ECONOMIC SECURITY OF KAZAKHSTAN: APPLYING FOREIGN EXPERIENCE

The purpose of the research is to identify the conceptual foundations of economic security and analyze the best practices and experience of developed countries in Europe, North America and Asia in ensuring the country's economic security. Methodology – legislative acts, decrees of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, data from the Department of the Bureau of National Statistics of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the World Bank, the British Ministry of Defense, scientiﬁ c works of foreign scientists are used as a theoretical and methodological basis for research. Methods such as analytical, statistical, historical review, and search are used in the research process. The received information was analyzed and structured. Originality (value) of the research – understanding the conceptual foundations of the functioning of the economic security system will allow in the long term to achieve sustainable economic growth and increase the competitiveness of the country and each region. Findings – the article describes the history of the emergence of the concept of "economic security", examines the content of the concept of economic security, opinions of economic scientists, internal and external risks of the economic security of the country. In addition, the main problems of stability of the economy of the country are presented. The foreign experience of ensuring economic security is analyzed, on the basis of which the ways of improving the system of economic security of the Republic of Kazakhstan are formulated.


INTRODUCTION
The purpose of the research is to identify the foundations of the concept of economic security and aspects of foreign experience in achieving the country's economic security, on the basis of which recommendations will be developed to ensure sustainable economic growth of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan is actively developing. At the same time, the issues of strategic management are not suffi ciently adapted to the ongoing processes due to the static nature of the planning system and the fragmented activities of potential participants.
In modern conditions of deepening the processes of globalization of the world economy with an active impact on the economy of scientifi c and technological progress and the spread of these processes to the formation of a security system, it is legitimate to talk about improving national regulators. In situations of uncertainty, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the questions of overcoming the economic crisis, improving the living standards of the population and, more importantly, achieving sustainable economic growth have become more acute than ever. The tasks and challenges faced by the Republic of Kazakhstan due to the pandemic, and the global shifts and changes that followed it, should be resolved thanks to a stably functioning, comprehensive system of ensuring economic security.
The participation of Kazakhstan in various economic, political and other associations determines the use of integrated assessment tools and ways to ensure the economic security of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which has unique natural, economic and strategic resources. growth falls, but the education level rises. It increases the rate the technological progress growth and leads to an even greater increase in the demand for human capital.
By the end of the XIX century and at the beginning of the XX century classical and neoclassical schools of economic thought dominated, whose representatives opposed the state intervention in the market mechanism, and adhered to the assertion that the so-called "invisible hand" operates in the market, which levels out problems arising in the economy, such as an unemployment or falling prices. These doctrines and theories have shown their failure during the Great Depression, the global economic crisis of [1929][1930][1931][1932][1933], which arose in the United States and then spread throughout the world. They were replaced by Keynesian theory and monetarism, highlighting the importance of the government regulation in the fi eld of monetary and fi scal policy.
At that time, much attention was paid to the national security, the defense industry, while the term "economic security" itself had not appeared yet. They started talking about the protection of the country's economic interests after the adoption of the Law about "National Security" in the United States of America (the USA) in 1947 for the fi rst time. In addition to the defense and foreign policies, issues of the economic policy were raised. Due to the planned structure of the economy, the issues of the economic security were not considered in the same Soviet Union (USSR).
Finally, this term was approved in the 1990s. The interpretation of the concept is quite diff erent if we take into consideration certain scientists' opinions. The problem is that the economic security is a fairly broad concept that it is at the intersection of various sciences, such as economics, jurisprudence, political science, and social sciences. However, scientists and researchers have defi ned the economic security in diff erent ways.
Below there is a table which lists the Russian scientists, as well as their defi nitions of this term (table 1). Table 1 -Defi nitions of the concept «the economic security» defi ned by various researchers.

