President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s Annual State of the Nation Address

Overview

On 1 September, 2021, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev delivered his annual State of the Nation Address and announced a number of initiatives focused on the post-pandemic development of the nation. The reforms include increasing the efficiency of the healthcare system, providing quality education, improving regional policy, creating an effective ecosystem in the labour market, political modernisation, protecting human rights and consolidating society.

Key initiatives announced by President Tokayev

• Kazakhstan must achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
• In the field of energy, the government and the National Welfare Fund Samruk-Kazyna should within a year study the possibility of production of civil nuclear energy in the country.
• Kazakhstan should become a digital hub in Eurasia. In this regard, at least 100,000 IT specialists will be trained. In addition, residents should receive 100% of government services from smartphones.

Key domestic reforms proposed by President Tokayev

The President stressed that the well-being of the people of Kazakhstan is his main goal as the Head of State. To achieve this goal, he launched the following key initiatives.

• Increase the minimum wage from January 1, 2022, by 150%. This measure will positively impact more than one million people, as well as all employees indirectly.
• Increase the wage bill and reduce the burden on it. The Government has been instructed to develop measures to encourage businesses to increase the wages of their employees. Benefits through regulated purchases and preferential access to state support will be provided to employers who raise salaries of their employees. The President proposed to introduce a single payment from the wage bill for micro and small businesses with a decrease in the total load from 34% to 25%. This will stimulate businesses to “bring out of the shadows” thousands of employees who can become full-fledged participants in the pension, social and health insurance systems.
• Increase the wages of employees working in specific public sector jobs by 20% p.a. from 2022 to 2025 (employees of cultural institutions, libraries, etc.). Approximately 600,000 will be positively impacted by the implementation of this initiative.
• Allow the transfer of a part of pension savings to the Otbasy Bank designed to help residents improve their housing conditions. This will stimulate the habit of accumulating funds, and managing them wisely.

Additional measures and instructions announced by the President of Kazakhstan

• Purchase COVID-19 vaccines registered by the World Health Organisation. It is also necessary to prepare the entire health care system for the transition to regular vaccinations against COVID-19.
• A National Biosafety Forecasting System of Kazakhstan should be established.
• Cooperation with global pharmaceutical corporations should be intensified. It is important to attract investors, to ensure the transfer of technologies and the latest developments. The share of medicines and medical devices of domestic production must be increased from the existing 17 to 50% by 2025.
• In the field of education, 1,000 new schools should be built by 2025 to deal with the deficit of places for schoolchildren.
• New quotas will be introduced for citizens with special needs to ensure their better representation in social and political life.
• Ensure security of lawyers and human rights defenders and preventing illegal impediments to their activities.
• A Fund for the support of creative industries will be established to promote talented youth in new forms of arts.
• Increase the area of land for the production of fodder caused by global climate change which affected the livestock breeding sector.
• Establishment of a National Geological Service to provide comprehensive data and support to investors.
• Direct regional election of district mayors from 2024 following the nationwide election of mayors of rural areas for the first time.
• In view of the situation in Afghanistan, strengthening defense capability and increasing the responsiveness to threats should become priorities of national importance.

Overall, in his annual State of the Nation Address, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced a range of new key initiatives focused on the improvement of welfare of citizens, further democratisation of the country’s political system and protection of human rights in line with the “Listening State” concept.