KazCham

Kazakhstan’s New NGO Law: Facts and Speculation, by Usen Suleimen, Ambassador-at-large of Kazakhstan.

The Diplomat

The growth and strength of civil society in Kazakhstan is one of the clearest symbols of the country’s progress since independence. There are now, according to government figures, well over 30,000 independent civil society groups, which work across a diverse range of issues from providing social and community help to promoting human rights and championing environmental causes.

This growth has been actively encouraged by the government as a vital part of continuing to build a modern, progressive and democratic country. State funding has been provided to support the development of civil society groups and to help them take over increasing roles in the country. Government bodies seek their advice and involvement, locally and nationally, to help improve policy.

With this increasing role, of course, comes increased responsibility and accountability to demonstrate that government money is being used wisely as well as to ensure grants are being given fairly. This becomes even more vital as the Kazakh government continues its drive to devolve more decision-making to local level and to non-state bodies. In recent years, however, there have been examples where NGOs have spent public funds well outside what was intended.

It is against this background that the present piecemeal laws that govern NGOs in Kazakhstan are being streamlined and modernized. This will usher in a new level of transparency into the way government grants are distributed – through the creation of a new non-government body to oversee it – but will also require civil society organizations as well to make public information about their own financing and where and how the money is spent.

This requirement has raised concerns both within Kazakhstan and abroad. Fears have been raised that the intention is to muzzle the work of the NGOs within our country or to prevent them continue to receive support from international bodies or partners. This is simply not the case.

The new law does not change the legal framework for NGOs, increase their requirements to register officially, change their tax-free status or allow the government to interfere in their work. It will continue to be NGOs themselves, which decide how their money should be spent.

The role of the new body to oversee the distribution of central grants – which will be made up of a mix of government officials and representatives from civil society – will be limited. It is not intended to monitor NGOs but instead advise government where its grants should be distributed and make public where government money goes. By bringing this into the open, it will increase public confidence and tackle concerns about favoritism. It can also act as a clearing house for wider donations.

Trend News

Kazakhstan and Afghanistan have discussed the possibilities of intensifying the trade and economic cooperation, Kazakh presidency said.

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Ashraf Ghani touched upon the relevant issues on the international agenda, including the regional security.

Nazarbayev said that his country has always supported Afghanistan in its hard times.

He noted that $20 million worth food products have been delivered to this country from Kazakhstan since 2002 and $50 million was allocated for study of Afghan students in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan will continue to render assistance for ensuring Afghanistan’s development, Nazarbayev added.

Kazakh president pointed out that Afghanistan’s subsoil is rich with mineral resources, while Kazakhstan has specialists who can be involved in geological exploration work.

During the meeting, the two presidents also discussed combating terrorism.

Ghani for his part said that Afghanistan remains committed to its policy of cooperation with Kazakhstan and Central Asian countries in general.

During the official visit of Afghanistan’s president to Kazakhstan, the sides signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in civil defense, emergency management and an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the sphere of culture.

The trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan stood at $336.7 million in 2014, compared to $251.4 million in 2013.

Astana Times

Akim (Mayor) of Astana Mr. Adilbek Dzhaksybekov launched a series of “Smart” projects in July. Smart Astana project includes several directions, such as Smart Clinics, Smart Schools, Smart Street Lighting and Smart Payments.

“In order to avoid queuing, to create comfortable conditions, to regulate the flow of adults and children, as well as to exclude their intersection at the reception and near specialists’ offices, we introduced the Triage System, which allows hospitals to receive visitors depending on the type of their treatment and on the severity of their condition. These passages do not overlap with each other, which is essential for the maintenance of the sanitary-epidemiological status of the facility and for the prevention of the spread of various diseases,” said the head of the Astana Health Department Yerik Baizhunussov.

The innovations will also include the introduction in 2016 of electronic medical records for patients in all medical organizations to eliminate paperwork and increase convenience.

The concept of Smart Astana was created to improve the quality of life of the population of the capital.

Smart Astana was created and is being implemented by Astana Innovations to create conditions and infrastructure to become one of the top 50 Smart cities of the world. All Smart projects are being implemented by investors without the involvement of public funds.

