Independence is the people's main value. From the first days of sovereignty, Kazakhstan has been following a confident path of development and prosperity, which lead to large-scale achievements and successes in all spheres of the life of society and the state.

It was during the years of independence that Kazakhstan reached qualitatively new frontiers in all sectors of the national economy. Experts told РrimeМinister.kz about the importance of this historical event and the achievements of Kazakhstan for 27 years.

Thanks to the independence and wise policy of peace and concord of the Head of State Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan is among the strongest states in the world. The model of dynamic development brought the country to the front ranks of the fast-growing states of the world. Today it is impossible to underestimate the historical power of the choice made by the people of Kazakhstan in 1991 — the choice to live in a free, independent country, in peace, harmony and trust with each other, to determine their own destiny, the life of subsequent generations and build their successful future. From the first days of independence, Kazakhstan has set itself the goal of building a legal democratic state and a just civil society, in which the main person is his rights and interests.

Alua Zholdybalina, head of the department of social and political research at the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President, believes that the notion of independence is sacred to Kazakhstanis.

“Our people well feel, understand and appreciate the dignity and importance of our independence. Independence provided us with an excellent opportunity to conduct our own policy in our country and position ourselves as a member of the international community,” said Zholdybalina.

Also, according to the expert, the development of regions is of great importance in the growth of a strong state.

“One of the achievements of independence is the level of development of our regions. The economic and social potential, achievements and quality of life in the regions of the country contribute to the stable and balanced development of the united Kazakhstan. The prosperity of each region is the prosperity of Kazakhstan, which means that in the future each region should become a region with its own brand, development features and economic orientation. Economically strong and socially developed regions are the key to the sustainable development of Kazakhstan,” the expert noted.

Experts of the Institute of World Economy and Politics under the Foundation of the First President of Kazakhstan - Elbasy, in turn, spoke about the role and position of Kazakhstan in the world community, and also noted the wide opportunities that have been opened to Kazakhstanis thanks to independence.

According to the expert Zhumabek Sarabekov, for 27 years of independence, the republic has gone through a very complicated and interesting way to strengthen its statehood and develop its national potential. Having successfully coped with the task of transition to a market economy, the country was able to lay the foundations for sustainable economic growth. Kazakhstan managed to build a new system of government, which ensured the implementation of large-scale social reforms.

“Kazakhstan is deservedly regarded as a state distinguished by the harmonious and stable development of inter-ethnic relations. Thanks to all this, Astana today is a recognized leader in Central Asia. Thus, over the years of independence, the national economy has grown 20 times, which allowed Kazakhstan to become one of the 50 most competitive economies in the world. In addition, Kazakhstan was able to create real favorable conditions for doing business — over 27 years of independence, more than 300 billion foreign direct investments were sent to Kazakhstan. According to this indicator, we are the leaders among the post-Soviet states,” said Sarabekov.

As the expert noted, it is also important that over the years Kazakhstan has managed to overcome the “geography” trap. Location far from the world's oceans was previously considered by many to be a weakness of Kazakhstan, but through large-scale modernization of the transport infrastructure, including the construction of new roads and railways, as well as the development of port facilities, the country is gradually turning into a land bridge between Europe and Asia.

It should be noted that a verified and strategically competent foreign policy has become an important guarantee for the stable internal development of Kazakhstan. Being at the junction of the geopolitical interests of such major powers as Russia, China, the European Union and the United States, Kazakhstan was able to build equidistant relations with all centers of power. And today, Astana is positioning itself as an authoritative subject of international relations, which makes a serious contribution to strengthening strategic stability and security.

At the same time, as Sarabekov emphasized, at the present stage of development, new challenges are emerging for Kazakhstan.

“Today we are facing an aggravation of the geopolitical struggle between the powers. Its negative consequence is a sharp narrowing of the space for maneuvers. The global economy is experiencing a rollback of globalization, which can lead to serious disruptions in the entire global supply chain. At the same time, fundamental changes are taking place in the technological structure, which are accompanied by the large-scale introduction of IT into industry and a departure from obsolete production. All these factors dictate the need for further modernization of Kazakhstan and structural reforms,” said the expert.

Experts of the Institute of World Economy and Politics Radik Temirgaliyev stressed that for each person independence is, first of all, his personal freedom.

“This is an opportunity to freely receive information, freedom of self-realization. People are free to do business, creativity, etc. Now Kazakhstanis can be found all over the world. People are free to study, work, live in foreign countries. This is, after all, comfort,” the expert concluded.

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