The World Bank and the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms under the President of Kazakhstan organised a virtual roundtable that concluded that the country's progress in strengthening human capital has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Bank said in a statement.

The discussion aimed to facilitate a holistic and equity-oriented policy dialogue for informing investments and strategic planning to boost skills and productivity in the Central Asian nation. Since 2017, the World Bank has been leading a global effort aimed at human capital development with the intention of accelerating more and better investments in people for greater equity and economic growth.

During the meeting, the World Bank presented key findings of the Equitable Human Capital Development Framework Report for Kazakhstan that demonstrated declining productivity, growing inequality across Kazakhstan’s administrative regions and deteriorating health indicators amongst the population. The contribution of human capital to the Kazakh economy beyond extractive industries significantly declined, limiting the country’s capacity in producing high-value products.

“Today Kazakhstan’s economy lags in some key measures of innovation and competitiveness, and the state of skills development in the country is lower than in countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),” the statement said. “Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly lowered domestic economic activity with GDP falling by 2.6 percent in 2020 after expanding by 4.5 percent in 2019 and the poverty rate increasing from 6% in 2016 to 14 percent in 2020. Building back from this economic shock requires strategic and targeted reforms to diversify the economy into more complex, skill-based sectors in order to meet Kazakhstan’s 2050 goals.”

The report noted substantial inequalities in human capital indicators across regions and gender and in terms of socio-economic status in Kazakhstan. A child born to one of the richest 20% of households in the country could expect to accomplish 64% of his or her productivity, compared to 53% for a child born to one of the poorest 20% of households.

“COVID-19 has significantly undermined human capital development gains in Kazakhstan achieved over the last decade. The poorest and the most disadvantaged have been hit the hardest, and this will negatively impact their lifelong learning, future earnings, and socio-economic well-being. For Kazakhstan to enjoy sustainable growth, public policies and investments need to cater to the needs of the poorest and most disadvantaged regions and people. Greater emphasis is needed on the quality of education, skills development, and adult survival,” said Ayesha Vawda, lead education specialist at the World Bank Office for Central Asia.