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At the Almaty Investment Forum, Almaty Mayor Bauyrzhan Baibek made a passionate appeal to the attractiveness of Almaty for investment. Indeed he is doing a great job in the renovation of Almaty. While I truly believe that the mayor is sincere and doing a great job, we still have significant problems under the surface which portray a very different Kazakhstan than the one being marketed to potential investors.

The continuing restrictions on religion, along with the new law of government monitoring all cell phone communications, communicate a different message regarding the respect and value of the protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens who represent the human capital, whose empowerment the Kazakhstan government claims to be a priority. This is sending a confusing mixed signal to the international investment community, which honestly are suspicious of the sincerity of Kazakhstan to present itself as a reliable and stable investment destination.

While the Soviet Union has discontinued, there unfortunately remains a Soviet-era mentality still all too prevalent in post-Soviet Kazakhstan culture. The primary policy is not the empowerment of people, but rather control. Economic freedom to do business in reality is reserved for an elite connected to people in government. The ordinary citizen does not enjoy the same opportunity, protection of rights, or easy access to capital markets to realize their desire to open a small business.

From a macroeconomic perspective, this is the critical missing component of the Kazakhstan economy. In the West, 90% of businesses are small and medium enterprises, in which two out of every three people are employed. This provides the secure hedge for an economy during economic downturns and drop in the prices of commodities such as oil and gas, upon which Kazakhstan’s economy is largely based. When the price of oil dropped by 65% in 2016, the Kazakhstan tenge dropped by precisely the same percentage in value – 65%.

It is critical for Kazakhstan to diversify its economy into a broad portfolio, based primarily on solid small and medium enterprises created and run by its citizens. But this comes at a cost — a step of faith in the trust of the people. Rather than control being the primary goal, the government must realize its role is to serve the people. The role of government should be primarily to protect the rights, property, and freedoms of all of its citizens; and to create the infrastructure for SMEs to be successful, including access to affordable capital markets. For it is not oil and gas which create economy. People create economy – only when they are free to do so.

Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus described this brilliantly in an experiment he conducted with his students. Seeds from a tall tree were planted – some into a small pot, others in a large field. After a decade, the seeds which were planted into a small pot yielded a tree which grew only to half a meter in height. However the seeds which were planted into an open field grew to their normal height.

The difference? The seeds representing the potential of citizens to create wealth are dependent upon an atmosphere of freedom where they can expand and develop. This includes access to the capital markets and infrastructure to help ensure growth, without the distractions and interference of people wanting bribes or restrictive micromanagement.

Kazakhstan not only has loads of natural resources. Far more importantly, Kazakhstan has a lot of talent. And that talent is its people. As Kazakhstan seeks to fulfill its 2050 Plan to become one of the top thirty economies in the world, each citizen has a vital role to fulfill. Government leaders are important to devise the strategy, create the infrastructure, and to protect the rights and property of its citizens.

Entrepreneurs are the vital people who dream and create innovative new products, goods, and services which can be exported into the global economy – thus giving increased value to the tenge. And most of all, ordinary citizens – of all backgrounds, ethnicities, and beliefs – bring their gifts and talents to these businesses and themselves provide new ideas and processes, which make Kazakhstan businesses sharper and more competitive in global markets.

Kazakhstan can! But we must trust one another, value one another, and thereby respect the rights and property of each other. Corruption, theft, and injustice must have no place in our culture. We must have a moral foundation of honesty, caring, and a strong work ethic. Here is the role of religion to provide the moral instruction in culture.

Kazakhstan awake. Realize your full God-given potential and future. Work together, respect the rights and property of one another, give back to the community, care for the young people and elderly, care for the poor and disadvantaged, love God – become one of the top thirty economies in the world! Realize your potential – Kazakhstan can! God bless Kazakhstan.