In this issue:
Supreme Court Chairman Visits Washington
Kazakhstan’s Parliament Approves 2005 Budget
Government Edges Closer to Creating Nuclear Technologies Park
Kazakhstan’s Stock Exchange Marks 11th Anniversary
Foreign Trade Grows by 50 Percent in Nine Months of 2004
Supreme Court --- Zhogarghy Sot [Zhoh-ghar-GHY Sot]
Judge --- Tureshe [Too-reh-SHAY]
Legal system ---Zandyk zhuiye [Zan-DYK Zhui-YEAH]
Reform ---Reforma [Re-FOR-mah]
Supreme Court Chairman Visits Washington
Kairat Mami, Chairman of Kazakhstan’s
Washington this week that Kazakhstan
has established a judiciary system in
line with the best international standards,
but still would like the United States to
continue its assistance in building up
Kazakhstan’s system of the rule of law.
In Washington, he held discussions with
a member of the U.S. Supreme Court,
officials of the U.S. Government, Congress
and nongovernmental organizations
assisting Kazakhstan in implementing
the reforms.
Chairman Mami met Associate Justice of
the Supreme Court Sandra Day O’Connor,
Chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL),
Special Assistant to the President and
Senior Director of the National Security
Affairs for European and Eurasian Affairs
Daniel Fried. He also met senior officials
at USAID, the Central and Eastern
Europe Legal Initiative of the American
Bar Association (ABA/CEELI), and the
Institutional Reform and the Informal
Sector (IRIS).
Chairman Mami said because of reforms
enacted over the years Kazakhstan’s
judiciary is now up to best international
standards and conforms to the basic
principles such as the independence of
courts, inviolability of judges and the
competition of equal parties in the
courtroom.
Several years ago a scrupulous, open and unbiased system was introduced for the selection of candidates for judgeships in Kazakhstan, Mami said. Along with the introduction of specialized administrative courts at the national level and the automated distribution of cases among district courts in two regions, these reforms went a long way in raising people’s confidence in the courts.
Solid statistics confirm such conclusions and show the people of Kazakhstan are steadily moving away from old Soviet habits and readily embracing that very American national “sport” of suing somebody over something. While in 2000 courts in Kazakhstan reviewed 700,000 lawsuits, by 2003 that number more than doubled exceeding 1,300,000 cases.
Chairman Mami also explained that planned reforms, including the introduction of jury trials for criminal prosecution and raising the quality of judges through training at the recently established Judicial Academy, will help strengthen these positive trends. He stressed these areas as well as the introduction of video and audio recording in courtrooms as the most promising areas for cooperation with the U.S. governmental and nongovernmental community.
Kazakhstan’s Parliament Approves 2005 Budget
Kazakhstan’s Parliament approved the country’s 2005 budget on November 15 and sent a draft to President Nursultan Nazarbayev for his signature.
The budget provides for a deficit of 1.7 percent of gross domestic product, slightly down from 1.9 percent of GDP in 2004.
Revenues are forecast to rise 45 percent from 2004 to 1,128 billion tenge, which is equal to US$8.7 billion and 19.3 percent of the GDP. Expenditures are expected to total 1,242 billion tenge, or US$9.5 billion and 21 percent of the GDP, an almost 44 percent increase from 2004.
Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov said the budget “will help improve the social and economic situation” in the country in his address to the Parliament
The Government has forecast GDP growth of 7.9 percent next year, up from an estimated 7 percent this year. This was a cautious estimate for 2004, as statistics now points to a likely growth of 9 percent this year.
Inflation is expected to be between 4.9 and 6.5 percent next year. The President has 15 days to approve the budget and is expected to sign it.
President Nazarbayev, speaking at a financial forum in Almaty on November 15, said the country’s economy was growing at a strong and sustainable rate, well on track to doubling by 2008 compared to 2000.
The President said “experts estimate the GDP to grow to US$37.5 billion by the end of the year [2004], which is US$2,500 per capita, and by 2007 this indicator could grow to US$3,800.”
Speaking at the same meeting, James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank said the economy is strong and growing and Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, could well become a regional financial center in the future once communications are improved.
Government Edges Closer to Creating Nuclear Technologies Park
The Government of Kazakhstan has approved general outlines of a plan to create a Nuclear Technologies Park in Kurchatov, the center of the former Soviet nuclear testing program in the eastern part of the country.
Under the plan, presented by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and approved at a Government session earlier this week, the park will be set up under the Strategy of Industrial and Innovation Development (SIID). The plan aims to develop high tech production facilities and promising research in nuclear and related technologies.
The plan takes note that Kazakhstan already has almost all the requirements needed for implementing the project. Kazakhstan already has a developed industrial, raw material and legal base, relevant engineering infrastructure and scientific cadres experienced in nuclear technologies.
Several issues still need to be fleshed out for the plan to be finally approved. They include a budget financing scheme, prospects for attracting private investment and mechanisms for commercializing the projects given the fact that activity in nuclear technologies is the prerogative of the government.
Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov has given government agencies until year’s end to review the proposals and come up with a final draft for government approval.
Kazakhstan's Stock Exchange Marks 11th Anniversary
Kazakhstan’s Stock Exchange marked its 11th anniversary on November 17, issuing statistics showing the stock exchange has become a major component of Kazakhstan’s market economy.
The stock exchange was established on the basis of the currency operations center of the National Bank of Kazakhstan on November 17, 1993, just two days after Kazakhstan introduced its national currency, the Tenge. Today, shares of several of Kazakhstan’s blue chip companies are traded on the exchange in ever increasing numbers with state and private pension funds, as well as banks, being the main traders.
In 2003, the volume of operations on Kazakh Stock Exchange was larger than the country’s gross domestic product by 13 percent. During the ten and a half month period of 2004, exchange trading reached US$47.9 billion and grew 71 percent compared to the same period last year.
Foreign Trade Grows by 50 Percent in Nine Months of 2004
Kazakhstan’s foreign trade grew by 52 percent, reaching US$23.2 billion in the first nine months of 2004 compared to the same period last year. The data was made available this week by the Customs Control Committee of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Finance.
Exports grew 49 percent, reaching US$14 billion, while imports grew 57 percent to US$9.1 billion. According to Yuri Shokomanov, Deputy Chairman of the Customs Control Committee, the growth is attributable to the favorable situation in the commodity markets, primarily oil. Kazakhstan’s oil exports grew 52 percent.
Mr. Shokomanov noted Kazakhstan’s trade with the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose grouping of 12 former Soviet republics, grew faster than with other countries. Trade with the CIS grew 55 percent, while that with non-CIS countries grew 51 percent.
Things to Watch:
- December 16 will be Kazakhstan’s Independence Day marked for the 13th time.
- A conference marking the 60th anniversary of the forceful deportation of ethnic Kurds to Kazakhstan from the Caucasus will take place in Almaty on November 22. After the conference, a Festival of ethnic cuisines from across Kazakhstan will take place featuring traditional Kurdish dishes.
________________________________________________________________________________
News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA and Canada
(Compiled from own sources and agency reports)
Contact person: Roman Vassilenko
1401 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036
Tel.: (202) 232- 5488 ext. 104, Fax: (202) 232- 5845