 

Astana Times

The world’s great financial centres of New York, London, and Tokyo have led the way in economic prosperity for decades. But the giants are now facing competition from dozens of smaller, ambitious challengers. Cities in Asia, the Middle East and Africa can increasingly offer investors better access to some of the world’s fastest growing financial markets.

Among the cities moving up the financial ranks, catching up to Dubai, Shanghai and Johannesburg, is Astana.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev clearly sees the city’s potential. At the Astana Economic Forum (AEF) earlier this year, he announced his plan to create the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), an ambitious project to cement Kazakhstan’s position as a leading centre for finance.

The AIFC has a number of objectives. It will attract foreign investment, open up the Kazakh banking sector and make it easier for insurance companies and Islamic finance institutions to do business. It will attract world leaders in financial services, which in turn will promote best practices in Kazakhstan. It can be expected that the AIFC will boost Kazakhstan’s economic stability and help the country along the path to becoming a top 30 global economy by 2050.

The AIFC will launch against the backdrop of challenges affecting countries throughout Eurasia. President Nazarbayev has spoken of three such challenges: uncertainty and conflict in Europe and the Middle East, climate change and food security. The nature of such threats demands cooperation between nations and action from international institutions, such as the United Nations. But the Kazakh President is clear: Kazakhstan can help mitigate these threats to its own future by taking action now. That means diversifying the economy and tapping into new financial opportunities. The AIFC can play a role in both.

Set to officially launch on Jan. 1, 2018, the AIFC will use the innovative infrastructure already built for EXPO-2017. It will be modelled on Dubai’s own financial center. Like Dubai, the AIFC will feature a financial court with international judges and a legal framework based on the principles of English law. English will also be used in official documentation and court proceedings. This will reassure investors and promote transparency and best practices.

The new center will see the National Bank and the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange relocating from Almaty to Astana. The President has also proposed listing the five most successful companies in the Samruk Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund on the stock exchange. Both these measures will offer new opportunities to investors and boost growth for Kazakhstan.

The center represents an unprecedented opportunity for Kazakhstan to strengthen its economy and attract world class international investment. The AIFC can only be seen as a significant step forward in turning Astana into the financial capital of Central Asia.

In September Kazakh Deputy Chairman of the Public Service and Anti-Corruption Agency Alik Shpekbayev visited Washington D.C. During his visit Mr. Shpekbayev met with Deputy Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division of the FBI Timothy Delaney.

The two officials discussed white collar corruption crimes as well as Kazakh and foreign anti-corruption programs. The FBI representative said that the Bureau was capable of tracking dollars leaving Kazakhstan regardless of their destination.

During his meetings at the FBI’s and the US Department of Justice, Alik Shpekbayev spoke about the recent developments in the anti-corruption system of Kazakhstan, especially in the areas where government officials interact with the population and companies.

The American partners praised the comprehensive approach of Kazakhstan to molding its anti-corruption system and noted that anti-corruption measures of both countries were similar.

They expressed interest in deepening the bilateral strategic partnership through exchange of experience and information, coordination of investigations in both countries and establishing education programs. Furthermore, the American side expressed its willingness to provide training to the staff of Kazakhstan’s anti-corruption agency.

Deputy Chairman of the Kazakh Anti-Corruption Agency also agreed to start bilateral consultations that Kazakhstan and the United States agreed upon back in February 2015 when the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty was signed.

Astana Times

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a visit to Kazakhstan on October 15 at the invitation of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The two leaders met in eye-to-eye and extended-format sessions. Nazarbayev noted that he and Putin regularly “coordinate positions” and try to quickly find solutions to issues of bilateral relations in various areas of cooperation.

Putin said there is no need to categories Russian-Kazakh relations.

“It is not just a trustworthy partnership, but it is also a friendly relationship in every sense of the word. Kazakhstan is one of our largest trading partners. Today, almost 6,000 Russian companies are working in Kazakhstan. A large amount of investment has been accumulated in dollar equivalents. Your brainchild, the Eurasian Economic Union, is actively developing and creating conditions for the effective development of our economies. We see that many of our partners are willing to cooperate with the EAEU in different formats,” he emphasized.

A number of agreements were signed during the extended meeting. The documents included the amendments to a 1998 agreement between Kazakhstan and Russia on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea that would help the two governments exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use and proceed with joint exploitation of the Tsentralnoye and Hvalynskoye oil deposits.

