Regional policy is an integral part of the general policy of the state, directed on the effective use of territorial fact of life activity and management, to achieve the strategic goals and objectives of sustainable socio-economic development of the country.
Regional policy — part of the state policy directed on the organizing and streamlining the national territory in accordance with the goals and objectives of the country’s development. A prerequisite for regional policy is the heterogeneity of the state in the economic, social, political, class and mathematical relations, etc.
The regional policy of the state — the sphere of activity for managing the political, economic, social and environmental development of the country in a spatial, regional aspect and reflects both the relationship between the state and regions, regions among themselves. [1, p. 63]
The regional policy consists of several aspects (directions, levels), which include: the actual political relations with the regions; interbudgetary relations; general socio-economic and sectoral economic actions directly related to the interests of the regions, etc. All this is a regional policy in a broad sense; its borders are difficult to define, because in fact all state actions in a country that has a clear territorial organization can acquire such an aspect.
At present, the urgent problem of differentiated territorial development Kazakhstan is the development of measures to ensure a balance in regional development, support for problem areas, regulation of regional competition and equalization of socio-economic differentiation. This problem is typical for the country for quite a long period, therefore, from the effective regional reform of economic development of Kazakhstan, in fact, the future of the country depends.
Regional policy itself is a sphere of activity of the state and its bodies designed to ensure the economic development of a country in a spatial and territorial aspect, with the most rational allocation of productive forces and leveling the living standards of the population. At the same time, the main goal of the regional policy, as a rule, is to smooth out the most acute social and economic disparities between the individual regions of the country.
For Kazakhstan, divided administratively into 2 cities of national importance, including the capital of the country — Astana and 14 regions, the topic of developing and implementing an effective regional policy is relevant for two main reasons. First, the natural and geographical characteristics of the country’s territory, the parameters of which create significant risks for the implementation of agricultural work, industrial production, requiring the concentration of collective labor and capital and guarantees from the state. Secondly, in connection with the inefficient planning and implementation of key measures within the framework of the state direction in question and the uneven development of regional structures. Obviously, it is this side of the state’s regional policy that reflects such negative aspects as uneven and disproportionate development of the regions, inadequate assistance to the most backward regions, a weak inflow of investments into the regions, inadequate supply of jobs to the local population, high level of internal migration, etc.
Regional policy is usually an integral part of the national strategy for social and economic development and as such is entirely based on the philosophical concept of the power. However, just as often «get on» universal general economic categories and laws (for example, the law of value) With their subjective interpretation within the framework of individual states, and any specificity of the national regional policy is not in a position to note some general patterns of its implementation, irrespective of the type of country. [2]
Regional policy is an integral part of the national strategy of socio-economic development and covers the following main areas:
— determination of the ratio of the moving forces of regional development and ensuring their interaction (public and private sectors of the economy, internal and external factors of regional development and means);
— the ratio of national and regional aspects of development, central and regional levels of economic management;
— the recovery of the economy of backward regions and the development of new areas and resources;
— national economic issues (in a multinational state);
— problems of urbanization.
The regional policy aspects should also include regional aspects of the demographic, agrarian policy and other measures of state power.
The attitude of the state to each of these directions and the concrete measures taken on them constitute the content of the state’s regional policy.
The content of regional policy in virtually all developed countries (conducting an active regional policy) has common features:
— development of underdeveloped territories, reconstruction of the economy of depressed industrial regions;
— decentralization of agglomerations and concentration areas of industrial production;
— the formation of new industrial sites outside urban settlements that are not connected with existing industrial centers. [3, p.63]
Without such a policy of imbalance, both regionally and nationwide will grow.
Regional policy plays a significant role in the most developed countries, although in less developed countries regional problems are often more acute. This is due to the fact that the implementation of regional policies requires significant funds.
In developing countries, regional policies and the coverage by the next set of problems:
— Integration of all regions of the country into a single national market;
— Mitigation of regional disproportions and economic recovery of especially backward agricultural regions;
— Mitigating the contradictions between town and country, regulating the process of urbanization;
— More complete development of natural and human resources is possible;
— Rational placement of new industrial projects. [4, p.19]
Kazakhstan should not try to copy the experience of any one country, but it can find interesting and promising approaches for solving various regional problems in many states.
The meaning of the state regional policy lies in the turn of the ideology of dependency and dependence on central authorities, the formation of breakthrough (advanced) technologies of socio-cultural and scientific and technological development in the regions of Kazakhstan and, ultimately, the sustainable growth of living standards.
