Astana Calling #263

Astana Calling

“Employment 2020” Program Delivers Results

Also in the News

Things to Watch

Issue No 263 friday, 27 July 2012 www.mfa.kz

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

Drought Threatens Grain Harvest CNN Eyes Kazakhstan New Trading System For People’s IPO Also in the News

Portrait of Today’s Typical Kazakhstani ASTANA CALLING / ISSUE 263 /1

“Employment 2020” Program Delivers Results The Ministry of Labour and Social Security released figures on July 23 showing that the “Employment 2020” program launched in January 2011 has attracted interest from over 100,000 people across the country. As a result of the program, 46,300 people have received training and close to 75% of these are now in employment.

The program is designed to increase incomes through the promotion of sustainable and productive employment for unemployed, self-employed and low-income citizens in industrial and agricultural businesses as well as in large infrastructure projects generated by the Government’s accelerated industrial-innovative development plan. It is also a key part of Kazakhstan’s “Society of Universal Labour” called for by the President.

Gulshara Abdykalykova, Minister for Labour and Social Security, told a government meeting that around 110,000 participants have signed up with the program since the start of the initiative. 63,000 are aged 29 and under. Around 66% were unemployed, with another 29% registered as independent workers and 4.5% from lowincome groups.

So far the state has spent around 51.7 billion tenge (approx. $345 million) out of an overall budget of 99.7 billion tenge (over $665 million) initially allocated for the program.

The figures also show that close to 60,000 people have sought advice from their regional employment centres in the first six months of 2012. At present, over 49,000 citizens are in training at 442 in-

stitutions nationwide as part of the program’s first stage. A further 21,000 have found work in social organizations and around 11,500 are now in jobs tailored for young people.

The program’s also provides for business development in rural areas and has so far successfully allocated 2,096 microcredit facilities and trained 3,211 people in entrepreneurial skills. Recipients of the microcredit funds have generated 2,684 jobs in villages, mainly in livestock rearing, meat production and the cultivation of vegetables and fruit.

Elena Grineva from Karaganda told BNews.kz how the “Employment 2020” program helped her achieve her ambition as she prepares to open her own hairdressing salon after four years of unemployment. “I studied at Karaganda Lyceum No 19. The teachers were very good. I received a scholarship of 12,600 tenge (approx. $84) and travel money. It is great that these programs exist and that the state gives us such opportunities to make our dreams come true”, she said.

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Drought Threatens Grain Harvest President Nazarbayev has called for increased preparations ahead of this year’s grain harvest after meeting with Minister of Agriculture Assylzhan Mamytbekov on July 23.

Kazakhstan is grappling with the consequences of a drought that has also affected crops in Russia, Ukraine, the US and several European countries.

This year’s extreme conditions have led the Ministry to drop its forecast for the grain harvest from 15.4 million tons to 12.8 million tons. Last year Kazakhstan registered a record harvest of 29.7 million tons.

On average, Kazakhstan consumes around 2.5 million tons of grain. The remainder either goes into storage or is exported to neighbouring Central Asian countries as well as to Iran and Afghanistan. Nevertheless, experts do not expect that this year’s reduced harvest will affect Kazakhstan’s performance as one of the world’s top ten grain exporters.

President Nazarbayev stressed the need to ensure sufficient supplies of fuel and machinery to optimize the harvest. He also called for controls on the price of grain on the domestic market. Grain prices have soared on the international market as harvests in other major exporting countries have been depleted by hot and dry weather conditions. The President also pledged to provide comprehensive assistance to the agricultural sector.

Minister Mamytbekov said that despite the drought weather conditions, the 2012 grain harvest in Kazakhstan will be at a multi-year average with the north of the country and certain areas of the Akmola, Kostanai and Karaganda regions expecting strong yields.

The drought has mainly affected the southern parts of the Kostanai, Akmola, Karaganda and Aktobe regions.

There will no problems supplying the regions with food grains and there will be no increase in the cost of flour and bread, the Minister said.

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New Trading System For People’s IPO Kazakhstan’s stock exchange (KASE) is developing a special trading platform to support the People’s IPO program that will be ready in time for the placement of KazTransOil shares this autumn, KASE said in a press statement on July 23.

KazTransOil, the national oil pipeline operator, will be the first company to offer shares for public sale under the new program.

The new platform is designed to support larger volumes of dealrelated activity. It will also run a comprehensive range of secu-

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rity checks and register each individual bid as applications are received.

In parallel, KASE has developed a specific set of rules for subscribing to shares under the People’s IPO program. “We did considerable additional work to develop this document and it was approved in June by the National Bank’s Committee for the control and supervision of the financial market and financial organizations”, KASE said.

KASE will play a central role in implementing of the People’s IPO program, by book building and recording transactions through a centralised depository.

The IPO program was proposed by President Nazarbayev to enable Kazakhstanis to acquire shares in some of the country’s biggest national companies with the aim of developing Kazakhstan’s stock market.

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CNN Eyes Kazakhstan International broadcaster CNN is showing a series of short documentary clips about Kazakhstan.

“Eye on Kazakhstan” consists of nine mini-features showing Kazakhstan’s development since independence and giving international audiences a flavour of its history and culture. Subjects range from Kazakhstan’s mineral wealth and the construction of Astana to the country’s nomadic musicians and the national game on horseback, the “kokpar”.

