On March 25, 2020, Ruslan Dalenov, head of the Kazakhstani Ministry of National Economy, met with Masatsugu Asakawa, president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), to discuss measures on coronavirus prevention. The ADB is ready to assist Kazakhstan in the fight against the pandemic.
«ADB is committed to supporting Kazakhstan in its fight against COVID-19 and to helping limit the impact of the pandemic on its citizens. ADB’s assistance can include budget support, health sector support, and technical assistance to help maintain social cohesion and retrain the labor force toward sectors likely to emerge in the post-COVID-19 economy. ADB is also keen to revisit its portfolio and reallocate funds to better fit the government’s priority needs,» Asakawa said.
Besides the terrible impact of COVID-19 on public health, society and economy, lower oil prices are also suffocating all kinds of economic activities, trade, and employment.
At the meeting, Dalenov and Asakawa discussed possible assistance to Kazakhstan in obtaining medical equipment and employment support, as well as economic diversification in order to provide the country with more independence from commodity exports and to boost agriculture, IT sectors and E-commerce.
As of March 25, 2020, there were reported 79 cases of new coronavirus in Kazakhstan.
