President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, at a joint meeting of the Houses of Parliament, delivered an Address to the people of Kazakhstan "Kazakhstan in a new reality: time for action", in which he presented a strategy for the country's further development. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev came up with a number of initiatives aimed at improving the efficiency of the management system, the economy in new realities, disclosing industrial potential, developing agriculture, transport and logistics complex, small and medium-sized businesses, the financial sector, modernizing the country's territorial development and increasing social well-being of Kazakhstanis, Kazpravda.kz reports.
"The new economic course of our country should be based on seven basic principles: fair distribution of benefits and responsibilities; the leading role of private entrepreneurship; fair competition, opening markets for a new generation of entrepreneurs; productivity growth, increasing the complexity and technology of the economy; human capital development, investment in education of a new type; greening the economy, protecting the environment; making informed decisions by the state and taking responsibility for them before society," the President noted.
He stressed the importance of providing affordable and quality education, strengthening the health care system, and also expressed concern about the family and demographic situation, issues of safety and protection of children's rights.
According to the Head of State, no aspect of socio-economic development can be successfully implemented without the rule of law and guaranteeing the safety of citizens. There is a lot of work ahead to develop new standards for serving the interests of citizens. The law enforcement and judicial systems, which play a key role in this, need reforms.
In the Address, the digitalization is called the basic element of all reforms and a key instrument for achieving national competitiveness. At the same time, political reforms should be aimed at a broader involvement of citizens in government. The main goal of the reforms is to increase the efficiency of the functioning of the entire state.
“Today I have outlined an action plan for the state in a crisis situation. The ultimate success of reforms depends on each of us. Everyone must change, work on themselves. The challenges of the time force us to constantly develop, improve, and become stronger. Together we create a happy future of our country. Each generation has various trials. Our people are capable and ready to solve the most difficult problems," Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized.
Kazakhstan needs to take new measures to protect human rights due to the vulnerability of citizens from cyberbullying, torture and human trafficking, the President added. “It is critically important to take new measures to protect human rights. For me, this problem is a priority. Like the rest of the world, Kazakhstan also faced the vulnerability of citizens from bullying on the Internet. Children suffer from this first of all. They are especially sensitive to cyberbullying, which, unfortunately, leads to sad consequences. The time has come to take legislative measures to protect citizens, especially children from cyberbullying," the President said.
According to him, it is necessary to strengthen other measures to protect the rights of children. In particular, join the optional protocol of the Convention on the rights of the child.
"The issue of national legislation on combating torture also remains relevant. This document, which criminalizes torture, must be brought into line with the provisions of the international convention against torture and other cruel inhuman acts," Tokayev said.
The President noted that the fight against human trafficking remains on the agenda.
"I hope that the relevant laws will be adopted soon in Parliament," Kassym-Jomart Tokayev concluded.
Reported by the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda.
