ASTANA – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev shared the key outcomes of 2024 in an interview with Ana Tili (Mother Tongue) newspaper on Jan. 3.
Exactly one year ago, on Jan. 3, Tokayev gave an interview to Egemen Qazaqstan newspaper, where he outlined an ambitious economic course aimed at achieving a Just and Fair Kazakhstan and doubling the size of the national economy.
“At the beginning of last year, I said in an interview that 2024 would be a defining year for Kazakhstan in many ways. So it has been. By starting systemic and even challenging economic reforms, we have laid a solid foundation for the country’s five-year development. There has been a significant number of completed projects and initiatives in this direction, and there will be even more,” Tokayev said, reflecting on the achievements of 2024.
He emphasized that all regions had modernized their engineering and utility infrastructure, which had once been in a dire condition. Additionally, 18 million square meters of housing were commissioned, and 7,000 kilometers of highways were constructed or repaired. New passenger terminals were opened at the airports in Almaty, Kyzylorda, and Shymkent. Large-scale projects were also carried out in the mining, petrochemical, and metallurgical industries.
“The manufacturing sector has progressed significantly, and its share in the industrial structure is nearly on par with that of the extractive sector. I would particularly like to note the success of our agrarians, who have produced a record-breaking harvest of almost 27 million tons of grain over the last ten years,” said Tokayev.
Social initiatives advanced significantly: the National Fund for Children began its payments, while there were increases in pensions, allowances, scholarships, and civil servant salaries. Hundreds of schools, kindergartens, and fitness centers were built, over ten leading foreign university branches opened, science funding increased, cultural figures gained strong support, and mass sports development was prioritized.
“This represents a significant investment in strengthening the capabilities of citizens,” said Tokayev.
“In general, the past year was far from simple, one could say it was tough. Kazakhstan experienced by the negative impact of external factors, the natural disaster also interfered with our plans. Yet, not only did we manage to hold the situation but also continued the implementation of reforms. Thus, the procreation strategy continued its development,” he said.