After Nursultan Nazarbayev’s successful reelection to the presidency on April 4, Kazakhstan has hosted a string of high-profile economic meetings aimed at boosting its standing in global affairs and putting forward a number of proposals about how to further economic modernization and diversification in line with contemporary challenges to the world economy.

In the beginning of May, President Nazarbayev addressed the Fourth Astana Economic Forum, a large-scale gathering attended by more than 2,000 guests, including seven Nobel Prize winners, two former presidents, acting heads of government and prominent experts. Taking a leaf out of the book of last year’s Forum, in which most discussions focused on ways to overcome the consequences of the financial crisis, Nazarbayev called upon the international community to support his initiative of signing a global pact for joint regulation of the world economy. “The global economic policy for future development should be based, as I understand it, on coordinated macroeconomic management, global regulation of markets – from raw materials to financial instruments, and an efficient currency system” the president said, also pointing to the urgent need for ensuring food security at the regional and national levels.

Despite recurrent criticism about Kazakhstan’s proclivity to punch above its weight by suggesting highly unfeasible ideas, Nazarbayev reiterated his year-old proposal to devise a new reserve currency, capable of replacing both the dollar and the euro. He also invited foreign partners to invest money into his country’s booming agricultural sector, which is expected to provide up to 180,000 tons of grain exports by 2020. This will help to alleviate food deficits in parts of the world suffering from scarce harvests and overpopulation.

Two weeks later, Nazarbayev spoke at an international conference in Almaty dedicated to innovative technologies and their role in the generation of wealth and jobs. The head of state promised that by 2020, Kazakhstan would become a leading country of innovation with a highly diversified economy and a robust national science. For this purpose, twenty “intellectual schools” funded under special decrees will supply young researchers to the International IT University of Almaty and the British-Kazakh University as their future graduates. By mid August, Kazakhstan’s Parliament is expected to pass a bill regulating innovative activities, and national authorities are instructed to work out plans to introduce innovative methods of management into their daily work. According to official statistics, only 1,000-1,500 applications for patent registration are filed annually with the Ministry of justice. This trend should now be reversed by encouraging young inventors through extra funds for research and trial tests.

The innovation theme was once again mentioned at the May 18 Council of foreign investors meeting in Astana. This year’s gathering took place at the new Nazarbayev University and welcomed representatives of more than 200 companies and corporations as well as former leaders of Poland, Italy and the UK. In his opening remarks, President Nazarbayev reminded his guests that the 2010-2014 Accelerated Innovative and Industrial Development Program foresees a 50 percent increase of overall work efficiency in the majority of producing industries and a 100 percent increase in priority areas. Last year’s achievements included the successful implementation of projects worth US$ 5 billion, and GDP growth reached above 7 percent. Nazarbayev called upon major producers and exporters to increase the share of local content, i.e. the proportion of local specialists and subcontractors, in their business operations. He also paid special attention to energy efficiency and suggested that the flagships of Kazakhstan’s exporting industries set up partnerships with small and medium enterprises in order to teach them the best techniques of productivity management.

On May 20, Kazakhstan’s President attended the 20th session of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Astana. The start of this high-profile event coincided with the publication of the IMD World Competitiveness Scoreboard 2011, a rating of 59 countries analyzed by the prominent business school in Lausanne, Switzerland. According to the school’s latest findings, Kazakhstan ranked 36th, leaving behind Turkey, Italy and Brazil, among others. It was also recognized as an absolute leader in the CIS in terms of competitiveness and business facilitation. Nazarbayev attributed part of this success to the contribution of the EBRD, which has invested over US$ 5 billion into the country’s nascent market economy and attracted another US$ 9 billion since 1991. This enabled the implementation of around 140 projects, mostly concentrated in large urban centers. According to the President, the EBRD’s attention should now be focused on regional development, with a view to bridge the income gap between the capital and the provinces.

A day earlier, speaking from Minsk where the Customs Union Member States were conducting final negotiations before the abolition of external customs borders on July 1, Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov proposed Grigory Marchenko, the National Bank Chairman, for the position of the IMF Managing Director, in replacement of Dominique Strauss-Kahn.