Impact+of+global+economy+and+trade+on+Kazakhstan+economy.

//The Motherland can get you warm better than fire. //

//There is a lot of gold in some places, // //but still the Motherland is dearer than gold. //



During the Soviet period Kazakhstan was an agrarian, raw materials supplier of the former Soviet economy, where the military industry played the major role. The main economic content of more than 10 years of independence has become transition from the central command planning to a market system. During these years, Kazakhstan has made considerable progress in implementing complex political, economic and social reforms to establish a democratic state with a market economy. media type="youtube" key="YGk-nTx3nDQ" height="315" width="560" Nowadays Kazakhstan is important to world energy markets because it has significant oil and natural gas reserves. With sufficient export options, Kazakhstan could become one of the world's largest oil producers and exporters in the next decade. But Kazakhstan's strategic aspiration is to become a modern, diversified economy with a high value added and high-tech component, well integrated in to the global economy. The energy sector is viewed as a good basis to achieve this goal.  The perspective of the Economy of Kazakhstan is closely connected with further integration into international economic relations, utilization of unique reserves of energy and mineral resources, vast possibilities to export industrial and agricultural products, optimum employment of country's transit potential and also with availability of highly qualified specialists in different spheres. The main driver behind Kazakhstan's economic growth has been foreign investment, mainly in the country's booming oil and natural gas industries. Since independence from Soviet rule in 1991, Kazakhstan has received more than 30 bln. US$ of foreign direct investment - the highest per capita indicator in the former Eastern Bloc.

Kazakhstan is used as an intermediate zone for the transportation of natural gas of the republics of Central Asia to Russia. The natural gas of Kazakhstan is transferred to Russia without any processing, but not to its users, even in the western region where the gas is extracted. Because of this, the main problem of Kazakhstan is the necessity of the improvement of usage within the republic and the modernization of the present infrastructure.



In spite of its remoteness from any ocean, being the bridge between Europe and Asia and having a huge territory laden with the high potential for transport (transit) between other states, Kazakhstan can form a world land bridge via its territory. Even in ancient times, the people who inhabited the territory of modern Kazakhstan and Central Asia completely took advantage of the neighborhood, establishing a route of the Great Silk Road. The total length of the Silk Road is 6,500km, from southeast China to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. A large quantity of goods and the exchange of advanced culture passed through these lands. Realizing these advantages, Kazakhstan has managed to make the first steps in the restoration of the route, using the most modern transport means.



Currently, Kazakhstan is connected with China by all types of modern transport (railway, highway, aviation) Practically, Kazakhstan can deliver cargo from European and Asian countries to any province of China, or to the countries of Southeast Asia. Sea transportation has been established through Iran, and mixed connections (railway and road) have been opened with Turkey. In May 1996, a short railway which extends to Iran and the borders of Turkmenistan was established. Thus, the Great Silk Road has been restored in a railway variant from the Chinese Far East to Europe. Kazakhstan is working together with China to develop the station "Druzhba". Millions of tons of cargo from many countries of the world will pass via this station in the near future. The electrification of the railways of the southern and northern sections is nearly completed. The radical reconstruction and development of Almaty international airport and other airports of the republic have already begun. Plans for the increase of the capacity of the harbor on the coast of the Caspian Sea are already in effect. "But for the speeding up of all these wide-scale measures, which are also of international significance, Kazakhstan needs investment. For one thing, investments are necessary for the development and modernization of the railways in the south, then for the modernization of ground routes and the system of aviation management.



Oil and gas is the leading economic sector. Production of oil and gas condensate in Kazakhstan amounted to 87.2 million tons in 2011, an increase from 74.5 million tons in 2010. 

Major oil and gas fields and their recoverable oil reserves are Tengiz (7 billion barrels); Karachaganak (8 billion barrels and 1,350 billion cubic meters of natural gas); and Kashagan (7-9 billion barrels). Starting in 2004, the Government of Kazakhstan increased its take of oil deals by increasing taxation of new oil projects. In 2007, the government amended the "Law on Subsoil and Subsoil Use."



<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: justify;">Agriculture accounted for 6.82% of Kazakhstan's GDP in 2010. Grain (Kazakhstan is the seventh-largest producer of wheat in the world) and livestock are the most important agricultural commodities.



<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: justify;">Agricultural land occupies more than 220 million hectares, about 68% of which consists of pasture and hay land. Chief livestock products are dairy goods, leather, meat, and wool. The country's major crops include wheat, barley, cotton, and rice. Wheat is the leading agricultural commodity in Kazakhstan's export trade. Kazakhstan harvests 14-15 million tons of wheat per year. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: justify;">

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: justify;">Since 1993, Kazakhstan's extractive industries have attracted $30.7 billion in foreign investment, which represents almost 76% of the total foreign direct investment in Kazakhstan for that period. Kazakhstan has significant deposits of coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, uranium, and gold.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: justify;">Kazakhstan's largest trading partner is Russia. In 2010 Kazakh exports to Russia accounted for 20 percent of all exports, followed by China accounting for 8 per-cent, Italy for 7 percent, Germany for 6 percent, and Switzerland for 6 percent. The United States accounted for less than 2 percent of Kazakhstan's exports. Russia was also the largest importer to Kazakhstan, accounting for 37 percent of total imports. Russia was followed by the United States, which accounted for 9 percent of imports, the United Kingdom for over 6 percent, and Italy for about 3 percent. Other trading partners accounted for less than 2 percent each. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: justify;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: justify;">Before independence 90 percent of Kazakhstan's trade was with Russia. After independence, the government committed itself to establishing the conditions for integration into the international market. These steps included price liberalization, through the reduction of subsidies and the deregulation of prices, as well as a balanced government budget through increases in taxes and cuts in government spending. The government also instituted a tight monetary policy through an increase in the Central Bank interest rate and encouraged foreign trade liberalization by lifting export and import licenses, granting permission to all firms to engage in foreign trade, and lifting tariffs. Kazakhstan also devalued the domestic currency to bring it down to the domestic market rate, and privatized and restructured state monopolies. The government sought to create a market environment through the legislative and regulatory reform of banking, capital markets, civil and contract law, and dispute adjudication. In order to cushion the social impact of these sweeping economic structural transformations, the government developed a social safety net. The Kazakh government has also pushed ahead with plans to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2002.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: justify;">**Kazakhstan's economic challenges** media type="youtube" key="V2D4xvVezwo" height="315" width="420"

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 * Kazakhstan: an arising Eurasian Power**