Astana Calling #261

Astana Calling

Issue No 261 friday, 13 July 2012 www.mfa.kz

A bi-weekly online publication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan

A Common Labour Society as a Basis for Social Modernisation

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Visits Kazakhstan

President Nazarbayev’s article on social modernisation is published

Navanethem Pillay meets Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister and other government officials on July 11-12

Also in the News

Central Asia’s Largest Mosque Opens in Astana Nazarbayev inaugurates new mosque on July 6

Things to Watch

Team Kazakhstan Gears Up for the Olympics National team aims for 13 medals

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A Common Labour Society as a Basis for Social Modernisation

“Social modernization requires a specific approach

In an article on July 10, President Nazarbayev set out his vision for Kazakhstan’s social and economic modernization in today’s rapidly changing world.

In two decades of independence, Kazakhstan has developed a solid base for the building of a social state, narrowing the gap with European countries. But despite rising living standards and stability, welfare remains a major challenge.

President Nazarbayev believes that the pervasive consumer society that has developed since the 1960s is one of the main causes of the global crisis, causing massive social dependence in developed countries.

The President suggests an alternative path, viable for both developing and developed countries: a common labour society. “Ultimately, the world’s values, economic and cultural wealth were created not by virtual financial institutions but by human labour.

Therefore, real productive work should be the foundation of our social modernization policy,” Nazarbayev said.

Outlining his vision, the President said economic and social modernization should go hand in hand. With progress in industry, science and education, with the development of a middle-class and improved social guarantees, Kazakhstan’s citizens will be better prepared to protect their rights and freedoms and improve their level of self-governance.

The goal and essence of social modernization is to find the optimal balance between the country’s accelerated economic development and securing social benefits. Social relations should be based

ery resident of Kazakhstan. Social modernization

aimed at achieving tangible positive changes in the lives of our society, of every Kazakh family and evis not for the state, it should be beneficial to each individual person.”

- Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan on the principles of law and equality.

The President has asked the government and the ruling Nur Otan party to draw up a blueprint for the country’s social development up to 2030 by 1 April 2013.

“Social modernization requires a specific approach aimed at achieving tangible positive changes in the lives of our society, of every Kazakh family and every resident of Kazakhstan. Social modernization is not for the state, it should be beneficial to each individual person,” Nazarbayev noted.

The President emphasised that “endless” injections of money into social issues are not the only solution. He called on his government and party to develop a comprehensive legislative framework and submit it to parliament by late 2012.

“Our young people should not live with illusions. Outside of Kazakhstan is no paradise. We must work hard and fulfil our potential in our native Kazakhstan. The state creates and will continue creating all the conditions to do this,” Nazarbayev said. “We need laws to guarantee employment and social packages for young professionals,” he added.

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President Nazarbayev’s article published on July 10, 2012, was an appeal to all citizens of Kazakhstan

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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Visits Kazakhstan

“Kazakhstan, as Chairman of the Council of

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay began her two-day visit to Kazakhstan on July 11 as part of a Central Asia tour. The visit is the first since Kazakhstan joined the organization.

In Almaty, Navi Pillay met Kazakhstan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Yerzhan Kazykhanov and representatives of civil society and human rights organisations. With the Foreign Minister, she discussed the implementation of Kazakhstan’s human rights commitments and National Human Rights Action Plan, as well as cooperation with the Commissioner’s Regional Office, introduction of a national preventive mechanism against torture, and the implementation of UN human rights recommendations.

On July 12, the High Commissioner had discussions with Prime Minister Karim Massimov, the Ministers of Internal Affairs and of Justice, the Chair of the Constitutional Council, the Prosecutor General, as well as the Ombudsman and other senior officials in Astana.

Minister Kazykhanov thanked the High Commissioner for their meeting in Geneva in February 2012. He noted that since independence, political and economic stability has created conditions for a democratic social order and political liberalization. Kazakhstan has been consistently implementing reforms, guided by the universal international treaties on human rights, he said.

Kazakhstan successfully completed its first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in 2010 and is now working on implementing the recommendations, a demonstration of its openness and transparency towards cooperation on human rights. UN experts have noted Kazakhstan’s efforts to improve its human dimension policy and legal framework.

Kazykhanov highlighted multilateral cooperation as a foreign policy priority for Astana, drawing attention to Kazakhstan’s contri-

ment of the political situation in Syria, as well as

Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, is actively promoting the early settleaddressing humanitarian crises in several countries in the region.”

