In 2009, the Kazak government launched a new initiative called the ‘Road Map’ aimed at addressing rising unemployment, raising the purchasing power of the population, slowing down internal migration and improving core services (Gavrilovic, et al. The central focus of the programme was job creation through a combination of public works and vocational training. The programme created 252,277 jobs according to a report from the ADB (2009, cited in Gavrilovic et al.,