The presidents exchanged views on cooperation between Moscow and Astana in the framework of the EAEU, as well as touched upon the situation in Syria and Ukraine. Particular attention was paid to building up trade and economic cooperation.

The meeting also provided an opportunity for Kazakhstan and Russia to voice their opinions on the most important problems of the international agenda.

“We discussed the implementation of the Minsk agreements and the issues of building up interaction within the framework of global and regional organizations, including [responsibility for providing] stability and security in the Central Asian region. For this matter, the situation in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq is important. Together, we discussed the current situation in the region. Today, we hear active speculation around the confrontation between the Shia and Sunnis; however, these talks have nothing to do with reality. The current situation in Syria is a common threat for all of us, especially for Central Asia. In this regard, we support the idea of the forum on Islam against terrorism,” said the Kazakh President.

The head of state expressed confidence that the arrangements reached will serve to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries on a range of interaction in the spirit of friendship and mutually beneficial partnership. In turn, the Russian President described negotiations as very “constructive” and “fruitful.”

“Traditionally, the negotiations went smoothly and in a friendly atmosphere. We exchanged views in all areas of bilateral relations, focusing on such areas as trade, investment, energy, transport, space and peaceful use of nuclear energy,” he said.

The Russian President touched upon key areas of cooperation between the two countries and specific projects implemented together. The Russian-Kazakh intergovernmental commission is called upon to give additional impetus to the expansion of cooperation in the trade and economic sphere, which will take place before the end of this year, he said.

“During the talks, we discussed the keys to regional and world problems. We have informed [President] Nazarbayev on the main outcomes of the meeting of the Normandy Four in Paris, as well as on the situation in Syria,” he said.

The Russian President also expressed support for his Kazakh counterpart’s initiative to join efforts by all countries, especially those where the population confesses Islam, in the fight against terrorism.

Astana Times

Some might say this barren spot on the border between Kazakhstan and China is in the middle of nowhere. And they would be forgiven, for there were only a handful of people and cars spotted along the 300-km, five-hour train ride from Almaty to the nearby Altynkol station (that is, once you get out of the heavily-populated 40-50 km radius around Almaty beyond Zhetygen).

Others, like Belgian-born Karl Gheysen, Director General of KTZE–Khorgos Gateway, who is in charged with developing the place into a modern transport and logistics hub, call it “the new Dubai.”

It is the term Gheysen, who comes from Dubai Port World, the world’s third-largest container handler hired by Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) national railway company to help it develop the hub, used again and again during the Oct. 19 presentation arranged on the spot for visiting foreign ambassadors and reporters.

“The story of Khorgos today is the story of Dubai some twenty years ago: back then, it was a small fishing port which then grew into what it is today because of the development of the shipping industry,” Gheysen told the visitors. “This is what is already happening here at Khorgos.”

Speaking to a packed hall of approximately 50 ambassadors and senior diplomats from different countries, as well as about 50 foreign and local reporters, Gheysen brought up a simple real-life example to show how shipping across Eurasia, not around it, is fast becoming much quicker and more profitable.

According to Gheysen, a Japanese car manufacturer producing cars in Japan chose to import cars into Kazakhstan. To ship them, the manufacturer loaded them on a ship in Japan which then sailed all the way under India, through the Suez Canal, through the Mediterranean, through Gibraltar, around Western Europe, past England and into the North Sea followed by the Baltic Sea. Once in Finland, the cars were taken ashore, loaded onto trains and shipped to Moscow. There they were handled, checked through customs, etc., before being loaded onto trains to be shipped to Kazakhstan. He declined to give numbers as to how much such a lengthy trip costs in terms of money and time, but he was keen to stress that shipping the cargo across China into Kazakhstan directly by train would take only five days and surely be more cost effective.

It is exactly this kind of container traffic that the Kazakh officials and managers at KTZ are aiming to attract with the development of the city as the critical milestone along the newly-revived Great Silk Road. Their feelings are mirrored by the Chinese, as all the developments are being done through the agreements between the two countries.