Researchers
Defi nition of the concept of "the economic security" V. Pankov "This is the state of the national economy, which is characterized by its stability, "immunity" to the eff ects of internal and external factors that disrupt the normal functioning of the social reproduction process, undermine the achieved living population standard, and thereby cause increased social tension in the society, as well as a threat to the existence of the state". V. Rubanov "This is the ability of the national economy to ensure the nation welfare and stability of the internal market, regardless of the action of external factors". V. L. Tambovtsev "Under the economic security of a particular system, one must understand the totality of the state properties of its subsystem production, which ensures the possibility of achieving the entire system goals". L. I. Abalkin "This is the state of the economic system, which allows it to develop dynamically, eff ectively and solve social problems, and in which the state has the ability to develop and implement an independent economic policy". V. L. Savin "Economic security is a system for protecting Russia's vital interests. The objects of protection can be: the national economy of the country as a whole, certain regions of the country, certain spheres and branches of the economy, legal entities and individuals as subjects of economic activity". Note -compiled by the authors based on [1].
Sustainable development is a state of the economic system of a country or region in which economic agents, resident institutions are able to withstand external and internal threats to sovereignty, economy, ecology and other spheres of life. In fact, this is the main goal of economic security. Achieving a stable state of the economy of a country or region should be carried out at the level of state bodies, local governments, commercial and public organizations, etc.
Thus, it can be summarized that economic security is a set of conditions for the state of the economic system, under which its eff ective and dynamic growth is achieved, which allows satisfying the needs of an individual, citizens, the state, and protecting their interests.
When defi ning the concept of "economic security of a region", it is necessary to designate that a region is a limited area in the territory of the country or outside it, which diff ers from other areas in its own natural, geographic, economic, historical, demographic, and cultural characteristics.
The economic security of the region is a set of measures designed to achieve constant and sustainable development of the region's economy. On the territory of the region, processes may arise that pose a threat to the economic security of the state. On the other hand, thanks to separate territories, the state implements and promotes its own economic policy, which aff ects the state of the country's economy.
The Republic of Kazakhstan is a democratic, legal, social, unitary state with a presidential form of government. Administratively, the country is divided into three cities of republican signifi cance -Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent, 14 regions and a city with a special status, Baikonur, leased by Russia until 2050.
There are the following types of regions: donor -regions and recipient -regions in economic science. The fi rst type includes territories rich in fi nancial, economic, natural resources, with suffi cient economic independence to manage the local budget for their own purposes, in particular, to stimulate small and medium-sized businesses. The recipient regions include underdeveloped regions that are almost or completely dependent on grants, subsidies and other payments to the budget from the state and richer regions. Achieving uniform development of regions is complicated by various geographical, historical, natural, economic, and cultural characteristics.
According to data for 2019, the GRP (Gross Regional Product) of the developed regions exceeds the GRP of subsidized ones by 15 times in the Republic of Kazakhstan [2].
At the same time, only four regions belong to the economy donors: the capital Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Atyrau and Mangystau regions. The remaining 13 regions are subsidized.
In modern conditions the development of globalization of the world economy, the introduction of innovative methods and technologies, with constantly changing economic and geopolitical situations, the question of ensuring the country's economic security and its individual regions is acute. Generally speaking, the economic security (in abbreviated form, ES) presents a situation of the state's economy, in which a stable long-term economic growth is achieved, the society's economic needs are eff ectively met, political stability and the state's interests in the international arena are ensured. It should be noted that the economic security is the material basis of the state national security and it does not only play an important role in the socio-economic development of unions between countries, but also the world as a whole. Thus, the economic security is closely interconnected with the defense, information, environmental and other types of the country security, as it is necessary to take into account the economic aspect of certain aspects of security. Summarizing all of the above, we can conclude that the economic security is a complex socio-economic state, which is realized through the coordination of various institutions within the country and abroad, which fulfi lls the task of creating the population's high living standard, ensuring the country's economic independence and an eff ective management at all economic levels.
