Kazakhstan is set to establish a unified database of scientists and experts as well as a state scholarship for scientific researchers. Such regulations are provided in the bill on science, which was adopted today in the Senate of the Kazakh Parliament. New rules include the legalization of the results of commercialization, the improvement of the system for supporting scientific projects and the expansion of the scope of competence of the National Center of Science and Technology Evaluation. These and other amendments stipulated in the document will increase the share of domestic science in the country’s economy, as well as its competitiveness, members of the Senate believe. They said that a total of 77 items were amended in the document. It was approved by the Senate on first reading.
“According to our statistics, the volume of innovative products in 2019 in Kazakhstan amounted to only 1.6 percent of the country’s GDP. Obviously, the main reason for that is insufficient funding for science. I am glad that this bill strengthens the intersectoral coordination of the Ministry of Education and Science. But, unfortunately, there have not yet been much systemic shifts in science. I ask the Minister of Education and Science to pay attention to the above-mentioned priority tasks in the development of science to shape a high-quality scientific potential in the country,” said Akhylbek Kurishbayev, Member of Senate, Upper House of Kazakh Parliament.
