NEW OPPORTUNITIES UNDER THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Dear people of Kazakhstan,

Today the world is entering the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, an era of profound and rapid changes: technological, economic and social.

The new technological order significantly changes the way we work, exercise our civil rights, and raise children.

The need to be prepared for global changes and challenges has prompted us to adopt the Kazakhstan-2050 Development Strategy.

We have set the goal of entering the top thirty most developed countries in the world.

The Plan of the Nation – 100 Concrete Steps – is being implemented. Sixty steps have already been executed. The rest are mostly long-term and are being systematically implemented.

The Third Modernisation of Kazakhstan was launched last year.

The Industrialisation Programme is being successfully implemented.

The Digital Kazakhstan comprehensive programme has been adopted.

A comprehensive Strategic Development Plan of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2025 was developed.

Our long-term goals remain unchanged. We have all the necessary programmes.

This Address determines what we have to do for the successful navigation and adaptation in a new world – the world of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

 Dear compatriots,

 We created an independent Kazakhstan, which became a brand that inspires trust and respect in the world.

In 2017, our country became a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

In January 2018 we preside over it.

We became the first state among the countries of the CIS and Eastern Europe to be chosen by the world community to host the International Specialised Exhibition, EXPO 2017.

A successfully functioning model of a market economy has been built in Kazakhstan.

In 2017, the country, having overcome the negative consequences of the global crisis, returned to the trajectory of strong growth.

At the end of the year, the GDP growth was 4%, and industrial production grew by more than 7%.

In addition, the processing sector exceeded 40% in the total volume of industry.

Kazakhstan’s successful development has allowed the formation of the middle class.

Poverty declined 13-fold, the unemployment rate fell to 4.9%.

The country’s social and economic successes are based on civil peace, interethnic and interfaith accord, which continue to be our main values.

Nevertheless, we should clearly realise that Kazakhstan’s achievements are a reliable foundation, but not a guarantee of tomorrow’s success.

The era of "oil abundance” is almost coming to an end. The country needs a new quality of development.

Global trends show that it should be based primarily on the broad implementation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution elements.

This brings both challenges and opportunities.

I am confident that Kazakhstan has all the necessary attributes to join the ranks of leaders of the new world.

Thus, it is essential to concentrate on the following objectives.

FIRST. Industrialisation should become the flagship of the introduction of new technologies.

Its results became one of the main stabilizing factors in the crisis years of 2014-2015, when oil prices fell sharply.

Therefore, the focus on the processing sector with high labour productivity remains unchanged.

At the same time, industrialisation should become more innovative, taking advantage of the new Technological Order 4.0.

It is necessary to develop and test new instruments aimed at modernising and digitising our enterprises with a focus on exporting products.

They should primarily stimulate the transfer of technology.

A pilot project on the digitisation of several of Kazakhstan’s industrial enterprises should be implemented, and then this experience should be widely expanded.

The most important issue is the development of our own ecosystem of developers of digital and other innovative solutions.

It should take shape around innovation centres, such as the Nazarbayev University, the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and the International Technology Park of IT Startups.

A serious revision is required of the organization of the activities of the Alatau Park of Innovative Technologies.

The main factors for the success of the innovative ecosystem are stimulation of the demand for new technologies by the real sector and the functioning of the private venture financing market.

This requires appropriate legislation.

In addition, the development of IT and engineering services is of particular importance.

Digitisation of the economy brings dividends, but there are also risks of a large-scale release of workforce.

It is necessary to work out in advance an agreed policy on the employment of the released workforce.

It is necessary to adapt education, communication and standardisation systems to the needs of the new industrialisation.

In 2018, it is necessary to begin the development of the third five-year industrialisation period devoted to the emergence of the "digital age” industry.

SECOND. Further development of the resource potential.

The world of the 21^st century still needs natural resources, which will have a special place in the development of the global economy and the economy of our country in the future.

It is necessary, however, to critically rethink the organisation of commodity industries, approaches to the management of natural resources.

It is necessary to actively implement integrated information and technology platforms.

It is important to increase the requirements for energy efficiency and energy saving of enterprises, as well as the environmental friendliness and efficiency of the energy producers themselves.

The EXPO 2017 Exhibition held in Astana showed rapid progress in the sphere of alternative and clean energy.

Today, renewable energy sources (RES) account for a quarter of the world’s electricity production.

According to forecasts, by 2050 this figure will reach 80%.

We have set the goal to increase the share of alternative energy in Kazakhstan to 30% by 2030.

Today, we already have 55 renewable energy facilities with a total capacity of 336 MW, which generated about 1.1 billion kWh of green energy in 2017.

It is important to stimulate business, to invest in green technologies.

Akims (governors) of the regions should take measures on the modern disposal and recycling of solid domestic waste with a broad involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises.

These and other measures will require the updating of legislation, including the Environmental Code.