The objects of the economic security include its economic system and individual elements: natural resources, production and non-production assets, a real estate, fi nancial resources, economic structures, a family, individuals and etc. The subjects of the economic security include the state and its institutions, establishments, public and private departments of the economic sector.
Among the factors that infl uence the state of the economic security of the region include such interrelated categories as "risk", "threat", "challenge" and "danger". They should be viewed in the following order ( Figure 1).
A distinction should be made between concepts such as "economic risk" and "economic threat". Economic risk is the possibility of an unstable situation, leading to a decrease in economic stability. In other words, it is a probabilistic event that can potentially bring the economy from a normal state to a crisis one. Below are the options for defi ning the concept of "economic risk" (table 2). Table 2 -Defi nitions of the concept «economic risk » defi ned by various researchers.

Researchers
Defi nition of the concept of "economic risk" S. I. Ozhegov "…the possibility of danger, failure; action for luck in the hope of a happy outcome"; M. V. Gracheva "…the possibility of an unfavorable situation or unsuccessful outcome of the enterprise's activities, which manifests itself in the failure (incomplete achievement) of the goals and objectives"; V. V. Glushenko "…the possibility of a positive (chance) or negative (damage, loss) deviation in the process of activity from the expected or planned values". N. A. Rykhtikova "economic risk is the objectively existing probability of the occurrence of unfavorable circumstances in the process of carrying out the fi nancial and economic activities of the organization, caused by the infl uence of factors of the external and internal environment". Note -compiled by the authors based on [4]. Note -compiled by the authors based on [3] A threat to economic security is a phenomenon, process, situation that can have a direct or indirect negative impact on diff erent parts of the national or regional socio-economic system in the short or long term. Threats impede the realization of goals and the solution of problems of ensuring economic security [3].
In Russia, the defi nition of a threat to security was fi rst mentioned in the RF Law of March 5, 1992 No. 2446-1 "About security" [5]. According to the Law, a threat to security is a combination of conditions and factors that endanger the vital interests of an individual, society and the state.
According to the candidate of economic sciences and professor Gurov M.P., a threat to economic security is a direct or indirect possibility of causing damage to constitutional rights, freedoms, decent quality and standard of living of citizens, sovereignty and territorial integrity, sustainable development, defense and security of the state [6].
One of the inherent properties of a threat to economic security is uncertainty, which means, in a broad sense, inaccuracy or incompleteness of information. Measuring the likelihood of a threat is a diffi cult task. The most striking and recent examples of threats to economic security with a high level of uncertainty include the COVID-19 pandemic, the many negative consequences of which have increased instability in the global economy and in all spheres of human life.
There are internal and external risks to the economic security of the state. They are presented in the table  below (table 3). They are related to each other, that is, the emergence of one risk leads to the emergence of several. International emergencies.

Failure of information systems
The impact on the information system from the outside Shadow Economy Criminalization Note -compiled by the authors Each structural element of economic security -economic, social, technological, production, defense, political, energy, informational, environmental -is characterized by indicators that are used to assess the level of economic security of a country or region. They can be absolute or relative.
When analyzing the economic security of individual countries or regions, it is necessary to rely on the main macroeconomic indicators that give an overall picture of the state of the economic system, its stability and mobility. These include the growth rate of GDP (gross domestic product), the population's life level and quality, the rate of infl ation, the unemployment rate, the economy structure, the society property stratifi cation, the state technical base economy, R&D expenditures (research and development), competitiveness, import dependence, openness of the economy, the state's internal and external debts and others.
When determining the certain countries' level of the economic security, it is important to rely on the criteria that convey the real state of aff airs most accurately. So, GDP cannot be the main criterion for calculating the economic security, due to its various disadvantages. This macroeconomic indicator does not take into account stocks of the human capital and natural resources, inequality in monetary income and etc. Many alternative indicators have been developed that take into account a wider range of data, including the number of years required to complete secondary education, the literacy rate among the population and other indicators of the human capital to solve this problem.
