Success Stories
Kazakhstan

Kazakh Ministry of Justice Undertakes Reform of Public Service Centers Based On BEI Report

In early 2007, Kazakhstan began implementing a Public Service Centers (PSCs) Project to simplify and streamline the process of filing documents with Government agencies and other public services. Early experience with the PSCs, however, showed that they were not as successful as hoped. Based on a request by the Ministry of Justice, BEI recommended reforms that would improve how PSCs function, and that would help entrepreneurs deal with government more efficiently. These recommendations were accepted by the Government of Kazakhstan, and will form the basis for PSC reform in 2008, on which the Ministry of Justice and BEI will focus.


Entrepreneurs wait their turn to file documents or consult on their paperwork at a typical Public Service Center in Kazakhstan.

In his 2005 annual address to the nation, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s announced the government’s intention to establish “one-stop Public Service Centers” (PSCs) to provide citizens with a single point of contact for filing documents necessary for a number of regulatory processes including registration, re-registration and de-registration of businesses; registration of real property; and, registration of security interests. These PSCs are intended to improve the quality of administrative services, reduce bureaucracy, and optimize State processes. A Government of Kazakhstan (GoK) Resolution, adopted in January 2007, established an initial 31 PSCs throughout the country.

Although PSCs were welcomed by entrepreneurs, they have not operated as effectively as was hoped, and have not delivered the anticipated savings for businesses. To address the problem, the Ministry of Justice approached the USAID Business Environment Improvement (BEI) Project about conducting a joint assessment of the Centers, and together with BEI created a survey to provide useful feedback on PSC operations and suggested reforms As part of the analysis, front-office procedures used by PSCs were assessed through a survey of 37 entrepreneurs and 41 legal entities that had used the Centers. A number of fundamental problems were uncovered, including:

Price: high official fees were required for services.
Time: processing time was long, and the numerous errors made by PSC officials meant that documents needed to be re-submitted.
Access to the information: PSCs either did not display necessary information, or displayed information in a format that was difficult to understand.
Human Resources: PSCs had too few employees to consult on documents, and many clients were served out of turn through good connections. To move the process along more quickly, clients were often forced to use “facilitators,” at an extra fee.

Based on the analysis, BEI and its partner local independent associations provided the Ministry of Justice numerous recommendations for improving PSC services. Key recommendations included:

Increase the number of consultants who provide initial guidance, and improve qualifications required from new PSC employees.
Train PSC staff on efficient and correct procedures, introduce customer feedback systems, and install video monitoring to ensure that no corruption takes place.
Reduce the prices for notary and copy services in PSCs.
Make information needed by clients easily accessible, and display pertinent information publicly, at PSC sites. Offer needed information in both Russian and Kazakh languages.

The Public Service Center concept has a great deal of potential for streamlining government processes on which entrepreneurs are dependent, and for reducing corruption. In addition to USAID, other international donors such as TACIS, UNDP, and the World Bank are interested in supporting this useful mechanism.

BEI will continue to work with the Ministry of Justice to support implementation of PSC reforms recommended in its assessment, and will collaborate and coordinate with other donor projects to ensure synergies and maximum impact.

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