Alikhan Smailov meeting with President of Uzbekistan: We work actively to bring mutual trade to $10 bln
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Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov arrived in Uzbekistan on behalf of the Head of State to participate in the 16th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization. On the eve of the event in Tashkent, Alikhan Smailov met with the President of the country Shavkat Mirziyoyev, primeminister.kz reports.
First of all, the Prime Minister conveyed warm words of greetings from the Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and emphasized that today the relations of the two countries are a bright example of strategic partnership based on trust and mutual understanding.
As Alikhan Smailov noted, the implementation of all agreements reached at the highest level is under the control of the governments of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Uzbekistan. One of the priority areas here is the creation of a solid and sustainable economic platform for bilateral interaction.
Uzbekistan is one of the largest trade partners of Kazakhstan. Our countries account for about 70% of all trade in Central Asia. At the end of last year, trade turnover increased by 30% and for the first time reached the milestone of $5 billion. We are actively working to bring mutual trade to $10 billion," Prime Minister said.
He added that the Government of Kazakhstan will make every effort for progressive development of cooperation with Uzbekistan across the whole spectrum of bilateral interaction.
For his part, Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that strategic agreements between the two countries are systematically realized. This includes cooperation in trade, transportation and water sector.
All the issues we have are moving forward. I think there is not a single unresolved issue. In terms of trade, the projects we have agreed on with the President of Kazakhstan will help us reach new frontiers," the President of Uzbekistan said.
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Kazakhstan to reduce special tax regimes
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Deputy Prime Minister - National Economy Minister Serik Zhumangarin announced special tax regimes will be improved in Kazakhstan, Kazinform News Agency reports.
One of the most debated issues of the draft Code is special tax regimes. The number of special tax regimes will be reduced from the current seven to three, he told the Majiis session.
In particular, a new privileged regime will be applied for self-employed workers, a special tax regime on the basis of simplified declaration, and a special tax regime for farms households.
As earlier reported, the Kazakh Government suggested reducing the VAT accounting threshold to 40 mln tenge.
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Price of Brent oil down below $64 per barrel on ICE for first time since April 26, 2021
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The price of futures contracts of Brent crude oil for June 2025 delivery has dropped below $64 per barrel on London's ICE for the first time since April 26, 2021, according to trading data, TASS reports.
As of 1:09 a.m. Moscow time (10:09 p.m. GMT, Sunday) the Brent price was down 2.41% at $63.97 per barrel.
By 1:27 a.m. Moscow time (10:18 p.m. GMT, Sunday) the price of Brent futures contracts had extended losses to 3.25% reaching $63.45 per barrel. Meanwhile, the price of futures contracts of WTI crude oil for May delivery was down by 3.36% at $59.92 per barrel.
The continued drop in oil prices follows an April 3 statement by OPEC, which announced that eight OPEC+ member countries would accelerate production growth in May to 411,000 barrels per day, up from the initially planned 135,000 barrels per day.
According to experts interviewed by TASS, the decision aligns with the current balance in the oil market. The situation is favorable enough for the alliance to begin restoring previously reduced production volumes, despite the ongoing decline in prices.
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Domestic tourism grows by 44% in Kazakhstan over 5 years
Kazakhstan’s domestic tourist flow grew to 9.6 million in 2023 from 6.7 million in 2019, Kazinform News Agency cites the National Statistics Bureau.
After the fall in 2020, domestic tourism of Kazakhstan rebounded, surpassing pre-pandemic levels in 2021. Last January-September, the country's hotels welcomed 6 million domestic travelers.
The Almaty mountain cluster and Shchyuchinsk resort area remain the most popular places to go. Last year the said regions ranked among the top three priority destinations.
Among the most popular tourist areas in Kazakhstan are the Almaty mountain cluster, Shchyuchinsk resort area, Mangistau resort area, Alakol resort area in Zhetsyu and Abai regions, Balkhash resort area which recorded a rise in tourists by 17% against the last year.
Kazakhstan’s domestic travelers rose to 8.6 million people since 2022, while outbound tourism reached 7.7 million.
The number of domestic visitors was 6,657,500 in 2019, 4,463,200 in 2020, 6,910,100 in 2021, 8,607,600 in 2022, and 9,569,700 in 2023 and is projected to rise as high as 10.5 million in 2024.
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March economic snapshot: Regional and sectoral inflation insights
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The Bureau of National Statistics' most recent annual inflation figures revealed notable rises in a number of industries. Prices for consumer products, housing utilities, services, and transportation increased over the same period last year, the Bureau of National Statistics reports.
