Kazakhstan

Older workers in Kazakhstan are often an untapped resource and their potential value is not fully utilised in the labour market. Many older people are inactive compared to OECD countries; very few continue working beyond retirement age, and when they do it is often in the informal sector of the economy. This chapter analyses the reasons for older workers’ underrepresentation in the labour market, looking at four main issues: i) the demographic challenge and its impact on the employment prospects of older workers; ii) the policies that are needed to strengthen the “employability” of older workers; iii) the demand-side barriers to the hiring and retention of older workers; and iv) the policies that can make work rewarding for older workers, notably the design of the old-age pension system, as well as official and de facto early retirement schemes.

Over the past few decades, Kazakhstan has been imposing compensation (monetary damages) for environmental damage (or damages to the environment) via the judicial system. These damages are allegedly caused by emissions into the air from stationary sources above the emission limit value. The chapter compares Kazakhstan’s underlying concepts and practices for liability provisions in case of environmental damage with the experience of OECD member countries. It reviews the legal framework, the assessment of environmental damage and the links between environmental liability and financial security. It then provides recommendations to streamline the system of environmental liability, thereby implementing more amply and effectively the Polluter-Pays Principle.

Kazakhstan’s impressive expansion on the backbone of the extractive industry (oil and metals) relies on high rates of energy use, resulting in significant air pollution. In line with an ambitious aim to become one of the top global economies by 2050, much remains to be done to green the economy and converge towards OECD living standards. Further review of the regulatory framework regulating industrial emissions will be essential. Building on OECD previous analysis, this chapter analyses the system of environmental regulation and assessment for industrial emissions. It underlines how the design and implementation of the economic instruments (the environmentally related taxes) are primarily focused on raising revenues. This is contrary to the intention of the Polluter-Pays Principle. The chapter then turns to how these instruments impede energy efficiency and pollution abatement with heavy-handed non-compliance responses. Drawing from air pollution regulations and environmentally related taxes in OECD member countries, the final section offers some suggestions for reforms, which are then treated in detail in the following chapters.

Since 2013, Kazakhstan has been developing an ambitious digitalisation agenda. However, a large number of businesses, particularly SMEs, have not yet started their digital transformation. This report has assessed the remaining gaps in the digital framework conditions that would allow firms to do so and developed some actionable policy recommendations in cooperation with the government of Kazakhstan.

The overall purpose of WHAT-IF is to facilitate a policy dialogue aimed at identifying and prioritising investments and governance actions – typically associated with a MPWI – in a certain river basin. It does so by assessing the impact of certain investments and governance actions on the economic value of water in the basin with a breakdown of expected net benefits by sectors (foremost, hydropower and agriculture), by key groups of economic agents (producers, consumers, and the state) and by provinces (or countries).

Chapter 6 presents the VET system of Kazakhstan – its mandate, set-up and governance, and outlines some of the challenges the sector is facing, such as low prestige of VET education, low quality of student intake, limited relevance of study content, and lack of highly trained teachers. The chapter provides an overview of planned reforms for VET and discusses the comprehensive role assigned to the new holding company “Kasipkor” in kick-starting wide-reaching modernisation and innovation in VET in Kazakhstan, including the establishment of close partnerships with the private sector.

This chapter analyses the skills and competencies prioritised by Kazakhstan’s civil service to select and develop a fit-for-purpose workforce, in comparison with OECD countries’ priorities. Most OECD countries have introduced competency management which is also being piloted in Kazakhstan. The new competency framework is expected to valorise many competencies that are also common in OECD countries, namely leadership, values and ethics. The chapter also looks more broadly at how Kazakhstan and OECD countries are recruiting into the civil service, are training their workforce and managing career development. In this context most OECD countries have plans to increase mobility within the civil service; Kazakhstan could also benefit from higher mobility to support skills exchange and development, and to increase capacities for innovation.

This chapter recaps recent economic developments in Kazakhstan on its transition to a green economy. This includes new and amended environmental policies adopted since independence, as well as other strategic documents. It identifies the objectives of this report, including three research questions to move the country towards more robust and comprehensive regular measurement of green finance flows. It estimates investment needs for achieving such a green transition. This leads to discussion on why Kazakhstan should measure green finance flows and improve its statistical system for this purpose. The chapter also identifies important sources of finance that are excluded from the report, while recognising the need for future work to capture them.