At the annual conference of Astana Civil Service Hub leading experts, representatives of international organizations and authorized state bodies exchanged their experience and opinions on "Partnership for civil service excellence".

Mr. Alikhan Baimenov, Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana opened the conference stating, that “today era of globalization development of information and communication technologies, Internet, and social media sets new requirements to the quality and effectiveness of civil service systems. Public institutions tend to function in a quasi-competitive environment”. 

Mr. Norimasa Shimomura, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Kazakhstan, emphasized the importance of the Regional Hub as an unique partnership and cooperation network.

Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation Mr. Jorge Chediek stress "the role of the Regional Hub as a center of excellence in civil service was highlighted in several events, organized by UN Office, particularly at the 2016 Global South-South Development Expo and the First Regional Networking Forum for Directors-General of Development Cooperation". He expressed the readiness of the UNOSSC "to scaling up their work with ASCH with a view toward increasing capacities of the Hub to address the needs of countries in the region and beyond."

Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Mr. Yerzhan Ashikbayev highlighted that “the Regional Hub of Civil Service is a vivid example of the fruitful cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United Nations.” According to him, the Regional Hub contributes to the promotion of one the most important goals of the Plan of the Nation – development of the effective civil service as an integral part of the efficient government, meeting the demands of the citizens”.

OECD representative Mr. Edwin Lau noted the effectiveness of cooperation between the OECD Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate with the Hub and prospects for further expansion of cooperation.

At the conference, participants from 40 countries considered pressing issues and challenges faced by the countries of the region in the sphere of civil service, as well as the role of partnership and the Hub in their solution. The Heads of the authorized state bodies of Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Ukraine and Estonia took part in the discussions.

Mr. Shawn Steil, Ambassador of Canada to the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Francis Etienne, Ambassador of France to the Republic of Kazakhstan and Mr. Drago Kos, Chair of the OECD Working Group on Bribery in their speeches also stressed the role of the Hub in strengthening bilateral and multilateral partnership in the field of civil service.

The results of Hub's research generated much interest among conference participants, in particular, review named "Global and regional trends of civil service development" -a unique summary of the development and reform of civil service in Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, the Caucasus and the CIS over the past twenty years. Participants noted the practical benefits of analytical materials – case-studies on public services delivery, anti-corruption intitiatives, civil servants’ motivation and country profiles of the civil service of the participating countries of the Hub, as well as the high level of Hub’s journal publications.

In addition, there were discussed further perspectives and new opportunities for cooperation among the countries of the region within the framework of the Hub, which became a recognized center for the continuous exchange of experience and knowledge in the field of civil service.