Official Statements:

"12 years of sustainable development,
peaceful coexistence"

The Japan Times on August 30, 2007

First of all, allow me to convey my cordial greetings to Their Imperial Majesties Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, members of Imperial family, the government and the friendly people of Japan.

“We, the people of Kazakhstan, united by a common historic fate, creating a state on the indigenous Kazakh land, considering ourselves a peace-loving and civil society, dedicated to the ideals of freedom, equality and concord, wishing to take a worthy place in the world community, realizing our high responsibility before the present and future generations…”.

These words open our Constitution, which was passed in a nationwide referendum on Aug. 30, 1995. With this historic decision our people laid the foundation for development of a democratic, secular, legal and social state whose highest values are an individual, his life, rights and freedoms.

Our Constitution has not just been the supreme law but also a living force in our life as it is enshrined in our hearts and minds.

This fundamental document truly guarantees to our citizens freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion and conscience, and freedom of assembly. These basic principles are hailed by the people as the foundation of democratic government and of the rule of law. The Constitution sets up a system of internal checks and balances which may seem cumbersome to us at times, but which succeeds in preventing any part of the Government from having absolute power.

Since that day 12 years ago we have come a very long way and undergone dramatic changes that came at a rapid pace.  Kazakhstan has become a success story among newly independent countries. We did so because of the strong political will and determination of President Nursultan Nazarbayev to pursue liberal reforms, first of all in the economic area, to build a solid basis for democracy and civil institutions. We did so because of the tireless efforts of our people to accomplish this unique mission.

There are still many challenges that remain and there are still a lot of things to be done in order to have Kazakhstan live up to the great promise it has established for itself.

Yet today we have every right to be proud. Our country has become a full-fledged and responsible member of the international community, contributing to maintaining geopolitical stability and international security in the region. We have been pursuing a well-balanced and multilateral policy based on our long-term national interests, and aimed at the development of friendly, stable and predictable relations with all neighboring countries.

We have been firmly committed to a more secure world. We voluntarily renounced the world’s fourth-largest nuclear arsenal, acceded to major nonproliferation treaties, set up the Central Asia Nuclear Free Zone. We have established strong strategic partnerships with all major powers, including Russia, China and the United States, while developing cooperation with the CIS, the European Union and countries of Asia and Middle East.

Kazakhstan is an active member of the United Nations and has been strengthening its cooperation with all major international organizations.  We are strongly committed to promoting intra- and interregional integration and actively cooperate within the Eurasian Economic Community, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Economic Cooperation Organization.  

Our initiative on convening the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia has already been recognized as a prominent factor in the contemporary international relations, promoting a favorable climate for ensuring security in Asia.

Being located at the crossroads of different civilizations, we also initiated the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions that confirms our commitment to promote global dialogue of civilizations, cultures and religions. Kazakhstan has been a center of unique diversity and tolerance as freedom of religion is the crucial value of our society. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists and many others live in peace with each other in the country.

Kazakhstan has become one of most dynamically developing economies in the world, growing at close to 10% in recent years. All the major credit rating houses have upgraded Kazakhstan repeatedly for sovereign debt and corporate borrowings. We have also become a very attractive destination for foreign investment.

Our country is entering a new stage of social, economic and political modernization. President Nursultan Nazarbayev set an ambitious goal to join the world’s 50 most competitive nations in the very near future through enhanced diversification and raising the competitiveness of our economy. Several holding companies have been established to promote greater economic diversity and a more sustainable growth path. At the same time our former capital Almaty is being groomed to become the new regional financial center.

We are eager to continue moving forward creating favorable environment for businesses, including through serious administrative reform. We also believe that integration into the world economy is an essential condition for a breakthrough in our economic development.

Economic progress naturally contributes to political developments. We are committed to accelerating our efforts to strengthen democracy, the rule of law and good governance. Recently, we introduced amendments to our Constitution that established a more effective and balanced system of checks and balances, in the form of powers and responsibility between the branches of power alongside the strengthening of the role of Parliament. A wider participation on the part of the society in the management process is guaranteed through the strengthening of the political parties’ role.

New opportunities to form democratic institutions and the new democratic culture have been created. The independence and effectiveness of the judiciary has been strengthened, the volume of guarantees to protect constitutional human rights and freedoms has been widened.

On Aug. 18, we held elections for the Majilis, our Lower House of Parliament, which were combined with the elections to the local representative bodies – the “maslikhats”.

We have chosen to build a strong, prosperous and internationally respected regional power, which will be a source of pride for our children. I believe we will achieve this goal working together with our friends and partners abroad.

By Akylbek A. Kamaldinov