This note summarises the monitoring work carried out by the OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Programme (ECP) as part of the OECD Central Asia Initiative. The work was completed in consultation with the government of Kazakhstan, funded by the European Union (EU), and co-ordinated on behalf of Kazakhstan by then First Vice-Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry, Mr Zhaslan Madiyev, whose support and involvement were particularly appreciated.
This report was prepared under the guidance of Mr Andreas Schaal, Director of the OECD Directorate for Global Relations and Co-operation, and Mr William Tompson, Head of the OECD Eurasia Division. The project was managed by Mr Grégory Lecomte, Head of the Central Asia Unit.
The author of this report is Ms Amélie Schurich-Rey, Economist and Policy Analyst, OECD Eurasia Division. Valuable analytical support was provided by Mr Dylan van de Ven, Junior Policy Analyst in the OECD Eurasia Division. Ms Anna Chahtahtinsky and Ms Elisa Larrakoetxea, Programme Administrators in the OECD Eurasia Division, provided unfailing administrative and logistical support. Mr Anatoly Kavada provided excellent translation services for which we are grateful. Thanks are also due to Ms Madina Nurakisheva, local consultant to the OECD, for her continuous support on the ground. The report was reviewed by Ms Anita Richter, Acting Head of Division and Senior Policy Analyst, Mr Umur Gökçe, Economist and Policy Analyst, and Mr Ali Fuad Turgut, Policy Analyst in the OECD South East Europe Division.
The project would not have been possible without the continuous support and dialogue with representatives of ministries and state agencies, the private sector, business associations, international organisations, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders. The OECD would like to express its gratitude to Ms Karlygash Akhmetova, then Head of the International Organisations and Regional Co‑operation Division of the Department of International Relations, Mr Altynbek Aitymbetov, Director of the Department of International Relations, Ms Assel Moldabekova, Counsellor to the Minister, Ms Nazgul Bazhayeva, Director of the Department of Digital Transformation, and Mr Arman Kenzhegaliyev, Head of Office at the MDDIAI. The OECD is also grateful to the Agency for Competition Protection and Development, the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Representatives of the private sector and business associations provided useful inputs during numerous discussions, and in particular, we are grateful to the Agrarian Credit Corporation, the Association of Broadcasting Operators of Kazakhstan, the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), Baiterek, the Chamber of Commerce, the Development Bank of Kazakhstan, the Digital Kazakhstan Association, KazakhExport, the Entrepreneurship Development Fund (DAMU), the Industry Development Fund, Kazakh Invest, Kazyna Capital Management, KazAgroFinance, QazTrade, and Zerde.
A number of representatives of the development community provided further support to the work. We would like to note the support of Mr Jean-François Marteau, Country Manager of the World Bank for Kazakhstan, and Mr Mikhail Bunchuk, Senior Digital Development Specialist of the World Bank in Central Asia.
The OECD is also grateful for the contributions made throughout the project by Mr Marco Bianchini and Mr Insung Kwon, respectively Project Co‑ordinator and Policy Analyst in the OECD Digital for SMEs Global Initiative (D4SME) at the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities; Ms Doris Põld CEO, and Mr Jüri Joema, Advisor at the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL), and Mr Gaspard Ferey, Head of the Data-Driven Regulation Unit at Arcep.
The European Union funded the project and provided important support. Thanks are due to Mr Johannes Stenbaek-Madsen, Head of Co-operation, and Mr Youri Skaskevitch, Programme Manager for External Relations, at the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan.