity flourish. Kazakhstan to Nazarbayev Urges Intensification Focus on Preparing of Foreign Economic Activities for Better Times zakhstan’s Foreign Ministry and Akhmetzhan Yessimov and the highly appreciated the contribution ing a difficult external environment By Kamila Zhumabayeva By Aiman Turebekova its missions abroad at an extended Kazakh ambassadors in more than of the diplomats and expressed in the form of declining prices for board meeting on Feb. 3. 60 countries joined the meeting. gratitude for their work aimed at gold, lead, copper, aluminium and ASTANA – President Nursultan Foreign Minister Erlan Idriss- The head of state recalled that the strengthening the independence of ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s eco- gas; the difficult economic outlook Nazarbayev placed great empha- ov, Minister of Investment and ministry was created a quarter-cen- the state and developing the foreign nomic growth rates will remain in Russia such as continued reces- sis on strengthening the economic Development Asset Issekeshev, tury ago when the country was un- policy of the country. low and the impact of the nega- sion and a collapsing rouble that component in the work of Ka- Chairman of Astana EXPO 2017 der difficult conditions. Nazarbayev Continued on Page A3 tive environment is intensifying has lost half its value since 2014 while structural reforms are slowly and is continuing to fall as well as advancing, according to a recent challenges in China involving the analysis by the European Bank for slowdown of the country’s eco- Reconstruction and Development nomic growth and currency weak- (EBRD). The projections for the ening of a 6-percent depreciation country’s economic condition in against the dollar since the begin- 2016 were reviewed in the EBRD ning of 2016.