The head of state held a meeting with the public of the city of Almaty.
Greeting the participants of the meeting, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in his speech noted the special role of Almaty in the history of Kazakhstan. He recalled that it was here that the Declaration of Sovereignty was signed and the Independence of Kazakhstan was proclaimed.
Further, the president outlined a number of urgent tasks aimed at improving the well-being of the metropolis and its residents. According to the head of state, it is necessary to ensure sustainable growth of the city's economy through its diversification. Almaty is the flagship of the economic development of our country. The city provides a fifth of the gross domestic product, more than a quarter of budget revenues and a third of Kazakhstan's trade operations. Since the beginning of the year, 930 billion private investments have been attracted to the city's economy. Entrepreneurship is progressively developing - the number of small and medium-sized businesses has increased by 30% since the beginning of the year.
"Low diversification of the economy leads to a slowdown in the growth of incomes of citizens. The city has fallen into the so-called "middle income trap", which requires a deep diversification of the economy to exit. Emphasis should be placed on the development of manufacturing, tourism, the IT sector and creative industries. It is necessary to stimulate competition, attract investment and significantly increase labor productivity.In urban conditions, the development of the manufacturing industry should proceed using modern environmentally friendly and compact technologies with high automation and digitalization of processes.It is necessary to fully realize the potential of the industrial zone of Almaty and the Alatau Innovation Technology Park, – said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Taking into account the specifics of the region, the head of state instructed the akims of the city of Almaty and the Almaty region to jointly develop the manufacturing industry within the Almaty agglomeration. He also said that for this purpose, a new law "On the development of agglomerations" will be adopted by the end of the year, which will become the basis for closer cooperation between the two regions.
The President drew attention to the fact that over 40% of all IT companies in the country are based in Almaty. He noted that in order to implement the creative initiatives of citizens, creative hubs and clusters will be launched in the city in the near future. The head of state supported the proposal of local authorities to create a city venture fund with an initial capitalization of 10 billion tenge, with private funds raised to implement this project.
According to the president, the issues of uniform development of all districts of the metropolis and the intensification of housing construction deserve special attention.
"There is no central water supply system in a number of districts. About 30,000 residents of Almaty are forced to use imported water. I instruct the Akimat of Almaty to provide all residents of the city with centralized water supply within three years. Two large water intakes on the Kargaly and Aksai rivers must be launched in the next two years. In addition, the construction of two new water intakes in the Nauryzbai and Alatau regions is required, which will provide water to 150 thousand people.The work of the water intakes "Ermensai" and "Barlyk" should also be ensured. Water is the source of life. The quality of life of people directly depends on the quality of drinking water. Therefore, the construction of new water supply networks and the reconstruction of existing ones should become a priority,” the head of state stressed.
Separately, the president dwelled on the problem of increasing the population of Almaty. According to him, housing construction requires special attention. Including taking into account the fact that the housing issue is of great concern to the majority of Almaty residents, especially young people.
It is required to carry out major repairs of such houses located in microdistricts. I instruct the akimat to prepare an action plan that provides for specific and phased measures," the head of state said.
The President named the development of the city's road transport system as one of the key tasks. He stressed that the unproductive loss of time in many hours of traffic jams not only negatively affects the well-being and health of citizens, but also causes significant damage to the economy and ecology of the city. Therefore, it is important to build a harmonious and balanced road transport complex, which will make it possible to put into practice the principle of "a city for people".
"It is necessary to consistently increase the attractiveness of public transport, while at the same time stimulating a decrease in the use of private cars. To do this, it is necessary to continue expanding the metro network. It is necessary to abandon obsolete and non-environmental modes of transport. Diesel buses should not remain on the streets of Almaty after 2025 - gas and electric traction. There is a lot of experience for its successful development in Almaty. The transfer of most of the transit cargo transportation to the Big Almaty Ring Road will have a positive impact on the city. This requires the construction of 6 radial and 4 internal main streets," the head of state said.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev recalled that the electric train route between the cities of Almaty and Konaev had recently been resumed. In this context, he believes that the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development, the akimats of Almaty and the Almaty region need to develop a plan to further stimulate suburban rail traffic.
As the head of state said, environmental issues are always in the focus of his special attention. In particular, Almaty residents are very worried about the high level of air pollution. Annually, the volume of emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere is about 125 thousand tons. The main sources are motor vehicles, urban thermal power plants and industrial enterprises, as well as non-gasified private houses. The situation is aggravated by dense buildings, which prevent the flow of clean air into the metropolis.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pointed out that the akimat should strictly monitor compliance with environmental safety standards in the city, primarily by industrial enterprises. In addition, in his opinion, the conversion of CHPP-2 and CHPP-3 to gas will reduce the level of harmful emissions by more than ten times.