- Yerzhan Kazykhanov, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs bution to UN efforts. “As the country’s economy is growing, the status of Kazakhstan is changing from the recipient of international aid to donor,” he said.

The Foreign Minister noted that “a balance must be maintained in the Council’s work between the protection of civil and political rights and of economic, social, and cultural rights” calling for improved methods and procedures at the UN Human Rights Council without undue politicization of human rights issues.

Astana shares the international community’s concern over events in several countries of North Africa and the Middle East and supports the High Commissioner and Human Rights Council’s efforts to halt the escalation of violence and provide universal rights and freedoms in these countries, particularly in Syria.

“Kazakhstan, as Chairman of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, is actively promoting the early settlement of the political situation in Syria, as well as addressing humanitarian crises in several countries in the region,” he said.

The High Commissioner and the Minister also discussed Kazakhstan’s candidacy to become a member of the UN Human Rights Council from 2013 to 2015.

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Kazakhstan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yerzhan Kazykhanov (Left) and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay (Right)

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Team Kazakhstan Gears Up for the Olympics Two weeks ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games, Kazakhstan’s 115-strong team is preparing to compete in 24 sports, with two cycling athletes yet to be selected.

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games are scheduled to take place in London from 27 July to 12 August 2012

On July 4, Kazakhstan’s President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, addressed the team’s athletes and coaches: “Our country has always had great results in sports. Last year alone our athletes won 15 medals, including 32 gold medals at the Asian Winter Games.

Your achievements and daily exercise are a powerful testimony to sports and a healthy lifestyle.” He highlighted how athletes can promote Kazakhstan as a country before handing over the national flag to flag-bearer and Greco-Roman wrestling champion Nurmakhan Tynaliyev. Speaking on behalf of the team, Tynaliyev promised they would do their best to live up to the president’s confidence and the confidence of the entire country.

Chair of Kazakhstan’s Sports Agency Talgat Yermegiyaev said on July 5 that Kazakhstan’s national team is aiming to win at least 13 medals, including at least three gold medals. Kazakhstan’s hopes are pinned on weightlifting champions Ilya Ilyin, Maya Maneza, Svetlana Podobedova and Zulfiya Chinshanlo, as well

as on wrestling champions Nurmakhan Tynaliyev and Almat Kebesbayev, judo champions Sergey Lim and Rinat Ibragimov, tennis champions Galina Voskoboeva, Yaroslava Shvedova and Mikhail Kukushkin, and boxers Serik Sapiyev, Daniyar Elieusinov, and Adilbek Niyazymbetov.

The first members of Kazakhstan’s Olympic team will fly to London July 18. The rest will follow according to the competition schedule. A total of about 180 people will travel to London, of which about half are support staff.

Yermegiyaev explained that the team would bring its own food to London. “Some athletes’ stomachs do not easily adjust to different food so we’ll take our own food to the Olympics,” he said.

Olympic medalists can expect cash prizes ranging from $250,000 for 1st place to $5,000 for 6th place.

At the last Olympics in Beijing, Kazakhstan competed in 23 sports, qualifying among others for fencing, water polo, and women’s boxing, which is newly included in the Olympics programme.

The XXX Summer Olympic Games will be held in London from July 27 to August 12. Participants will compete for a total of 302 medals in 39 sports.

According to the Chair of Sports Agency, Talgat Yermegiyaev, Kazakhstan’s national team is aiming to win at least 13 medals, including at least three gold medals.

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Central Asia’s Largest Mosque Opens in Astana President Nursultan Nazarbayev inaugurated Central Asia’s largest mosque on Friday, July 6, in Astana. Named after Hazrat Sultan, the mosque is a visual symbol of the nation’s spirit and culture, and designed as a multifunctional religious and educational center for Kazakhstan’s Muslims.

The Hazrat Sultan Mosque was unveiled on the Astana Day celebrated on July 6

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“Kazakhstan is a multinational country, where people of different religions live in peace and harmony with each other. It is an example of inter-faith tolerance and understanding. This is why the opening of the mosque in Astana is significant for all Kazakhstan’s people,” President Nazarbayev said. He emphasized that peace and compassion are at the heart of every religion, and Islam, like other world religions, is a religion of kindness and peace.

Covering an area of 17,500 square meters, the mosque is topped by a 51-meter central dome and eight smaller domes. It can hold up to 10,000 people during Muslim holidays. Built in a classical Islamic style with traditional Kazakh ornaments, it has three levels: the first is for marriage ceremonies while the second and third are prayer rooms for men and women respectively. Its substantial grounds include a 745-space car park and five decoratively-lit fountains.

