The future just must be radiant: Kazakhstan will be among top 50 countries on the planet, while Russia will be in the top five. Kazakhstan has adopted the strategy 2030 and Russia has the strategy 2020. The list of reforms seems to be copied: privatization, banking reform, tax reform, pension, communal services and educational reforms. 

As it was expressed by Mikhail Dmitriev, the president of the Center for Strategic Products, at the recent round table meeting dedicated to social economic development of Kazakhstan, and to Russian and Kazakh reforms, “Kazakhstan and Russia are twins; even being placed on different continents they would do similar things”.   

Well, the twins’ “parents” are known: the nature that granted rich resources to the two countries, and the Soviet Union that promoted one-sided economy. Today both states are trying to change their raw material direction that restricts the development of other branches. Rapid growth of communications, transport and banking system is rather consequence of the previous lack of infrastructure than diversification of business. Nikolai Komkov, from the Institute of people’s-economic forecast, adduced an example saying that just a few years ago 70% of Malaysian export was filled with minerals. Now their share has reduced to 9%, while 60% is taken by machinery construction, electronics and industrial products. Same goal is aimed by Kazakhstan and Russia. However, both countries will have to solve a complex of problems, industrial and social as well, as no reform would be possible if it does not get overall support.       

Looking back at the traversed path one may state a fact that quite workable economic and financial systems have formed. This way has been gone with different speed by the “twins”. Kazakhstan was quicker in carrying out the banking system reform. The chair of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Daniyar Akishev said at the round table that all the banks in the country are commercial ones, and their capital is equal to 100% of GDP, and this is why their role in the country’s economy cannot be overestimated. On the other hand, their independence for the state promoted big loans from the western banks, and this is why the US mortgage crisis made it difficult getting credits, which led to domestic crisis. Significantly, then the crisis was dealt with using same methods applied by Russia now, a year after – they gave money from the National Bank and from the state budget, and imposed restrictions. They also managed to do what Russia is failing to do now – reorienting banks to working not with foreign but with home capitals. And today’s paradox of Kazakhstan, mentioned about by Darkhan Nurpeisov, the spokesperson for Regional Financial Regulation Center of the city of Almaty, is that along with fall of indexes of the selling grounds, the capitalization of the stock exchanges has increased with the increasing number of firms circulating their shares in the biddings. That means, the business has come to believe in the state’s ability of holding the markets and has begun searching for means for development not in the foreign credits, but in selling their own shares.      

The main thing mentioned by the Kazakh financiers is that the crisis only indirectly affected the strategy 2030; actually it has even accelerated shifting for domestic sources of financing. This has enabled Kazakhstan, having been living for more than a year under conditions of restricted access to the foreign markets, to acquire a kind of immunity. “This is why the recent negative developments and the abrupt fall in the stock markets, including those in Russia, did not have strong effect on the banking system of Kazakhstan” concluded Daniyar Akishev.  

So the Kazakh experience of overcoming the financial crisis makes one optimistic. Another good example is carrying out the pension reform by our neighbor, the reform that has failed to succeed in Russia. As of today, the means in the Pension Fund of the republic are equal to 14% of GDB, while with us it’s 2% at best.    

All that does not mean that Russia must become an assiduous pupil to Kazakhstan. The tax code, for example, appeared in Russia 10 years ago, while Kazakhstan only recently has codified their tax legislation. The national specific character, different approaches to these and those aspects of development, allow opportunity of exchanging experience.