The Kazakhstan institute for strategic studies under the President of the RK held a briefing with representatives of foreign media who arrived in Kazakhstan as part of a press tour of the XXXII session of the People’s Assembly of Kazakhstan on April 25, 2023.
The director of KazISS Yerkin Tukumov, deputy director Alua Zholdybalina, adviser to director Askar Nursha and head of the department of global economy and stable development Bekzhan Sadykov participated at the meeting as speakers.
Journalists from Italy, France, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan, and other countries attended the «question & answer» session. The guests were interested in Kazakhstan’s development in the geopolitical, economic and social spheres. Questions were also asked about the current vector of the country’s development within the framework of reforms, and how the reset of the political system of Kazakhstan now affects internal processes.
Yerkin Tukumov answered the question of Natasha Yakovlevich, a journalist from Serbia, regarding the new vector of development that Kazakhstan has chosen. According to him, political conditions have been created for the development of various sectors of the economy and production. It should help to diversify the economy. This is the main task set by the country’s leadership. Also, quoting the words of the Head of state, Tukumov noted that real economic changes cannot happen without political transformations. Qualitative growth in the social and public life of the country depends on this.
One of the first questions concerned the economic development of Kazakhstan. Bekzhan Sadykov, head of the department of the global economy and stable development of KazISS, focused the attention of colleagues on the growth of the national economy by 3.1% in 2022, noting that in the first quarter of this year, the growth of our country’s economy has already shown 4.9%. Regarding foreign trade relations, Kazakhstan has started to trade more with China. In addition, according to forecasts, GDP growth in the next three years is expected at the level of 3.5-4.5%. Sadykov also spoke about the figures in the oil-producing and oil-exporting regions.
Another block of questions was the discussion of relations of the states in Central Asia, the EAEU. According to Yerkin Tukumov, Kazakhstan’s priority task now is to promote peace in the region. When asked by Azerbaijani journalist Farid Rizayeva about the relations between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, the director of the Institute replied that the states of the region unite and are friends for common positive goals, and this is especially true of the Turkic states. Noting that this trend plays an important role in maintaining good-neighborly relations.
Regarding the geopolitical situation in the region, French journalist Francois de Montmorillon’s question was answered by Askar Nursha, advisor to the director of the KazISS, emphasizing that the situation in the region itself is primarily important for the Central Asian countries: «It is important to maintain security here. There are many unresolved problems, including Afghanistan, » he said. Continuing the thoughts of colleagues, the head of the KazISS Tukumov added that national interests are primarily important for our country.
It should be added that among the foreign journalists were representatives of various print and electronic media from France («Conflits» magazine), Turkey («Aksam» newspaper), Uzbekistan («Uzbekistan 24», «Halk Suzi»), Pakistan («Pakistan in the world»), Kyrgyzstan («Vesti.kg» NA), Italy («RAI News 24»), Jordan («Ammon News») and others.
Summing up the event, the meeting participants exchanged views on the role of Kazakhstan in the global agenda, noted the importance of consolidating forces in the Turkic region and talked about foreign policy priorities and the state of interethnic relations among the population.
