ASTANA (TCA) — In a 7-minute statement, which was televised on January 9, Kazakhstan’s long-ruling President Nursultan Nazarbayev summarized his annual address to the nation in a prerecorded video and indicated that, for the second straight year, he would refrain from delivering the speech live in parliament, saying that his full address will be published by state newspapers on January 10, RFE/RL reported.
In the past, Nazarbayev has delivered his annual address before the Kazakh parliament, and it has been televised live. But in 2017, he also made a prerecorded summary that was aired on January 31 and then published in state newspapers.
In the televised statement yesterday evening, Nazarbayev focused on efforts to digitize the Kazakh economy and bureaucracy.
He said that digital technologies will help continue to deregulate business, improve the quality of public services and state support, and better meet the requirements of citizens.
The president spoke about the need to increase the depth of processing of natural (hydrocarbon) resources, and to improve the energy efficiency and environmental friendliness of production.
Nazarbayev also spoke about a “reset” of Kazakhstan’s financial sector, saying that measures to recover the banking sector should involve strengthened supervision and control and take into account the interests of ordinary citizens.
“It is necessary to significantly raise the responsibility of those who own the banks and those who manage them,” the president said, adding that it is necessary to increase lending and boost the development of the stock market.
He also said that the introduction of Smart City technology will help to effectively solve the problems of growing cities and increase their attractiveness to investors.
