Measures to implement the instructions of the President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev given on Jan. 11, 2022, during his speech in the Majilis of the Parliament were considered at the government session chaired by the Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov. Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Serik Shapkenov spoke about the ongoing work in the social sphere.

According to the minister, a draft Social Code is currently being developed, which is planned to be submitted for consideration by the Majilis of the Parliament in December 2022.

The adoption of the Social Code will make it possible:

• to create a single source of citizens' knowledge about social rights and obligations;
• to consolidate the obligations and responsibilities of the state, employers and employees in the social sphere;
• to create conditions for the eradication of dependency through targeted social support for citizens;
• to create a new employment model by transforming the instruments of support measures;
• to introduce a mechanism for digital assessment of the well-being of Kazakh families and the proactive provision of social services.

“It is assumed that the adoption of the Code will improve the public's understanding of the fair social policy pursued by the state and qualitatively improve the standard of living of our citizens,” Shapkenov noted.

According to him, there are a number of proposals for a program to increase the income of the population. First of all, these are initiatives aimed at increasing incomes and employment in general. It is envisaged to introduce an Early Detection System of problematic groups of the population and NEET youth, for the targeted provision of individual support measures.

“With the help of information systems, it is planned to ensure control over the creation of jobs and employment within the framework of national projects being implemented,” Shapkenov noted.

An increase in the number of jobs, according to him, and ensuring the stability of the population's income will be facilitated by the creation of an electronic service for self-employed workers.

Second, together with NCE Atameken, a set of measures will be prepared to develop rural entrepreneurship. These measures will include the formation of master plans for villages, entrepreneurship training, soft loans and grants with guaranteed purchases of products and services. Particular attention, according to the minister, is paid to youth employment.

“Measures aimed at ensuring youth employment are currently being implemented — these are the Youth Internship and First Job projects,” Shapkenov informed.

One of the conditions for creating permanent jobs is the development of entrepreneurship.

Also, according to the minister, on behalf of the Head of State, the size of the grant will be increased from 200 MCI to 400 MCI, and a set of measures will be taken to strengthen the targeting and evaluation of business projects applying for funding.