The political strategy of this phase is to focus on three main issues: poverty reduction, employment creation and social integration.
Sustainable development presupposes the obligations of the current generation before the next in terms of inadmissibility of accumulating economic debts, ensuring sufficient investment in education and health, rational use of natural resources, protection and restoration of the environment.
All deferred debts — economic, social and environmental — deprive future generations of their fair choice. Therefore, the strategy of sustainable human development must increase capital of every kind — physical, human or natural — in such ways as to support the ability of future generations to meet their needs at least at the level of the present generation.
Spatial differences in the provision of resources, the level of economic development and the quality of life of the population, infrastructural equipment, the ecological state of the environment, the severity of national and social conflicts are inherent in virtually all countries, regardless of their position in the world table of ranks. (Even in the G-7 countries, regional per capita income differs by states, provinces, etc. by 30-50%). These contrasts are constantly and everywhere produced due to the mismatch of economic and social, strategic and tactical development goals. Often there are problems of development (before development) of territories, especially in such vast countries as Canada, USA, Australia, China, not to mention Russia and Kazakhstan. [5]
It is clear that the goals and objectives of regional policy (as well as its forms and methods) of different states can not coincide and vary within very wide limits. At the same time, there are general, generalized goals inherent in the regional policy of almost all countries that implement it, without exception. This is primarily:
— creation and consolidation of a single economic space and provision of economic, social, legal and organizational bases of statehood (federalism in political, federal states);
— the relative alignment of the conditions for socio-economic development of the regions;
— the priority development of regions that have a particularly important strategic importance for the state;
— maximum use of natural, resource features of regions;
— prevention of environmental pollution, environmental protection of regional nature management, integrated environmental protection of regions, etc.
The main directions of the regional policy of the West European states are mainly associated with the fate of the so-called problem areas: depressed old industrial, underdeveloped (agrarian-industrial and extreme environmental conditions), excessive concentration of population and economy and crisis areas within the largest agglomerations,
The strategic goals of the regional policy of any state consist in stabilizing production, resuming economic growth in each of the regions of the country, raising the standard of living of the population on this basis, providing uniform minimum social standards and equal social protection, regardless of economic opportunities Regions. The same document sets out the main tasks of the regional economic policy, related in particular to the strengthening of the economic foundations of the territorial integrity and stability of the state, the achievement of an economically and socially justified level of complexity and rationalization of the economic structure of the regions, and so on.
In developing countries, regional policies require the involvement of new territories and resources in the economic circulation, the integration of various spaces into a single national market, the alleviation of the contradictions between the city and the countryside, the regulation of the urbanization process, etc. Here, two contrasting trends in regional development, The relationship of «center-periphery» (development «from above») and through «intra-peripheral diffusion» (development «from below»). In many respects this is the consequence of underdevelopment, since it is the most effective combination (merging) of both directions of regional policy: both «from above» and «from below». This is clearly demonstrated by the past experience of India, Brazil, Mexico and other countries. [6, p. 22]
The orbit of the regional policy includes such key points as:
— the correlation and interaction of the main driving forces of regional development: socio-economic structures and sectors (public, private, joint-stock, cooperative, mixed, etc.);
— balance of internal and external factors and means of regional development;
— the ratio of national (national) and regional aspects of development, central and regional levels of economic management (the level of regional autonomy, the degree of centralization of planning and management);
— attitude towards the task of optimizing regional proportions, raising the economy of backward regions, developing new territories and natural resources, and so on.
Among the set of economic goals, the most universal are:
— economic growth, involving an increase in the scale of production, improving the quality of goods and services and, ultimately, ensuring an improvement in the living standards of the population;
— Full employment, that is, the provision of work for all who wish and is able to work;
— economic efficiency — the desire to achieve maximum returns from the use of limited production resources while optimizing the costs associated with the solution of relevant economic tasks;
— a stable price level, that is, the absence of a significant increase or fall in prices (inflation and deflation);
— economic freedom, which gives the right to manage enterprises together with employees and consumers to make independent decisions in their economic activities;
— fair distribution of income, aimed at maintaining all categories of citizens involved in the production process;
— economic security — creating conditions for the normal life support of chronically ill, disabled, incompetent and other dependents;
— environmental safety — all types of economic activities should be carried out with a constant minimization of damage to the environment and human health.
