Your Excellency, 

Deputy Chairwoman of the Senate, Ms. Perepechina,
Distinguished Members of Parliament,

National partners,

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to today’s workshop on “The Role of Public Finances in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.” On behalf of the United Nations Development Programme, I would like to express our sincere appreciation for your participation.

This marks our second major gathering dedicated to dialogue on the vital role of public finances in advancing the SDGs. We are truly honored to continue this important partnership with the Parliament of Kazakhstan. 

We are witnessing steady and meaningful progress in Kazakhstan’s journey toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The establishment of the Parliamentary Commission has significantly strengthened the institutional architecture supporting the SDG agenda. Today, the Government’s implementation efforts are supported by systematic and sustained parliamentary oversight. The integration of sustainable development principles into budget formation, legislative processes, and regional development strategies presents a powerful opportunity for a qualitative breakthrough. Over the remaining five years, this approach can help pave the way for achieving our national priority goals by 2030, ensuring that sustainable development becomes a core driver of inclusive and forward-looking policymaking.

Parliaments play a pivotal role as guardians of the public interest. They are instrumental in shaping and evaluating public policies, and in overseeing the allocation and use of public finances. Through committee work, informed debates, and rigorous audit mechanisms, parliaments ensure that transparency and accountability are upheld across all levels of governance. Their engagement is essential to ensuring that financial decisions align with long-term national objectives, including the SDGs.

In the context of our shared commitment to the SDGs, this role becomes even more significant. Parliamentary oversight is essential in aligning government revenue, expenditure, and financing with national development priorities, including the SDGs. 

Such alignment not only promotes accountability and transparency, but also minimizes the risks of misallocation or misuse of public resources—ensuring that every tenge serves the people and supports a more sustainable and equitable future for all. 

With the recent adoption of the Budget Code, Kazakhstan has taken an important step toward strengthening its fiscal policy framework. The updated Code introduces a series of forward-looking measures, including fiscal risk statements, fiscal rules, integrated fiscal forecasting, and the analysis of how investment projects contribute to national GDP. It also increases the powers of budget programme administrators through mechanisms such as block budgeting and reinforces the role of parliamentary oversight.

While the Budget Code does not explicitly require the integration of the SDGs into planning, budgeting, and monitoring systems, it lays the groundwork for a fiscal management system that supports the harmonization of strategic national priorities with budgetary resources. This presents a timely opportunity to advance the SDG agenda through more coherent and aligned public finance decisions.

The agenda of today’s workshop focuses on specific aspects of the ongoing fiscal policy improvements in Kazakhstan, with particular emphasis on the evolving mandates and functions of Parliament. This workshop has been carefully designed to deepen your understanding of public financing for the SDGs, and to explore how these approaches can be effectively applied in practice.

Dear Members of the Parliament,

The results of your work are already tangible. A systematic approach to SDG monitoring has been established, and the interaction between Parliament and the Government is now conducted in a much more responsive and structured manner. Your leadership and commitment are critical to ensuring that national financial strategies are aligned with the principles of sustainable development and that public resources are directed toward delivering meaningful results for people of this country.

We are committed to continuing this form of capacity building on an annual basis, each time introducing new elements to further enhance the oversight and decision-making capacities of Parliamentarians in the context of public finance and SDG implementation.

UNDP continues to be a trusted partner, providing new knowledge and expertise in the most strategic areas of the Commission's work. 

Once again, thank you for taking the time to participate in this important workshop. 

I wish you a productive, insightful, and engaging session.

Thank you!