Kazakhstan’s National Development Strategies: An Assessment

Central Asia Policy Brief No. 14, December 2013

By Richard Weitz

Kazakhstan-2050 strategy affirms the goal of making Kazakhstan, ranked as the world’s 51st most competitive country in 2012, among the 30 most advanced countries by 2050.

Kazakhstan’s long-range planning reflects a conscious sense of political transition to a post-independence successor generation.

Despite past efforts at diversification beyond the export of oil and gas, most non-resource sectors of the economy continue to suffer from low productivity and competitiveness.

Kazakhstan’s membership in an enlarging Eurasian Economic Union largely under Moscow’s control may affect its economic well-being and autonomy.