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International Cooperation
 EU and Kazakhstan working for a brighter future
The collapse of the USSR 17 years
ago put the former Soviet republics on the map once again. Kazakhstan,
the ninth largest country in the world, has initiated and finalised a
number of reforms over the years. It is significant that the country
has taken great strides in the development of its market economy. For
the EU, this Central Asian state has the capacity to ensure stability
in the region. In 2005, the EU kicked off a project to support the
development of public services and standards in Kazakhstan.
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A panoramic view of Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
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The EU and Kazakhstan have been working together to make public
services accessible, time effective and user friendly. Speaking at a
conference in the Kazakh capital of Astana in December, officials said
that the quality of public services in the country can be guaranteed
harmoniously across all levels when Kazakhstani civil servants are
presented with accurate, as well as supervised, standards.
According to officials in the EU, Kazakhstan must set up and implement
such standards in order to comply with the law 'On the Introduction of
Amendments to some Legislative Acts in the Sphere of Administrative
Procedures'. Best practices and expert know-how offered on the part of
the EU will further strengthen public service standards in Kazakhstan.
To launch the project in 2005, the EU presented a set of pilot
benchmarks for 33 priority state agencies, such as the Tax Committee
and the Ministry of Health. Following this, the research team adjusted
the pilot criteria so as to make it compatible with views expressed in
public opinion surveys. The Kazakhstani public services gave the green
light to the model standards once they were put into their final form.
Part of the measures taken in the project involved a number of expert
seminars that were held in various areas across the country. The team
members were sure to include even small villages so as to ensure that
all public servants gain insight into how to best apply the standards,
as well as to evaluate the effectiveness and quality of their services.
'The introduction of performance standards will allow state bodies to
focus on the needs of customers and facilitate transparency and
responsibility with the Kazakhstani public services,' Serik Kaparov,
the Department Director of the Agency for Civil Service Affairs, was
quoted as saying.
According to the conference members, the standards developed, as well
as the know-how gained from the EU will give Kazakhstanis the edge they
need to implement and ensure high-quality public services across the
board. The conference was attended by ministry and department civil
servants, along with representatives from various Kazakhstani oblast
and city administrations, and foreign organisations.
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More information:
EuropeAid in Kazakhstan
The EU's relations with Kazakhstan
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