The mosque is in Astana’s new square, surrounded by other unique buildings and monuments such as the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, the Palace of Independence, and the Monument “Kazakh Yeli” (“Kazakh Nation”). “It is no accident that we have chosen to build this mosque among other gems of the capital and near the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation,” Nazarbayev said.

Construction of the mosque began in October of 2010. Kairat Zholdybayuly has been appointed head imam.

“It is no accident that we have chosen to build this mosque among other gems of the capital and near the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation.”

- Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan Back to Contents

Also in the News: • Kazakhstan plans to open its third gold refinery by the end of next year, extending its refining capacity to process its entire gold production for supply to the central bank. State mining company Tau Ken Samruk will run the new refinery. Construction began this week in Astana. The plant will have capacity to refine 25 tonnes of gold a year. First deputy Minister for Industry Albert Rau said that “It will handle all of the gold that we currently ship abroad for refining, mainly to Switzerland.”

• First Deputy Prosecutor General Johann Merkel met with Italian Ambassador Alberto Pieri in Astana on July 9. The sides discussed bilateral legal cooperation, in particular legal help during the transfer of convicted offenders between Italy and Kazakhstan.

The parties reiterated interest in further cooperation.

• The 9th meeting of the expert working group of the Sino-Kazakh Cross-Border River Utilization and Protection Commission took place on July 3-9 in Beijing. The parties discussed joint crossborder water management issues, including the implementation of cross-border engineering plans, assessment of water resources of the Irtysh, Ili and Emel river basins, and construction of a joint hydroelectric complex on the Khorgos River.

• Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Warsaw Yerik Utembayev and President of Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency Slawomir Majman discussed bilateral investment cooperation,

including trade and economic, military and technical cooperation between public and private companies from both countries.

• Kazakhstan was elected a full member of the European Organization of Tax Administrations (IOTA) at the annual session of the General Assembly of IOTA in Oslo July 6. Kazakshtan is the only Asian country in IOTA, an exception due to successful reforms of its tax administration.

• Al-Farabi Kazakh National University made it into the list of the world’s top 200 universities according to the QS World University Rankings. Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and Lomonosov Moscow State University are the first universities from CIS countries to feature in the list.

• The first national satellite television channel of Kazakhstan, Caspionet, will be released under the new name KazakhTV in autumn 2012, with expected channel re-branding and number of changes to the format and positioning, interfax reported on July 5.

The national satellite channel KazakhTV (Caspionet) is watched in 93 countries of America, Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East and North Africa.

• Kazakhstan’s cyclist of Team Astana, Dyachenko won the 5th place in the “Tour of Austria.” Dyachenko was behind the winner of the prestigious tour Dan Jakob Fuglsang (RadioShack) by 2 minutes and 16 seconds.

• Kazakhstan’s tennis player Yuri Schukin went into the main draw of the Challenger tournament series in the Netherlands, which will start on July 10. In the final qualifying match Schukin defeated Wesley Kulhofa in two sets 6:4, 7:5. The prize fund equals to EUR 42.5 thousand.

• GrandMaster Sergey Karjakin won the first Official World Blitz and Rapid Chess Championship held in Astana on July 1-11. The winner of the tournament and the world champion in rapid chess scored 11.5 points out of 15. The total prize of the tournament amounted to U.S. $ 300 thousand.

• Three football clubs, “Ordabasy” (Shymkent), “Zhetysu” (Taldykorgan), and “Aktobe” (Aktobe) represented Kazakhstan at the UEFA Europe League cup on July 12. Aktobe successfully passed through the first round in the classic encounter against Torpedo Kutaisi from Georgia, 2-1 on aggregate. Ordabasy finished the job in the first away leg against the Serbian Jagodina by winning 1-0 and draw at home 0-0. Meantime, the team from Taldykorgan lost the game 3-1 on aggregate.

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Things to Watch: • Some 150 in-house lawyers and representatives of the leading legal firms and government bodies of Kazakhstan will gather for the 2nd Legal Forum set to be held in Almaty on September 13-15. The organizer of the event is the Training Attache Ltd. The programme of the event will consist of sections such as the development of law and legal community in Kazakhstan, the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space, the development of law in the Commonwealth of Independent States, and some other. The first forum was held back in 2011.

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ASTANA CALLING is a bi-weekly online publication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Please send your requests and questions to pressa@mfa.kz ASTANA CALLING / ISSUE 261 /5