This list of targets is typical for the country as a whole, as well as for its subjects. Differences arise only at the stage of realization of the goals, since the arsenal of means for their implementation by the state and the region is different due to the constitutional division of powers between them.
Any region, being a complex socio-economic system, has a multi-purpose direction of development. The trajectory and speed of movement of its economy depend on specific conditions: ecological situation, geodemographic situation, employment level, etc. These conditions, in turn, depend on the natural resource potential, the sectoral structure of the economy, the economic and geographical situation, the development of infrastructure, Ethnic composition of the population. Both those and other conditions change in time, which does not allow to single out economic priorities unequivocally and forever.
Both state and regional regulation of a market economy implies the fulfillment of the following conditions:
— the presence of free competition, that is, the action on the marketplace of a lot of sellers and buyers, and the share of each market entity is not able to influence the situation that has developed here;
— the possibility of obtaining exhaustive information about the state of the market, that is, each seller and buyer know all the prices in any part of the market (this condition is called transparency, or market transparency);
— the buyer of the goods takes a decision for purely business reasons, that is, it is not guided by any personal preferences.
One of the most important tasks of regional development is to overcome the differences in the standard of living of the population of individual regions. To fulfill this task, state programs for the economic development of individual regions, taking into account their economic level and features, are of great importance. Formation of technical and production complexes on the basis of unique natural resources.
The common regional tasks for all regions are the reform of the structure of the economy, its socialization, the predominance of the depressed state of individual regions, the creation of social infrastructure, the stabilization of the economy, the development of disused land, the development of interregional transport systems, the creation of an environmentally safe environment.
Among the new tasks of regional policy should include the worldwide development of export and import-substituting industries, the implementation of economic reforms, the creation of market infrastructure, privatization, the development of entrepreneurship.
The tasks of regional policy include the development of measures to compensate for regional differences. These are special subsidies, preferential loans, incentives for expanding investment activity in backward regions. Because of this, the previously backward regions are beginning to make progress in their development, while the former leaders may lose their economic position. Consequently, this process is dynamic, it requires constant attention to itself from the state. If this is not done, then the depressed areas will stop at all in their development, they will not have people, there will be no economy. [7]
Excessive industrialization and the high concentration of economic activities exacerbate environmental problems holding back economic growth opportunities. With free territory, it is possible to disperse production and thereby reduce the anthropogenic pressure on the environment. However, only in this way can not solve environmental problems — need advanced technologies, powerful treatment facilities. Therefore, taking care of the comprehensive development of science and technology, infrastructure is the primary objective at all levels of regional government.
List of literature:
- Gutman G.V., Miroedov A.A., Fedin S.V. Management of regional economies. M.: Nauka, 2012. — 211 pp.
- Akishev A.A. Regional policy in the context of political modernization in the Republic of Kazakhstan [electronic resource] — access mode.- URL: http : analitika.org (date of the application 2017.02.12).
- Goffe N. The social component of regional policy in the West. //World Economy and International Relations № 5, 2014. 63-70 pp.
- Ayzatullin K. Topical issues of socio-economic development of regions.
Astana, 2015. — 184 pp.
- Lapin A. Problems of regional economy: state and politics [electronic resource] — access mode. — URL:http : analitika.org (date of the application 2017.02.24).
- Omarov B.R., Omarov K.T. Organization and technology of regional planning of socio-economic development. – Almaty: Economy, 2010. — 255 pp.
- Aliyarov E.K., Baydarov E.U. » New Regional Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan as an important part of the Strategic Plan — 2020 in the context of the Message to people of Kazakhstan» New Decade — New Economic Growth — New Opportunities of Kazakhstan» [electronic resource] — access mode. — URL:http : sarap.kz (date of the application 2017.03.10).[schema type=»book» name=»ACTUAL PROBLEMS OF REGIONAL POLICY OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN» description=» The article deals with the essence, goals and objectives of the regional policy, foreign experience in the field of regional development. The theoretical aspects of the differentiated territorial development of the regions of Kazakhstan are determined and the problems of the development of individual regions are identified, taking into account their economic level and features.» author=»Rymbekov Azat Berikovich, Ainabek Kuandik Salihuly» publisher=»БАСАРАНОВИЧ ЕКАТЕРИНА» pubdate=»2017-05-16″ edition=»ЕВРАЗИЙСКИЙ СОЮЗ УЧЕНЫХ_ 30.04.2017_04(37)» ebook=»yes» ]