The Chairman of the Presidium of NCE RK "Atameken" delivered the speech at the first national forum of businessmen on combating corruption

Timur Kulibayev noted the consistent work of the Agency in reducing the level of corruption in the country. However, according to him, in spite of all the taken measures, corruption remains present in everyday life.

"A clear confirmation of this – is the position of Kazakhstan in the international research study Transparency International - it occupies 123rd place by the degree of corruption, especially taking into account the instructions of the Head of State on the entry of Kazakhstan into top 30 developed countries. It is clear that punitive measures alone without the support of civil society won’t change the situation fundamentally. The National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, as an institution of civil society, initiated the today's forum. Only joint efforts of the state and society we can put a reliable barrier to corruption", - he said.

"What have we done? Jointly with the Government we have reduced to 72% the number of licenses and permits (from 1115 to 316). All of them are grouped in a separate law ("On permits and notifications"). Now for the introduction of new permits (licenses), officials must, in addition to the analysis of the regulatory impact on the business, get the approval of the Parliament. Scheduled inspections were canceled since 2015, the new risk management system was implemented. They are also united by one legislative act (The Entrepreneurial Code)", - stated Kulibayev.

The head of NCE also noted that together with the Attorney General's Office the NCE analyzes the control and supervisory functions. "The checklists of state bodies include more than 28 thousand requirements. In the field of sanitary and epidemiological surveillance, there are 63 sanitary rules, which imply more than 11 thousand claims to entrepreneurs. It is virtually impossible. It is a source of corruption, which is a huge scope for "dishonest inspectors". We suggest to exclude 82% of such requirements, leaving at least 2 thousand", - he said.

 In addition, according to Kulibayev, the National Chamber of entrepreneurs is engaged in the work on humanization of the law. "We have made more than 25 conceptual proposals to the Code of Administrative Offences. In particular, we have proposed to reorient the nature of administrative actions from punitive to preventive. The pressure on the business is made through criminal prosecution mechanisms. As part of this work, 20 proposals have been made for the humanization of the Criminal Code, in particular, on pseudo-entrepreneurship. Many entrepreneurs have become victims of pseudo-enterprises due to abuse of powers by investigative bodies and the imperfection of laws.We have offered to "reformat" the article and to take it out from the Criminal Code in the first months of 2017. After reviewing, the document will be submitted to Parliament", - he said.

The information on amnesty was also annunced, including for economic crimes, initiated by the Head of State on the eve of the 25th anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

 1) The Chairman of the Presidium of the Chamber drew special attention to the public anti-corruption examination of normative legal acts. Now the state bodies themselves develop and approve almost all the rules, regulations and other acts, that they is actually written for themselves, under their own narrow interests. "We need to involve the public extensively in anti-corruption expertise. We believe that it is necessary to conduct work in two directions: 1) the examination at the stage of development of new documents; 2) revision of existing instruments. We offer the Civil Service Agency together with us over the next year to conduct an anti-corruption audit of the regulatory framework relating to the business interests", - he said.

The Head of "Atameken" drew the attention of the forum participants to the fact that of all the appeals and complaints to the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, one in eight (13%) is related to procurement. "It is no secret that this area is most prone to corruption. In particular it concerns procurements of national holdings and companies. The volume of procurements of quasi-public sector is up 5 trillion tenge, which is more than the volume of procurements of the public sector by almost 1.5 times (3.4 trillion KZT). This is extremely important, as it concerns the funds from the National Fund", - he said.

 According to Kulibayev, in national holdings the prevention of corruption is hardened by closed procedures of decision-making, internal conflicts of interest, lack of criminal and administrative liability.

 "Such a thing as "corporate corruption", has not yet been reflected in the legislation, and in fact it does no less damage than corruption in the public sector. It is necessary to introduce legislatively strict measures of responsibility in this area, as well as to strengthen the control of intra-corporative procurement", - said the Chairman of the Presidium of "Atameken ".

Kulibayev is sure that it is necessary as much as possible to pass on to the "digitization" of relations between the state authorities and entrepreneurs for the leveling of the "human factor".

"We agreed with the Government that from next year, "Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship" will be taught at schools. Under this program, it is necessary to include special courses on anti-corruption culture. Since childhood, we have to educate the youth in the spirit of "zero tolerance" towards corruption. It is very important for us", - he said.

 Kulibayev also mentioned in his report that during this year's congress of "Atameken" was approved the Charter of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan on combatting corruption, which is based on voluntary business commitment to the implementation of effective anti-corruption mechanisms, based on international best practice. "We are confident that the implementation of the Charter will bring together the efforts of the state and civil society in the implementation of the national anti-corruption strategy", - he said.

 The Chairman of the Presidium also spoke about the Roadmap for 2017, which NCE approves in cooperation with the Agency. "This is a pragmatic document that includes specific steps. Firstly, we will analyze the risks of corruption in 16 areas and industries, starting with the tax administration, ending with the veterinary supervision, and this work will be carried out in the field, in all regions of Kazakhstan. Secondly, on the basis of this analysis before the end of the next year will be made concrete proposals to improve the legislation. Thirdly, separately at the beginning of next year will be made proposals on how to improve the anti-corruption mechanisms in the procurement of the quasi-public sector. The questions of anti-corruption culture in the society will not remain without attention", - he said.

Kulibayev stressed that it is necessary to create a "success story" in the fight against corruption. "Appeals of business should not be ignored by the Agency. Together all the tools will be used and all the structural units of the National Chamber and the Agency, including on the ground", - he said.

"Today's forum will give a new impetus to our joint work, it will allow to reach a new quality level. We would like to express our gratitude once again to the leadership of the Agency for the constructive and meaningful work in this direction. The fight against corruption – is the main component of the formation of a normal business environment for small and medium-sized enterprises", - concluded the head of NCE.