One can single out the Human Development Index (HDI) among such indicators, which assesses the country or region's human potential, a genuine progress indicator (GPI), which includes 26 (twenty-six) indicators and it is the main argument of the supporters' concept "unprofi table growth". However, there is no indicator that would ideally refl ect the current economic and social situations of the country from diff erent angles.
At present, an analysis of foreign experience demonstrates that there is no single approach to ensuring the economic security of a country. According to experts, the approach to the defi nition of the "economic security" is between the concept of economic science and the theory of international relations. Another reason is that this concept is relatively new both for Western countries, and, in particular, for the countries of the former CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). Initially, in the 80s of the XX century, the term "national economic security" was used [7]. This term arose during the economic crisis in the United States in 1970, when the defl ation problem, a characteristic of the economies of the early 20th century, was replaced by a decrease in the money supply and a drop in the general price level (you can recall the Great Depression of 1929-1933), the infl ation problem came (an increase in the money supply, leading to the depreciation of the national currency and an increase in the general price level).
In the 1970s, the infl ation rate in the United States reached 5.5 %, and over twenty years, from 1965 to 1985 it has quadrupled [8; 9; 10] ( Figure 2). A similar trend was observed in Western European countries. Note -compiled by the authors based on [11] In the conditions of the resulting stagfl ation, the economy has not had to face it yet, priority policy directions were developed to ensure the country's economic security in the United States. These include an increase in the competitiveness of local produced goods, the development of cooperation in the trade and economic spheres, and a decrease in the number of foreign loans [12].
The 1990 memorandum can be called the fi rst program in the United States aimed at ensuring the economic security. It refl ected the defending position of the country's interests in the international arena and in technological areas. For coordinating policies to ensure the economic security, an Interdepartmental Working Group was created, which identifi ed and assessed threats to the economic security and compiled a catalog on their basis. The experience of the United States in providing ES, taking into account all of the above, it is rather diffi cult to transfer to the Republic of Kazakhstan's realities, due to the diff erences in historical, geographical, political and social aspects. One of the key points is the protection of private property and competition, especially in small and medium-sized businesses. Small businesses are represented mainly in agriculture in Kazakhstan [13].
When analyzing the foreign experience of the economic security, one should pay attention to Japan, especially to the post-war period of the second half of the 20th century. At that time, the country was devastated economically by the world wars and a lack of minerals.The rapid growth of the economy of the Rising Sun Country, accompanied by the attraction of a large volume of foreign investment and the expansion of trade cooperation with other countries, would have been impossible without the adoption of doctrines, one of which was drawn up by the Prime Minister of Japan and a leader of the Liberal Party Yoshida, and the doctrine of Comprehensive National Security. Thus, Japan's ES was aimed at close cooperation with the United States and its allies in political, economic and military aspects. First, the security of the Japanese islands, political stability in the region were ensured, thanks to the support of US policy, and, as a result, a triangle was created between the US, Japan and Europe. Despite the lack of natural resources, the country's economy showed unprecedented growth throughout the second half of the 20th century. GDP growth rates reached 5.6 % [14].
When looking at European states, France's experience in ensuring economic security should be taken into account, which, as in the above countries, was based on the document. In this case, it is the National Security Act, passed in 1964. One of the criteria in the development of the Law was to reduce the dependence on external factors in priority sectors of the economy. This can be associated with the concept "diversifi cation", which means the development of several industries, mainly knowledge-intensive, in order to increase production effi ciency and sustainable economic growth achievement, independent of one specifi c industry. For example, the oil industry in Kazakhstan accounts for approximately 70 % of the country's entire economy. During the economic downturn that occurred in 2015-2016, many macroeconomic indicators, including the rate of GDP growth, decreased due to the national currency devaluation and the fall in oil prices. President Nursultan Nazarbayev noted the importance of diversifying the country's economy repeatedly in order to achieve social and economic well-being in his Messages.
