Kazakh leaders express hope for economic recovery in 2010

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev expressed the hope, at the beginning of the year, for a full economic recovery in 2010 and urged the people to get united for national prosperity, Xinhua reported.
   Despite global financial turmoil, Kazakhstan had achieved a lot in the past year by creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, attracting foreign investment of 25 billion U.S. dollars and launching over 170 new industrial projects, Nazarbaev said while reviewing 2009.
   He added that the foreign exchange reserves had reached 52 billion dollars and the food production had hit record high in 2009.
   The president called on his people to get united and strive for the nation's prosperity in the new year when the first "Five-year Plan" is to be implemented and the country takes the rotating presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
   Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan initiated, starting from Jan. 1, common customs tariffs under an agreement to form a common customs union, which would offer more opportunities for the Kazakh enterprises, Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov said.
   Kazakhstan's economy increased by 0.5 percent to 1 percent in 2009, higher than earlier government prediction of 0.1 percent, a clear sign of economic recovery.