At the VII interregional forum of Kazakhstan-Russia cooperation “Sustainable development and high technologies” President Nursultan Nazarbayev proponed initiatives for pooling efforts in innovations’ development. The focuses are adoption of advanced technologies, alternative energy and mainstreaming of cooperation in water resources, which is particularly topical with the nature anomalies in this year.

From theory to practice

The plenary session of the forum was a little delayed as the two presidents stayed longer than they expected at the exhibition of innovations displaying Kazakhstan’s new approaches in innovations policies and advanced technologies in housing and public utilities (HPU), and the “Irgetas” engineering lab of the East-Kazakhstan D.Serikbayev state technical university arrested their interest for quite a long time too.

The university rector was showing the two state leaders around.

At the HPU exhibition the two presidents took a special interest in sunrays and rainwater use to provide homes with water and electricity with and distance e-meters to measure electricity consumption with.

At the East-Kazakhstan university they were also shown around the “Altai” HT park – a synergy of scientific research, test-design, academic and business efforts aimed at HT output. The park comprises 13 research labs, 7 innovative companies, a patent-information department, exhibition halls, modern telecommunications systems and production workshops.

In the forum’s frames N.Nazarbayev and D.Medvedev talked over the outlook for trade-economic interaction, Customs Union, Interaction within CSTO and other topics.

Inferring lessons and going ahead

Addressing the forum President Nursultan Nazarbayev referred to importance of cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russian regions, to the recently launched Customs Union of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, which stimulates development of direct ties between our countries’ regions. -This year turnover amounts to USD 8bn, which is 40% above the preceding year index,- he cited, but there are no grounds for self-complacency.

-The lessons of the unprecedented world economic crisis and climatically hard year reconfirm that there is no alternative to integration, and in the post-crisis time overcoming raw-orientation in production is coming to the foreground, which is feasible only under innovative economy, N.Nazarbayev pointed.

Given all that both to Kazakhstan and Russia HT development is a really important cooperation area that could boost the regions’ potential and their populations’ welfare. RK President also referred to creation of Kazakhstan-Russian venture fund of nano-technologies with the share of “Rosnano” and “Kazyna Capital Management” as a good example of sci-tech cooperation.

The number of JVs is annually growing, of which the exhibition and the range of business agreements are indicative. And it is not accidental that the forum’s venue was the East-Kazakhstan state technical university, for it hosts the “Altai” HT park – a template of innovative strategy.

Broaching RK state program for accelerated industrial-innovative development (AIID) containing support measures to priority branches and industrial projects the President said that in this year alone 142 new businesses worth in total over USD 5mn investments were launched, and with success of the state program up to the year 2014 the volume of economy will grow 1,5 times.

Another indicative case quoted by N.Nazarbayev is Astana New International university opened this summer that had attracted labs of 9 top world universities, which is a good start-up and that is forming three research Centers – for life sciences, for energy research and a Multi-subject instrumental center. Apart from it intellectual schools are created in all the country’s regions.

In this connection he suggested establishing partnership relations with the Russian scientific centers and universities, pointing at that to a developed science and education infrastructure Russia boasts of, an innovative town (innograd) “Skolkovo” in Moscow suburb.

-With pooled efforts we could make a breakthrough in many areas. Both Kazakhstan and Russia are clearly in need of developing new technologies in agro-industrial complex, chemical industry and effective extraction of mineral resources and their complex procession, N.Nazarbayev accentuated. The agrarian research center in Akmolinsk oblast and the currently a-building metallurgy Center in East-Kazakhstan oblast were offered as possible cooperation venues. Besides new technologies save the environment, it was emphasized.

To build roads and turn the rivers

On HT use N.Nazarbayev offered: first – development of a single protection system against technogenic and natural disasters to ward off such catastrophes as the one in the Gulf of Mexico. It in the first place concerns the Caspian region. Measures need be taken to prevent forest and steppe fires too.

Second – cooperation in water resources. The drought shallowed the Ural river, and the Irtysh river problem wants tackling too. -Unfortunately, the President regretted, there is no single complex program for a balanced use and protection of water resources .

Third – rational use of energy resources, energy-saving technologies, economic incentives for a more effective use of the resources and development of alternative energy. Kazakhstan’s and Russia’s plans in it have to be synchronized.

Another important cooperation area is transport-transit complex. Kazakhstan is constructing the West China-West Europe motorway, and a speedier construction of its Russian section, running via Kazan and Moscow would synchronize completion of the project.

Then housing and utilities economy was brought up with the problems of worn out infrastructure fraught with accidents, and with mismanagement in it. In both the countries it is under reform and it would be useful to work jointly in this area too.

-The exhibition is a good start, - N.Nazarbayev believes, also suggesting setting up an association of the two countries’ regions, or a secretariat for a dialogue venue.

Way for sustainable development

The Russian President thanked his Kazakhstan counterpart and all the Kazakhstanis for help in extinguishing the fires this year in Russia, for the help to the Russian schoolchildren too. He evidently implied the action of RK science and education ministry – humanitarian assistance to the Russian schoolchildren (school kits and uniform) who had lost everything in the fires. It all weighs 10 tons and the sum of over 12mn tenge.

D.Medvedev agreed that our competitiveness largely depends on innovations and that both the countries wield a vast potential in raw materials, which is clearly not enough to make good. – Prerequisites for cooperation in innovations are there, he admitted, including developed horizontal ties. On this level over 3 thousand JVs are active, with 400 of them in the borderline area.

-Economic modernization is a must and we need to recreate single technological chains, and that’s where the regions could step in.

The Russian President also broached energy and transport cooperation, feasibility studies for construction of a new navigation artery between the Caspian Sea and the Azov- Black Sea basin, migration policy, specifically economic migration.

Russia has changed its legislation enabling a direct application of EU technical regulations on the Russian territory, suggesting Kazakhstan followed suit in order to facilitate contacts with EU.

The Russian President supported N.Nazarbayev’s initiatives.

Stages of deep integration

RK minister for economic development and trade Zhanar Aitjanova made a performance report on the commissions issued at the previous forums, saying that 20 intergovernmental and interregional agreements and also programs for cooperation enhancement had been signed and implemented. The forums gave a start to big projects.

The deputy-PM – minister for industry and new technologies Aset Isekeshev said the forums helped find contact points and pool efforts. The focuses are to be production and science-technological cooperation, curtailing administrative hurdles for innovative output, facilitating licensing procedures and protection of intellectual property.

The RF minister for natural resources and ecology Yury Trutnev dwelt on joint development of mineral resources fields, trans-border including, attaching a special significance to cooperation in rational water use. He referred to amendments in the two countries’ water legislation, pending inter-governmental agreement on trans-border rivers’ use and protection, need for recovering the Ural river’s eco system, and development of a trans-border and specially protected “Altai” natural zone.

The EKO governor Berdybek Saparbayev shared his vision on interregional cooperation, offering to enhance it in innovations on the basis of the EKO HT zones that are currently under creation.

The Altai governor Alexander Kaplin noted an over 1,5 times increase of the turnover with Kazakhstan within the last year. An important cooperation direction, he said, is energy transfer on the Ekibastuz-Barnaul power line to the energy-thirsty Altai.

The meeting was crowned by signed inter-governmental agreements on inter-regional and border cooperation; on JV in the Imashev gas field exploration; on joint use and protection of trans-border objects. Contracts were also signed between the EKO and three border districts.

Victoria Shevchenko

Ust-Kamenogorsk

Photo: Sergey Bondarenko, Bolatbek Otarbayevя