When analyzing Western European states' experience in the fi eld of ensuring ES, most of them (for example, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy) pay much attention to the protection of entrepreneurial activity among the main criteria, including the competition development and monopoly restriction [15]. This is the main peculiarity of ensuring the economic security in the European Union (EU) countries. Since each country has a small territory individually and, accordingly, limited material and labor resources, the adopted laws and concepts of the economic security are aimed primarily at strengthening relations between EU members to achieve high competitiveness relatively to other developed countries and the United States. This decision is due to historical events in the XX century, namely, the decrease in the role of the Old World in the international arena because of two world wars and the economic crisis.
It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that among the considered EU members, only France and Spain have ES laws and concepts adopted at the legislative level. On the other hand, there are no such regulations (NLA) in the UK, Germany or Italy. The main provisions for ensuring the economic security are contained in the country's legislation itself in.
The Republic of Kazakhstan is the largest and most economically developed state in Central Asia. This region consists of fi ve countries -Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan [16]. More than half of the total GDP of the Central Asian region falls on Kazakhstan. At the same time, the dynamics of GDP growth is lower than in other countries of the region due to the higher comparison base.
The Republic of Kazakhstan possesses signifi cant deposits of mineral and energy resources -out of 110 elements of the periodic table, 99 have been identifi ed in the bowels of the country, 70 explored, more than 60 are used, including 8 % of the world's iron ore reserves and about 25 % of uranium. The country has one of the most powerful oil and gas potential in the Caspian zone -Kazakhstan accounts for about 3 % of world oil reserves and 1.2 % of natural gas, and the country continues to increase production and export of energy resources. Kazakhstan is also one of the main wheat producers in the region. In Central Asia, heavily dependent on commodity exports and remittances, GDP may contract 1.7 % in 2020 [17]. There are three main factors aff ecting the economic downturn. First, there are actions taken by governments in the region to save lives -closing borders, limiting travel and economic activity. Targeted fi scal support measures for households and businesses have only partially mitigated the impact of the pandemic. Despite the fact that most of the quarantine restrictions in the countries of the region were lifted by September, economic activity is still at a low level. In Kazakhstan, activity in the retail and entertainment sectors is still one-third lower than in January 2020, while retail sales fell by almost 12 %.
Kazakhstan system of ensuring the economic security should be based on the geopolitical position of the country, the current economic situation, world political and economic processes, the most successful foreign experience. It should be noted that as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, the question of strengthening the national economy and reducing its dependence on one specifi c raw material -oil has become acute. According to the Applied Economics (AERC) Research Center experts' forecast, during the collapse of oil prices in March 2020, the growth of the nominal cash income will be slowed down to 3.9 % along with nominal wages. In addition, real money income is expected to fall by 4.9 %, which is also because of the decrease in exports and imports and with similar processes taking place in Russia [18]. Thus, an urgent need arose not only for a more accelerated economy diversifi cation, but also for the protection of the country's interests. Since economic agents are interconnected with each other, problems in one corner of the world will certainly aff ect the republic in the long term, even if it does not have trade or other agreements with the most distant states.
When reviewing foreign experience in ensuring economic security, there is a diff erence in approaches depending on the countries. For example, in the US, the authorities carry out regional policy by developing centralized nationwide programs. That is, the state is the initiator of the creation of programs in which the states participate, which are provided with monetary support. For example, coastal zone management programs. At the same time, regional authorities and interested groups of the population are actively involved in planning and coordination, which is combined with a centralized approach to solving problems. One of the main tasks of the state is to reduce inequality in the development of regions. Comprehensive programs are being developed, commissions are being created uniting several states, which coordinate regional development through forecasting and implementing indicative plans [19].