Both Astana and Beijing view the city as a key transit hub for handling cargo between China and Europe under China’s New Silk Road strategy, which aims to rebuild trade links across Eurasia. It fits perfectly well with Kazakhstan’s own Nurly Zhol infrastructure development program announced a year ago by President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Kazakhstan’s accession to the World Trade Organization, which is set to be effective this year, and its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union with its focus on the freedom of movement of goods and services, also bode well for the plans to develop Khorgos into a major hub in the heart of Eurasia.

Linking together the newly built Zhetygen–Khorgos railway line, the Western Europe-Western China road corridor and the Aktau port on the Caspian Sea, Khorgos–Eastern Gate special economic zone (SEZ) is seen as an important center for the consolidation and distribution of cargo flows along the New Silk Road and is expected to further Kazakhstan’s integration into the world transport and trade system.

KTZ took control of the development of Khorgos in mid-2011. Since then, numerous international agreements have been signed to develop the place and its various facilities. On Oct. 19 by KTZ Vice President Kanat Alpysbayev, the Kazakh government and the railroad invested in the range of $500 million to develop the Khorgos-related infrastructure, including for the construction of the Zhetygen-Khorgos rail line commissioned in 2011-2012.

Gheysen said the loading facilities at the so-called Dry Port KTZE-Khorgos Gateway, the first of its kind in Kazakhstan, offer an effective and economical option for transporting goods through the New Silk Road. Agreements have already been signed with companies such as Hewlett Packard (HP), Toyota, FESCO, DBSchenker and Bravis to compose container trains that will go through the Altynkol station and be handled by the Khorgos-Eastern Gate SEZ. Overall, Gheysen said around 25 companies “from all over Europe” have already signed agreements or memoranda of understanding with the zone’s developers willing to use this new route for delivery of their goods.

Sanzhar Elubayev, President of KTZExpress, a KTZ subsidiary, also stated at the presentation of the Khorgos International Cross-Border Cooperation Centre (ICBCC).

The ICBCC project opens up additional opportunities for expansion of international trade and the development of the tourism industry with the formation of the territory of the visa-free regime, attracting business community, tourists from near and far abroad, he said. At present, citizens of both countries can visit Khorgos ICBCC visa-free for up to 30 days at a time and there are no limits on the number of such visits. They can buy at ICBBC and duty-free import 1,500 euros ($1703.10) worth of goods weighing less than 50 kilograms to their own country.

Under this program, five investment projects to build export and import trade operations have been launched and 10 more projects are under consideration, said Elubayev in his presentation. The total volume of investment projects in the first phase is $300 million, he explained, and potential investors are welcome.

KTZ expects traffic volume between the Far East and Europe to reach around 170 million tons by 2020, also said Alpysbayev. He explained that the plan is to position the city to capture around 10 percent of trade between the Far East and Europe and added that the newly created infrastructure would allow shipping up to 40 million tons of cargo annually.

Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov also highlighted that “Kazakhstan has been advocating for abandoning the philosophy of the Great Game and embracing the philosophy of the Great Gain for all. The strengthening of Kazakhstan’s role as a bridge between Asia and Europe is in our raw economic interest and initiatives such as the Silk Road Economic Belt will create a wealth of opportunities in the region and beyond. We are convinced that the development of trade and transportation links in the region has enough room to satisfy the interests and benefit all – Russia, China, the West, and, obviously, Kazakhstan.”

Kazinform

On the 12th of November Astana will host the biggest tech conference in Central Asia TechConnect.Tech.

According to JSC “National agency for technological development”, it will bring together over 150 investors, 100 founders of startups and nearly 1500 guests from Central Asia, the U.S., Europe and the CIS. Taking the floor will be 20 world experts in venture investments and innovation.

“This year Kazakhstan will host for the first time the global innovative congress in a new format. Hundreds of young innovators, startup founders and entrepreneurs from all corners of the world and Kazakhstan are expected to attend. They will show their ideas to foreign investors, venture capital funds and business angels. IT experts will deliver lectures on the global trends of innovations development on the sidelines of the congress,” Vice Chairman of the agency Zhumatai Salimov said.

Participants of the congress will have a chance to meet with members of the Kazakh Government, heads of large companies and IT entrepreneurs from Europe and the CIS member countries.

