ASTANA, January 17. /ITAR-TASS/. Over years of independence, the republic of Kazakhstan has worked out its own model of development and its people “are proud for their country”, President Nursultan Nazarbaev said in his annual state-of-the-nation address on Friday.
Kazakh people had started looking to the future with confidence, and “according to surveys, about 97 percent of citizens note stability of their social situation and its annual improvement,” the president said, urging his countrymen not to fear the nuclear industry's advance.
“We should not forget about the prospects of nuclear power development,” he said. “The need for cheap nuclear energy in the world will only grow in the foreseeable future. The Fukushima syndrome is quite another thing. Where there are tsunamis, there are also earthquakes. But given that this kind of energy will be required as clean energy, we should stop lagging behind.”
Nazarbaev said Kazakhstan should become a country comprised predominantly of middle-class people. “Our major guidelines for social sphere development up to 2050 are reflected in concrete and indicative figures,” he said. “We should ensure 4.5 percent growth of GDP from the current $13,000 to $60,000.”
The share of city dwellers would increase from 55 percent to 70 percent of the population by 2050, the president said. “Cities and villages connected by crossroads of high-quality, high-speed transport routes, healthy lifestyle and development of medicine will make it possible to extend life expectancy of Kazakh people to 80 years and more,” he added.
Nazarbaev ordered the government to develop and implement a new model for public sector pay, starting from July 1, 2015. “It should increase wages of health-care workers by 28 percent, wages of education workers by 29 percent and wages of social workers by 40 percent,” the president said.