Kazakhstan 2050: Toward a Modern Society for All

Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world by territory and is blessed with abundant natural resources. Since independence some 20 years ago, the country has transformed itself into a dynamic market-oriented economy. Over the last 10 years, its economic growth rate has been among the highest in the world, thus reaching high middle-income country status, with low rates of poverty and unemployment. In December 2012, the President of Kazakhstan introduced "Kazakhstan 2050", a vision and agenda for the country, which postulates that Kazakhstan will join the ranks of the top 30 developed countries by 2050, not just in terms of per capita income, but in terms of broader measures of economic, social, and institutional development. This book written by a team of international experts presents an independent assessment of what will be needed to achieve this vision. Based on a review of Kazakhstan's socioeconomic development over the last 20 years and analysis of the outlook of the global economy, the volume explores how Kazakhstan can build the foundations for an inclusive modern society in seven priority areas by: building, first of all, a strong human resource base; managing its energy resources sustainably; growing a green economy; pursuing balanced and efficient urban and regional development; creating a diversified, modern knowledge economy; becoming fully integrated with the rest of the world; and, underpinning all else, building effective and inclusive institutions. The assessment concludes that the vision is very ambitious, but broadly feasible, provided no sense of complacency sets in. It presents options for short-, medium-, and long-term action in each of the seven priority areas. Recognizing that there are no blueprints for success, and that Kazakhstan faces many uncertainties, the book also concludes with a set of eight principles that can help guide policy makers on a pathway toward the vision of Kazakhstan 2050. Contributors to this volume - William Y. Brown is a scientist and lawyer with a distinguished career in government, non-profit institutions, and the private sector where he has provided leadership for environmental issues and scientific and cultural institutions. He is currently a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; Dennis de Tray is now a principal with the Results for Development Institute and Adviser to the President, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan; Harpaul Alberto Kohli is the Manager of Information Analytics at Centennial Group International and the Emerging Markets Forum, where he is responsible for all modeling, statistics, databases, and technology management; John Nellis is a Senior Adviser to the Development Portfolio Management Group (DPMG) at the University of Southern California; Richard Pomfret is Professor of Economics at Adelaide University and Visiting Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bologna Centre; Hossein Razavi is the former Director of the Infrastructure Department of The World Bank; Michelle Riboud is an economist who started her professional career working in academia, serving at the University of Abidjan, a Spanish research institute, the University of Orleans, and the Institute d'Etudes Politiques in Paris, along with a visiting role at the University of Chicago; Shahid Yusuf is currently Chief Economist of The Growth Dialogue at the George Washington University School of Business in Washington, DC.