Vestnik Kavkaza

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev said at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in New York that his country supports the measures being taken by the international community – the UN, the League of Arab States, the United States and Russia, as well as the actions of the Syrian authorities and the opposition. Then he had a meeting with US President Barack Obama, after which White House spokesman Josh Ernest called Kazakhstan “a particularly important partner”.

Nursultan Nazarbayev expressed satisfaction with the fact that “the Russian President and the President of the United States have met to discuss sensitive issues.”

In addition to discussing the ‘Russian theme’, Nazarbayev and Obama “stressed the importance of the Kazakh-US partnership to ensure development, stability and security in the region.” There are more than 300 US-Kazakh joint ventures in Kazakhstan. Astana is interested in further development of cooperation and the active participation of US companies in the program of industrial-innovative development. The two leaders also “exchanged views on topical issues of the international agenda.”

The increased interest of Washington in Astana is no coincidence. As the Director of the Analytical Center of the Institute of International Studies Andrey Kazantsev told Vestnik Kavkaza, Kazakhstan is important for the United States for three reasons. One reason is related to the relations with Russia, the second with the US policy towards Afghanistan, the third with China. “Kazakhstan is presenting itself quite successfully and it is perceived by the West as one of the mediators in relations with Moscow. And it needs intermediaries, since mutual trust between the Russian and Western political elites has been lost. And there are fewer and fewer such intermediaries now. According to him, Nazarbayev can find common ground with Putin, he is the initiator of Eurasian integration. On the other hand, as a part of its multi-vector policy, Kazakhstan has good relations with the West too, Astana pays a great attention to the construction of the liberal economic rules in the country, successfully attracting Western investment.

According to the expert, “the West perceives Nazarbayev’s Kazakhstan as ‘an island of stability and predictability’ in Central Asia”.

Embassy of Kazakhstan in the US

General

•  Kazakhstan has been independent since 1991.Astana has been the capital since 1997.
• Since independence GDP has increased 16 fold. According to the International Monetary Fund, Kazakhstan ranks in the top 10 fastest growing countries.
• Kazakhstan is a regional leader in terms of economic reform, openness to international trade, investment and political stability. In the World Bank’s Doing Business Report Kazakhstan comes 77th out of 189 economies.
• Kazakhstan has joined the World Trade Organization this year, which should help develop the manufacturing and service sector base.
• Kazakhstan is known for the richness of its resources; it is among the top ten producers of oil and gas, the fifth biggest exporter of wheat – and the biggest exporter of uranium.
• Kazakhstan is one of the most diverse countries on earth, with over 130 different ethnic groups and 17 religious denominations living harmoniously there.

Kazakhstan’s efforts to promote nuclear security and non-proliferation

• On independence, Kazakhstan voluntarily renounced the world’s fourth biggest nuclear arsenal, which it inherited from the Soviet Union. Since then Kazakhstan has been a vocal supporter of nuclear arms control.
• On 27 August the government of Kazakhstan will sign an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to establish an international low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel bank in the country in 2017.
• Kazakhstan believes its decision to relinquish nuclear weapons can serve as a useful example for other states. It has used its close diplomatic relations with the Government of Iran to urge its near neighbour to follow its lead and swear off nuclear arms. In 2013 Kazakhstan hosted two rounds of nuclear talks between the P5+1 and Iran.
• According to the annex to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran may choose to sell its excess enriched uranium to the IAEA LEU bank in Kazakhstan when it becomes operational.
• Kazakhstan is a party to START-I, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The country signed an Additional Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in February 2004 and is a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
• In December 2009, the UN General Assembly unanimously accepted a resolution put forward by Kazakhstan proclaiming August 29, the day when in 1991 President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree on the closure of Semipalatinsk Test Site, as the ‘International Day against Nuclear Tests’.

International cooperation

• Since independence, Kazakhstan has played a constructive role in regional and international security.
• The rebuilding of Afghanistan is a major priority for Kazakhstan. The country has provided humanitarian aid, more than 1,000 student scholarships, and training programmes for the police.
• Kazakhstan is bidding to join the UN Security Council for 2017-2018 as a non-permanent member.
• Kazakhstan is increasingly playing a more active role as an international donor. The government has decided to formalise this by establishing an international development organisation called KazAid.