ASTANA. July 18. KAZINFORM /Marat Manaspayev/ At yesterday’s session of the Kazakh Government Culture and Information Minister Yermukhamet Yertysbayev presented six breakthrough projects that were developed by the ministry. These six projects are expected to lay the foundation of the new stage of national culture’s development.Mr. Yertysbayev told Kazinform news agency correspondent about the projects in greater detail. Mr. Yertysbayev, in your report at the governmental session you’ve mentioned that Kazakhstan managed to restore and accumulate the rich potential of the domestic culture. What further steps should we take in order to nail down these achievements? The recent economic growth of Kazakhstan has provided conditions for solution of the urgent problems. Due to support of the Head of the State and the Government the budget of the ministry has been raised in comparison with 2006 and has made KZT 40.3 billion. Owing to upsurge of financing and completion of the presidential program Medeni Mura Kazakhstan has overcome decline of its culture. We have indeed restored and accumulated the rich potential of the Kazakh culture. Our culture is moving towards a principally new stage of its development. At this new stage the Culture and Information Ministry will form a modern nationwide cultural and information environment integrated into the global cultural and information space and conforming to the standards of the most competitive countries of the world. The central objective of the ministry right now is to create a flexible, mobile and efficient guidance system based on the contemporary principles and standards. To achieve this objective we have outlined five key tasks. First of all, it is necessary to improve the management system of the ministry through its administrative reformation and to provide rational use of the budget and control of its effectiveness. Secondly, the reform of the management system of the cultural sphere should be conducted in accordance with the up-to-date requirements. Thirdly, it is crucial to enhance the competitiveness of the information space, to create the legal and organizational conditions for development of the local mass media, publishing industry and archiving in the light of the world advanced trends. The fourth, it is high time to create conditions for further consolidation of the domestic stability through developing democratic processes, upbringing patriotism and providing for peace and consent among people of Kazakhstan. And the last but definitely not least, it is essential to improve the language policy and strengthen the official status of the Kazakh language. In the new management system that we are introducing the culture is considered as one of the basic regulators affecting the socioeconomic development of the country, region and oblast. It will be a high creative power. The culture should become a humanitarian cluster of the new national innovative economy. Implementation of these tasks greatly depends on realization of six breakthrough projects. Can you tells us about them in brief? The first one is the introduction of the digital TV and radio broadcasting. Currently, the ministry is completing the work on the corresponding program for the years of 2008-2015 directed to creation of the conditions necessary for transition to the digital TV and radio broadcasting. The second breakthrough project is aimed at establishment of the multi-segment information broadcasting network on the basis of the national Kazakhstan TV corporation. It’s going to be the largest Central Asian news agency such as Reuters, BBC, Vesti-Russia. According to preliminary calculations, the realization of this project will require USD 500 million. The third project is the construction of the new up-to-date movie production studio. Unfortunately, the existing film studio - Kazakhfilm - does not withstand competition with its Russian, Chinese or European analogues. Due to various reasons it will be easier to build a new modern film studio not far from Almaty city. The Culture and Information Ministry has already prepared the corresponding project. The new movie studio will produce TV and video products of various formats (TV series, talk shows and etc.). To cover the expenses on construction of the studio making up to USD 300 million we plan to attract extra-budgetary sources. Three other breakthrough projects are a single information library system of Kazakhstan, Cultural project: trinity of languages and creation of the National Information Resource Center for Non-Governmental Organizations’ (NGOs) Development. The cost of the projects amounts to USD 100, 150 and 20 million respectively. Mr. Yertysbayev, realization of all these projects requires substantial financing on the part of the state. Have you managed to persuade the members of the Kazakh Government that it was necessary to increase financing of the cultural sphere? To achieve actual results in the cultural sphere it is crucially important to enhance financing of this sector gradually. This is a basic requirement of Kazakhstan’s entry into the 50 most competitive countries of the world. Hopefully, at yesterday’s session of the Government Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov voiced support to all our initiatives. And we feel that Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev supports us as well. Thank you for the interview.