ASTANA (TCA) — On May 25 and 26, Kazakhstan’s capital Astana hosted the annual economic and political event, Astana Economic Forum.
The world’s renowned experts, politicians, heads of major financial institutions, international organizations, Nobel Prize winners and scientists gathered to discuss the main topic of AEF-2016, “New economic reality: diversification, innovation and knowledge economy”.
Several sessions at the Forum were devoted to prospects for development of the financial and banking sector, monetary policy and possible return to the capital control regime, the Forum’s official website said.
Speaking at the Forum, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev voiced a number of global-scale initiatives.
The Kazakh leader suggested establishing a Human Capital Development Fund under the UN aegis, aimed at improving the quality of education and healthcare in the poorest countries.
“Today, according to experts, between $30 trillion and $40 trillion is being kept on offshore accounts. Introduction of at least one-percent global tax on those assets would allow raising education and healthcare in developing countries onto a qualitatively new level,” the President’s press service quoted Nazarbayev as saying. “Money from this tax could be directed to the above-mentioned Human Capital Development Fund. I do believe that the International Monetary Fund and World Bank must step up with effective measures to de-offshorize the global economy.”
Nazarbayev also suggested developing a roadmap for development of a green economy and rational use of natural resources. “It [the roadmap] should provide not only for a reduction in harmful emissions into the atmosphere but also measures to preserve the soil, freshwater, and the biosphere. At the same time, not only states but also global corporations must assume obligations [to do so],” he said.
