The act of internationalization of a city could itself spur new service activities as people bring in new ideas of how to remove bottlenecks or increase efficiency. An important spin-off benefit could include improved public support for provision of education and health services. While Kazakhstan, as is the case for other countries in the subregion, inherited high literacy rates and basic health services from the centrally planned economy, it has been a long and difficult task to maintain past achievements while creating education and health services better attuned to a modern market-based economy.