Kazakhstan
News Bulletin
Released weekly by the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan
May 22, 2003 Vol. 2, No. 9
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In this issue:
Kazakhstan Prevents SARS from Spreading Westward
Major Exercise in Democracy Clears Way for Private Land Ownership
Kazakhstan Seeks to Diversify Economy, Triple GDP by 2015
Kazakhstan Becomes Second-Largest Export Market for U.S. in Eurasia
Kazakhstan Prevents SARS from Spreading Westward
The Government of Kazakhstan extended the quarantine for passenger travel to and from China on May 20 pending the improvement of the situation with SARS in that country, khabar.kz and interfax.com reported. The quarantine, imposed on May 1, was to have expired on Monday. It will now be in force until further notice.
According to the World Health Organization official data, no single probable or suspected case of SARS has been so far registered in Kazakhstan or the rest the countries of Central Asia, but authorities are taking the issue seriously. Russia and Kyrgyzstan have taken similar measures in connection with the ongoing SARS epidemic in China, the Government press release said. Uzbekistan has suspended air traffic to and from China, it notes.
The reason for Kazakhstan's extending travel restrictions is prevent SARS from spreading from China and Southeast Asia westward.
In the meantime, Kazakhstan reopened the border for cargo shipments, pledging to ensure strict medical control over those accompanying cargoes. According to news reports, Kazakhstan was loosing at least a billion tenge daily ($1=151Tenge as of May 20) through the reduction in cross-border trade.
Kazakhstan shares the 1,570-kilometer border with China. Their bilateral trade exceeds $1 billion annually.
Chinese President Hu Jintao is expected to visit Kazakhstan in early June as part of his first official trip abroad since taking office in March 2003.
Major Exercise in Democracy Clears Way for Private Land Ownership
Having voted for confidence in the Government on May 19, the two-chamber Parliament of Kazakhstan essentially cleared the way for the introduction of the private farmland ownership.
The breakdown of the vote, however, revealed sharp division of views among the Senate and the Majilis. Thirty-four senators voted for confidence, while only 3 voted against. On the contrary, 55 out of 77 members of the Majilis voted negatively, while only 18 supported the Government. Under the Constitution, the Parliament needed to have two thirds of the votes in both chambers to pass a no-confidence vote.
Failing that, the Parliament has essentially approved the Government's version of the draft Land Code that would institutionalize private farmland ownership for the first time in the history of Kazakhstan. Earlier, the Majilis introduced more than 600 amendments into the bill, five of which were unacceptable to the executive branch as changing the conceptual nature of the bill. The Prime Minister then called for a vote of confidence.
"The Majilis's version would have delayed the needed reforms by 10 years, but now the country is on its way to achieving the goals of reform," Land Resources Management Agency Chairman Bakhyt Ospanov said on May 19.
The draft Land Code now goes to the President for consideration and signing.
Kazakhstan Seeks to Diversify Economy, Triple GDP by 2015
Kazakhstan will seek to diversify its economy through the development of high-tech industries and will at least triple its GDP by 2015, according to the new industrial and innovation program that was approved by President Nursultan Nazarbayev on May 20.
"We understand that diversifying the economy will take years," Economy and Budget Planning Minister Kairat Kelimbetov said to reporters on May 20. "Generally, the sustainable independence from the raw materials sector can be achieved in 20 to 25 years. This is why this new program is only the first step toward reducing the oil dependence."
The program will be implemented in three stages. The Government will strive to coordinate and develop business cooperation, attract more investments, rather than try to substitute for the market.
According to Mr. Kelimbetov, the goal will not be to develop all the industries comprehensively, rather to encourage private businesses to find niches in which they can compete internationally. The enterprises will have to adopt international quality standards. Financial sector, for example, is set to achieve European standards by 2007.
Earlier news reports said the priority areas under the new program would include peaceful use of atomic energy, biotechnologies, software and space technologies.
The Government expects the new program to lay ground for GDP to grow 8.8-9.2 percent annually. Astana estimates that through the new program the GDP will grow 3.5-3.8 times by 2015 compared to 2000. The Government would seek to increase productivity by at least three times, while power intensity of the GDP is to be halved.
Kazakhstan Becomes Second-Largest Export Market for U.S. in Eurasia
Kazakhstan became the second-largest export market for the United States companies in Eurasia in 2002 as American exports to the republic almost quadrupled year-on-year. The data was announced in the latest U.S. Department of Commerce's BISNIS bulletin (available here http://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/bulletin/apr03bull1.htm)
"Aircraft sales and launch of satellites in Kazakhstan contributed heavily" to the apparent surge in exports to the Central Asian region, the report noted. Last year, Kazakhstan agreed to buy several civilian Boeing aircraft from the Chicago-based corporation.
"Kazakhstan received $604 million worth of U.S. goods and services; roughly half of this value was for aircraft. Oil and gas machinery related to Caspian basin oilfield development and telecommunications equipment were the two next most important U.S. export categories," the report said.
In 2001, U.S. exports to Kazakhstan stood at $160 million (F.A.S.). Now, Kazakhstan trails only Russia, with $2.4 billion-worth of U.S. exports, as the largest export market for American goods in Eurasia. According to BISNIS, U.S. exports to 12 Eurasian countries, while roughly equal to the 2001 figures, beat worldwide trends considering the nearly 5-percent contraction in U.S. exports worldwide.
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News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA and Canada
(Compiled from own sources and various agencies' reports)
Contact persons: Roman Vassilenko, Aibek Nurbalin
Tel.: (202) 232- 5488 ext. 104, 115, Fax: (202) 232- 5845
