Twenty-two years have passed since the Constitutional Law "On the State Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan" was adopted.
Reflecting on that solemn moment of December 16, 1991, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said: "We have implemented a great mission - we pioneered Independence.Time flies. Today, we look at the events that occurred right after the birth of independent Kazakhstan as something receding into eternal history."
"Our judgements about that time are based on their comparison with current great achievements. Twenty-two years ago, we could only dream of raising our economy. And this year, Kazakhstan is among the 50 most competitive countries in the world," he added.
A year ago, the President called his state-of-the-nation address "Strategy "Kazakhstan- 2050" - a new policy of the established state".
The year 2013 was the first year of implementation of the new "Kazakhstan -2050" strategy adopted to continue the "Kazakhstan -2030" strategy.
The main objective of the strategy is to join the world's 30 most developed countries and their progress on the basis of innovation.
The departing year has shown a fairly high stability of the economy of Kazakhstan on the back of volatility of world markets. Currently, many states are forced to cut social spending, and the unemployment rises. These are signs of the global crisis, which threaten to undermine the standards of quality of life even in the most developed countries.
In general, the socio-economic situation in Kazakhstan is favorable compared to what is happening in most countries. The population has increased by 215 000 people, reaching 17125000 as on November 1, 2013.
Gross Domestic product (GDP) for the first 11 months of this year has increased by six per cent in real terms. Short-term economic indicator in January - November 2013 compared to January- November 2012 amounted to 105.1 percent.
Investment in fixed assets between January and November 2013 was five trillion 182.1 billion tenge, which in real terms is 8.7 percent more year-on-year.
The volume of industrial production for the 11 months made 16 trillion 477.2 billion tenge in current prices, in real terms by 2.3 percent more than in January-November 2012. Within the framework of the state program of advanced industrial -innovative development, over 250 new products appeared in the country. These are high-tech engineering products, pharmaceuticals, chemical products.
The gross output of agriculture in January-November 2013 was 2 trillion 308 billion tenge, which in real terms is by 10.9 per cent more than in the same period of the last year.
Per capita nominal income of the population in October 2013 was equal to 55 135 tenge, which is 5.1 percent higher than in October 2012, real incomes for the period under review increased by 0.2 percent.
Index of real wages in November 2012 amounted to 101.6 percent. The unemployment rate fell from 5.8 per cent of the economically active population in the beginning of the year down to 5.2 per cent in
November.
If we consider all the changes that have occurred over 22 years of Independence, it may be noted that the country's population has increased by 4.1 percent, which is a good indicator, especially if we
take into account a large number of residents who fled Kazakhstan in the first years after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
More than six million people were born during the years of independence and the natural increase over this time is about three million people.
Average monthly nominal wages per employee increased from 128 tenge (U.S. $ 24 ) in 1993 to 106 092 tenge (U.S. $ 698 ) in January-November 2013. The unemployment rate for the period in question has decreased by almost 2.1 times.
The level of GDP in 2013 in real terms is twice as high as that in 1991 - it has doubled to 206.9 percent. According to forecasts, the per capita GDP in 2013 will be about 13 000 USD.
Between 1991 and January - November 2013, the volume of investments in fixed assets amounted to 44.7 trillion tenge. Investment in fixed assets is largely due to the creation of a favorable investment climate and is the basis for economic growth.
Implementation of government housing programs provided a steady growth rate of housing construction. Investments made annually in housing construction in the last ten years has increased by almost seven times.
With each passing year, Kazakhstan improves its position in competitive rankings. For example, in 2012, Kazakhstan was in 51st place in the ranking of the World Economic Forum, it took our country just a year to rise 21 ranks up.
And this year, Standard and Poor's affirmed the long-term sovereign rating of Kazakhstan at BBB +/ A-2 with "stable" outlook.
This year, in Kazakhstan, as part of work on a new model of public service, the "A" category of public servants was created. At the same time, the number of political civil servants decreased by 7.5 times.
In the central state bodies, 15 percent of top managers have been replaced.
A reform of local government has been conducted, during which 2 500 local mayors were elected, i.e. 91 percent of all the country's mayors. Rural administrations have been delegated 67 public functions and their powers were expanded. This is how provisions of the Constitution are implemented on more extensive involvement of the population in public administration at the local level.
A pension reform was initiated, which provides for additional guarantees of the growth of pension savings in Kazakhstan.
This year, we began the work on preparation for the exhibition EXPO 2017 in Astana. In December, the headquarters of the International Exhibitions Bureau in Paris saw an official handover ceremony of the registration dossier of the exhibition for consideration of the member countries.
In late November, at a forum of Alumni of Presidential Scholarship "Bolashak", the President handed the 10 000th scholarship-awarding certificate. All its fellows are trained at the world's leading universities. Thanks to "Bolashak", the so-called "social elevator" for talented Kazakh youth was created. All these young people studyingat the world's scientific and educational centers have been forming the country's new generation of scientists, educators and managers.
In the "Kazakhstan- 2050" Strategy President Nursultan Nazarbayev outlined new long-term challenges. "Nur Otan" as the President's support has adopted a new doctrine, which says: "The fundamental value of our country is Independence. The country's present success has only become possible thanks to independence. To us, Independence is a cornerstone." The party aired its core values, which are human rights, freedom, solidarity, justice, rule of law, family and tradition, aspiration for the better future.
Kazakhstan's international image is growing. Last December, in Guinea, the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation resolved to establish Islamic food security organization, the idea of which was proposed by President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
This year, Kazakhstan has made a great contribution to the progress in negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, thereby further enhancing its credibility in the international arena.