The head of state noted that it is planned to plant 2.5 million trees in Almaty by 2030. As he believes, the main thing is that landscaping should be carried out meaningfully and evenly, taking into account the availability of irrigation water and the city plan. There are 136 parks in Almaty, consistent work should be carried out to increase their number and improve them.
Further, the president dwelled on the need to develop the city's social infrastructure.
This situation negatively affects the quality of education of schoolchildren. On my instructions, 22 schools for 37,000 students will be built in Almaty in the next two years as part of the Comfortable School project. The main task is to completely switch to one-shift education in schools by 2030," the President stressed.
According to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, an urgent problem in the healthcare sector is the development of the industry's infrastructure and improving the quality of services. He pointed to the critical condition of polyclinics and hospitals in the city. In addition, during the construction of residential buildings, the location of social facilities is not properly planned. Focusing on these problematic issues, the head of state instructed the akimat to develop a special plan for the construction of new and modernization of outdated medical facilities.
The head of state is convinced that the priority should be to provide comprehensive support to people with special needs.
"No one's rights should be infringed in Kazakhstan. Today, 55,000 people with disabilities live in Almaty. Of these, 13,000 people do not have the opportunity to move freely. It is very important to organize a barrier-free environment for them. This is important not only for citizens with disabilities, but and for the elderly and children. Therefore, it is important for the akimat to adapt all social facilities to the needs of these categories of citizens. Public service centers, hospitals and clinics, educational and sports institutions must meet the requirements of an accessible environment," Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized.
The President, in his speech, separately focused on the problem of ensuring security and law and order, digitalization of the city government system. He pointed out that this year one fifth of all criminal offenses registered in Kazakhstan were committed in Almaty.
"The Akimat will have to provide city streets and public spaces with 100% lighting by 2025. Another important area is the development of a video surveillance system. Today, more than 128,000 private video surveillance cameras have been installed in Almaty, of which only a quarter is integrated with the Operational Management Center of the City Police Department. The Akimat should adopt rules for integrating private video surveillance systems into a single control room. Of course, with the consent of the owner. It is also necessary to install about 20,000 cameras at facilities not covered by video surveillance," the head of state said.
As the President noted, given that Almaty is deservedly the scientific and educational center of Kazakhstan, the development of domestic science is extremely important.
"Kazakhstan needs specialists who have dedicated their lives to science and have real scientific achievements. It is necessary to "rejuvenate" the composition of our scientific community. This is a requirement of the time. Therefore, the Academy of Sciences should more actively attract objective and impartial scientists with great scientific potential. We often talk about the integration of science and production. But such interaction has not yet been established. Unfortunately, we must admit this. Scientific development and innovation are necessary for the development of domestic production. The work of our scientists should contribute to the production of quality products and increase production efficiency. Only then it will be possible to talk about the development of the economy. In this regard, I made another important decision - the National Council for Science and Technology under the President will be created,"Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.
The President in his report paid attention to the protection of women's rights. According to him, in recent years we have made significant progress in this area.
The head of state also noted that Kazakhstan is pursuing an active foreign policy aimed at protecting national interests, promoting the values of peace, trust and cooperation.
"In international matters, Kazakhstan will always firmly adhere to the universal principles of the United Nations. In the current complex geopolitical and geo-economic realities, the role of the UN is increasing many times over. We are convinced that there is no alternative to it," the president said.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dwelled separately on another important issue - the tragic January events, which became an unprecedented test for our country.
how criminals destroy the city - the golden cradle of our people. At that moment, any delay would have led to the fact that the bandits, who felt their impunity, tore apart our beloved city. At a critical moment for the fate of the country, our people showed unparalleled unity and determination. We have shown that we are ready to take any risk to protect our statehood," the head of state stressed.
The President also noted that he had decided to amnesty those participants in the January events who did not commit serious crimes, they became the blind tool of criminals, were deceived by them.
"The amnesty law has already been adopted. I am convinced that this is the right step from the point of view of humanism, because mercy is a good deed. After the necessary legal procedures, the amnestied will be able to return to their loved ones," Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.
At the end of the event, the President awarded a number of citizens for selfless and honest work, high professionalism and contribution to the development of the country.
By the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