Altai Abibullayev, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Caspionet that the aim of the broadcasts was “to show the world how open Kazakhstan is as well as modern and attractive to most investors”.

Interviewed by Caspionet, Clancy says that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, its former republics evolved along different paths. He notes that only a few of them have become confident and are developing like Kazakhstan today.

“Eye on Kazakhstan” is part of the monthly CNN “Eye on” program that showcases influence and innovation in countries around the world. Previous programs have covered among others Georgia, Lebanon, Macedonia, Poland, Thailand, the Philippines and Ukraine.

“Eye on Kazakhstan” can be viewed at http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/eye.on/ Back to Contents

Portrait of Today’s Typical Kazakhstani A group of researchers has painted a picture of today’s typical Kazakhstani, Tengrinews reported on July 19. Aleksey Kulikov, director of the Association of Practising Psychologists, teamed up with sociologist Meruert Makhmutova and economist Serik Akhanov to try to define the traits that characterise the nation’s citizens today.

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Their analysis has revealed that the typical citizen is, above all, young. Kulikov says that Kazakhstanis are competitive because of the relatively limited number of positions and opportunities on offer as a result of the country’s small population. “There are 40 candidates for one position in Europe, but their population is much larger. We have fewer people and, in turn, fewer companies and fewer positions. Everyone has to fight for their job, prove themselves and be careerist”, he says.

Nevertheless, the researchers say that with youth comes a degree of passivity that reflects the reality of a generation looked after and protected by their parents. “Their parents give them a lot and this destroys a person’s motivation to do everything themselves”, Kulikov explains. He notes that this upbringing can have an impact on leadership skills in the work place.

Meruert Makhmutova, director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Issues, points to two polar opposites among Kazakhstan’s youth. On the one hand, “there are those who push carts at the markets and have no clear plans for the future”. At the other end of the spectrum are “those getting a good education at the best Western universities.” Makhmutova says that neither group really knows what the future holds, unlike their parents’ generation that had a predictable and certain path ahead of them from school, to university to the work place. . “There is no predictability these days”, she notes.

Serik Akhanov says that today’s Kazakhstanis are not very economically aware and tend to lack a rational, long-term approach to their personal finances and do not put money aside for a “rainy day”. He points out that the typical young Kazakhstani is not putting money aside for their children’s education.

Akhanov points out that Kazakhstanis are a talented people who

are still living a nomadic lifestyle, albeit metaphorically. “We are in a state of constant change of impressions and constant change of lifestyle. We Kazakhstanis are quite capable of building “popular” capitalism. The most important thing is to work”, he says.

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Also in the news: • Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev to attend the official opening of the Olympic Games in London on July 27. Kazakhstan is fielding 114 athletes in this year’s Summer Olympics and has set an ambitions but achievable target of bringing home three gold medals. The flag bearer is 24 years old wrestler Nurmakhan Tinaliyev, Asian Games gold medalist and twice bronze winner at the World Championships.

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• The Centre for Health Development reports that the number of new-born babies in Astana rose 11.6% in the first half of 2012 compared to the same period last year.

• Kaznex Invest Deputy Director Kairat Karmanov announced that investor advice centers will be set up in each province across the country by the end of the year for investors interested in industrial projects.

• On July 19 Hungarian-based MOL entered into a partnership with Kazmunaigaz E&P (Exploration & Production, the upstream subsidiary of the national company Kazmunaigaz) to develop the North Karpovsky oil and gas block in Kazakhstan. Kazmunaigaz E&P’s CEO, Alik Aidarbayev, commented that MOL was selected for its “good operating experience and good exploration record” (Platts, July 19).

• An updated version of the President’s website was launched on 25 July. The www.akorda.kz site now includes both the President’s official website and Nursultan Nazarbayev’s personal page, as well as modern multimedia features including videos, photographs, audio and articles.

• President Nazarbayev received Prime Minister Karim Massimov on 25 July to discuss the country’s agriculture sector and the implementation of the government’s social modernization programmes.

• Vladmir Shkolnik, CEO of uranium producer Kazatomprom, visited Canada to boost bilateral cooperation Canada’s Cameco.

• The Customs Union internal trade has grown by close to 16%

over the past five months, while its external trade turnover has risen by 10% according to the Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission,Viktor Khristenko.

• According to a recent presidential decree, Bakitzhan Ordabayev will leave his position as permanent representative to the Eurasian Economic Commission to serve as Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Brazil, a function previously filled by the Ambassador to the US. Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to China Nurlan Ermekbayev will also be accredited to Vietnam.

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Things to watch: Building upon the success of last year’s inaugural Kazakh film festival “Kazakhstan: Montage of Cinemas” held in Los Angeles, the Honorary Consulate of Kazakhstan in Los Angeles in cooperation with the Embassy of Kazakhstan will organize the second film festival entitled “Kazakhstan: Montage of Cinemas - Film & Cultural Festival,” which will take place at the Directors Guild of America on Sunset Boulevard on August 3-9. This year’s encore presentation will offer a weeklong celebration of the achievements of Kazakh cinema, which is experiencing a renaissance of creativity and progress parallel to the economic growth of the young Central Asian nation.

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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 263 /6