Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said Monday in a speech at an event in honor of the Nowruz holiday in Almaty that large-scale reforms await the country.

"Large-scale reforms are ahead of us, the construction of a new Kazakhstan is ahead of us. And together with you, with the youth, we will definitely build this new country," he said, addressing the residents.

The President reminded that during January riots Almaty received the main blow of bandits and terrorists, innocent people were killed and suffered, and the city infrastructure was greatly damaged.

"People of Almaty, I am grateful to you for this, you didn't waver in the face of an unprecedented threat to our statehood. You rallied at the critical moment, the whole country was with you. Thanks to the unity and solidarity of our people, we overcame this severe test," Tokayev said.