Kazakhstan is emerging as the most dynamic economic and political actor in Central Asia. Over the past decade, the country made significant improvements in its allocation of resources, business climate, human development and quality of public administration. Building on this success, Kazakhstan has set a new long-term target to join the rank of the top 30 developed countries by 2050. Yet despite remarkable recent transformation, Kazakhstan continues to face a number of challenges which can undermine the sustainability of the country and its ability to achieve its objective of becoming one of the most advanced countries in the world. These challenges include growing regional disparities in wealth distribution; a persistently high poverty rate, particularly in rural areas; limited human capital; corruption and the need to strengthen the rule of law, democratisation and openness, including citizen participation in policy processes.