In the European Union (Denmark, Spain, Sweden), economic security consists in the development of national programs based on economic policy analysis. These programs are integrated into the national strategy. In addition, the EU member states cooperate with each other in the fi eld of environmental and biosphere protection. Initially, in the EU countries, regional policy was implemented through regional programs approved by the governments of individual countries. However, as countries with less developed economies (Greece, Spain, Slovakia, etc.) joined the community, the need for more coordinated actions for the even development of regions and the elimination of diff erences between them increased.
A diff erent approach is observed in countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, where regional programs operate. Despite the fact that inequality among regions has decreased, this approach also has negative aspects, for example, excessive bureaucracy at the state and local levels, as well as the incentive to develop the region at its own expense [19].
In international practice and the scientifi c community, one of the most discussed alternatives to GDP is the GPI, which is a generalized indicator consisting of 26 diff erent socio-economic and environmental parameters. The diffi culties in using this integral indicator are the lack of statistical data, diff erences in methodological calculations, which complicates the comparison of GPI in diff erent countries and regions. This indicator is used instead of GDP in Maryland and Oregon. On the territory of the countries of the former USSR, GPI did not receive distribution due to the above reasons [20].
If we analyze a foreign experience in ensuring the economic security, the geopolitical and economic situations in Kazakhstan, then we should focus our attention on the EU countries. It means that the formation the economic security should be unifi ed for the participating countries, or agreed. It is necessary to highlight the main priorities in the further development of the national economy and identify the industries that require priority attention. In the republic context, it is the agro-industrial branch (AIB) and digitalization. The country's products should be competitive and delivered faster to fi nal consumers, subject to the free trade between the participating countries in the EAEU. Agriculture has a great economic potential, which is not fully disclosed to this day in the republic. Its share in the structure of GDP by industry is 5.8 % for 2018. In addition, there has been a steady decline in the share of agriculture in the structure of GDP since 1990, after the collapse of the USSR (Table 4). Note -compiled by the authors based on [21] Owing to the introduction of modern agricultural technologies, as well as improved communication between producers and consumers, Kazakhstan can become one of the leading countries not only within the EAEU, but also in Europe and Asia. It is also necessary to increase consumer confi dence in the food industry, in particular, in the supply of fi nal products and in the use of technologies. For example, the belief in openness and transparency of food producers is closely linked with consumers' confi dence. It has been demonstrated in the research conducted in fi ve European countries [22]. It aff ects directly on the production profi tability. Thus, consumers' confi dence is of great interest for the subjects of the food system and the state.
In addition, it is necessary to introduce widely digital technologies into various aspects of the society life in the current globalization context. It concerns easier access to the Internet and mobile communications throughout the country, the use of INOCR achievements in the production for increasing labor productivity, establishing communications between producers and consumers, and widening tools for promoting goods and services [23]. A lot of work has been done in the Republic of Kazakhstan to create and improve the egovernment system. In the future, it is planned to use similar systems by enterprises for fl exible and timely provision of goods and services. Of course, taking into account all the above, the role of science and education is increasing.

RESEARCH RESULTS (CONCLUSIONS)
Economic security is a complex, broad topic that aff ects various spheres of life: economic, political, social, demographic.
This research provides defi nitions of the concepts of "economic security", "economic security of the region", the diff erences between the concepts of "risk" and "threat", formulated by Kazakhstani and foreign scientists.
The foreign experience of achieving economic security in the United States of America, Canada, EU countries, Japan is analyzed, diff erences in approaches to ensuring stability and sustainable economic growth are shown. The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), used as an alternative to GDP, is considered. It is noted that in the US state of Maryland, an indicator of true progress is used, and in Oregon, based on the GPI calculations, a regional budget is drawn up.
Based on the results of a review of foreign experience in ensuring economic security, the experience of the United States and the EU in ensuring economic security and eliminating the uneven development of regions was taken into account.
It is also necessary to pay attention to the countries of Western Europe and identify priority sectors, the development of which will stimulate the diversifi cation and strengthening of the country's economic position in the international arena.