President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym Tokayev reflects on the results of 2024 in an interview with the daily Ana Tili

ASTANA - Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev shared key achievements for 2024 in an interview with Ana Tili (Mother Tongue) newspaper on January 3. Exactly one year ago, on January 3, Tokayev gave an interview to Egemen Kazaqstan newspaper where he outlined an ambitious economic course aimed at achieving a fair and just Kazakhstan and doubling the size of the national economy.

"At the beginning of last year I said in an interview that 2024 will be a defining year for Kazakhstan in many ways. It was. By launching systemic and even challenging economic reforms, we have laid a solid foundation for the country's five-year development. In this regard, a considerable number of projects and initiatives have been completed, and more will follow," Tokayev said as he reflected on the achievements of 2024.

He pointed out that all counties have upgraded their utility and engineering infrastructure, which was once in deplorable condition. In addition, 18 million square feet of housing has been commissioned and 7,000 square miles of highways have been built or repaired. New passenger terminals were opened at Almaty, Kyzylorda and Shymkent airports. Extensive projects were also undertaken in the mining, petrochemical and metallurgical industries.

"The manufacturing sector has made significant progress and its share in the industrial structure is almost at the same level as the mining sector. In particular, I would like to note the success of our agrarians, who have produced a record harvest of almost 27 million tonnes of grain over the last ten years," Tokayev said.

Social initiatives have made significant progress: the Children's National Fund has begun disbursements, while pensions, allowances, stipends and civil servants' salaries have been increased. Hundreds of schools, kindergartens and fitness centres were built, more than ten leading foreign university branches were opened, funding for science was increased, culture received strong support and mass sports development was prioritised.

"This represents a significant investment in empowering citizens," "The past year has not been easy, one could say it has been challenging. Kazakhstan has experienced the negative impact of external factors, natural disaster has also interfered with our plans. Nevertheless, we not only managed to maintain the situation, but also to continue implementing reforms. So the breeding strategy continued its development," He said President Tokayev.

Lessons from the 2024 floods in Kazakhstan
In the spring of 2024, devastating floods hit Kazakhstan, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate. In response, the government implemented comprehensive measures to support affected citizens and rebuild devastated regions.

"Last year's floods were a serious test for our country. Such widespread flooding has never happened in Kazakhstan before. But the government was able to respond immediately to the most dangerous situation," Tokayev said. The floods caused widespread destruction, damaging homes, roads, bridges and social and commercial facilities, and also led to the loss of livestock.

"We must acknowledge that such serious consequences could have been avoided if proper attention had been paid to building protective dams and other water structures in recent decades. We are now working to correct this oversight. Parliament is debating a new draft Water Code. The concept and comprehensive water resources management plan have been approved. These documents envisage the construction of more than 40 new reservoirs and the reconstruction of 37 existing reservoirs, as well as the upgrading of more than 14,000 2030 kilometres of irrigation canals by the year XNUMX," he said.

Extensive modernisation of emergency forecasting and prevention systems has been launched. To address the shortage of water specialists and strengthen research activities, the Kazakh National University of Water Resources and Irrigation was established.

"The removal of the consequences of the spring floods proved the effectiveness of the state. Not a single affected family was left without help and support. Homes were built and apartments were purchased, infrastructure was restored and losses were compensated to all residents and businesses affected by the high water," Tokayev said.

In early December last year, Tokayev attended the One Water Summit, held in Saudi Arabia and chaired by Kazakhstan and France.

"At this important event, I stressed the need to increase resilience to water-related disasters. Indeed, the issues of water security and climate change require a concerted effort by the international community. This is a priority issue for Kazakhstan," Tokayev said in an interview.

kazinform / gnews.cz-jav