Compared to March last year, tariffs for cold water increased by 88.4%, water disposal - by 23.7%, central heating - by 19%, hot water - by 14.6%, electricity - by 14.3%, gas transported through distribution networks - by 13.3%, garbage collection - by 11.1%, payment for housing maintenance - by 11%.
Prices for services of organization of comprehensive recreation increased by 47.3%, connection services - by 13.9%, health services - by 13.4%, maintenance and repair of personal vehicles services - by 12.9%, hairdressers and personal service establishments - by 12.6%, catering services - by 11.3%, recreation and sporting activities services - by 9.2%. Travel by rail passenger transport increased by 23.6%, city bus - by 11.2%, air passenger transport - by 10%. The cost of renting housing increased by 14.9%.
The price level for audiovisual and photographic equipment increased by 48%, jewelry and watches - by 26.6%, new cars - by 21.6%, carpets and other floor coverings - by 13.9%, clothes and shoes - by 10.9%, furniture and household items - by 10%. Liquefied gas in cylinders rose in price by 23%, firewood - by 14.8%.
Increases in prices was noted for potato by 66.4%, bulb onions - by 32.2%, cabbage - by 27.3%, mineral and drinking water - by 17.1%, sunflower oil - 16.8%, confectionery - by 15%, tomatoes - by 14.9%, bananas - 14.6%, alcoholic drinks and tobacco products - by 13%, butter - by 12.2%, fruit and vegetable juices - by 11.4%, beef - by 11.2%, gold drinks - by 11.1%, fish and seafood - by 10.6%. A decrease in prices was observed for buckwheat by 17.7%, eggs - by 8.3%, carrot - by 7.4%, rice - by 6.3%.
Regionally in March 2025, the inflation rate exceeding the republican average was in seven regions, of which the highest was in Astana city (13.3%), Karagandy (12.1%), Akmola (12%) regions.
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Need to focus on optimising business processes
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At the Government session chaired by Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov considered issues of development and digitalisation of public services, primeminister.kz reports.
The report was made by the Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Zhaslan Madiyev. On the work of CONov and the procedure for providing services to the public reported Chairman of the Board of the Government for Citizens State Corporation Arman Kenzhegaliev, on the implementation of socially important projects in the "e-Government" General Director of BTS Digital Nurtay Abilgaliev, on the order of public services in banking systems Chairman of the Board of Kaspi.kz Mikhail Lomtadze and Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Holding Corp. Timur Turlov.
According to the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry, today in Kazakhstan the population is provided with 1382 public services, 1265 of which are provided in electronic format (91.5%), and 117 in paper format.
Prime Minister noted that on the instructions of the Head of State since 2020 active work on simplification and debureaucratisation of public services, creation of a unified system of e-Government is being carried out. Special attention is paid to improving the accessibility and convenience of online services. To date, the work carried out has allowed Kazakhstan to enter the top 10 countries in the world in the provision of digital public services. Thus, the proactive format provides, for example, automatic assignment of IIN to a newborn, registration of birth certificate via SMS and automatic calculation of benefits. Positive results of interaction with banks were also noted.
In general, we need to focus on optimising business processes in public services so that users get the necessary maximum "in two clicks". In addition, according to the Head of State's instruction, we need to actively implement artificial intelligence. First of all, on the platform of ‘electronic government’. Its application should ensure smooth operation of information systems of state bodies and will help to simplify access of the population to services," Olzhas Bektenov emphasised.
Prime Minister emphasised the importance of smooth operation of e-Government, in this regard it was instructed to take additional measures in terms of improving server equipment and software. In addition, the need for widespread introduction of high-speed Internet for further expansion of online services was noted, which will provide full access to digital services for all citizens, regardless of where they live. It is also necessary to optimise the costs of the state budget, including by transferring the maximum number of state services online. Special attention should be paid to the protection of personal data and digital security.
Due to the lack of centralised monitoring in the process of providing public services, there are increased risks of data leakage, which leads to an increase in cases of Internet fraud. Olzhas Bektenov instructed state bodies to complete the connection of all information systems to the service of controlling access to personal data by the end of this year. At the same time, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry together with interested government agencies should work on a permanent basis to increase the responsibility of professionals working with personal data. It was also noted the importance of toughening the punishment for violations in this area.
Following the Government session Prime Minister gave a number of instructions:
- to modernise the portal of e-Government with the launch of elements of artificial intelligence by the end of the year;
- to timely implement projects to provide Internet in remote settlements, as well as to solve the issues of financing the provision of public services in all rural post offices;
- together with interested government agencies, to ensure that the most popular services provided by the Population Service Centres are converted to electronic format by the end of the year;
- to regularly conduct explanatory work with the population on new electronic services, rules of use and receipt, observance of simple security measures for personal data.
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