Kazakhstan to launch 180 new projects in processing industry in 2024
Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov chaired a meeting of the Domestic Entrepreneurs Council for discussing import substitution and export potential increase issues, Kazinform News Agency reports.
According to Smailov, Kazakhstan has enough potential to organize local production of a considerable part of imported goods, primeminister.kz says.
He said the government will continue creating favorable climate for the development of competitive enterprises.
The meeting participants – top officials of central executive , akimats and national companies, representatives of Atameken National Entrepreneurship Chamber and business – discussed the issues of technical regulation, certification, transfer and implementation of advanced technologies, localization and decarbonization of productions, increasing financing availability, provision of enterprises with raw materials, public procurements and state support measures, as well as legislation improvement.
Taking the floor, Minister of Industry and Construction Kanat Sharlapaev said that in 11 months of 2023, the country's foreign trade turnover in processing industry made $74.2 billion having risen by 12%.
In 2023, Kazakhstani producers entered into 179 long-term agreements and offtake contracts worth 66 billion tenge with large customers. Besides, the country’s major companies (Kazakhmys, KazZinc etc.) set up “a belt of small and medium enterprises” around themselves to ensure their own needs.
To stimulate import substituion, the government launched a mechanism of raw materials supply to the processing enterprises. A total of 25 agreements on three main metals – aluminum, copper and lead – have been concluded to date. This measure will let deepen the processing and expand the range of home-made goods.
The activity of special economic and industrial zones is improved to ensure a wider access of enterprises to infrastructure.
Besides, investment projects are implemented in processing industry aimed at import substitution and export. Thus, 170 projects worth 930 billion tenge were launched last year and more than 12,000 constant jobs were created.
180 projects to the amount of 1.5 trillion tenge with the employment of as many as 18,000 people are planned to be implemented this year. Among them is a ferro-alloy plant in Pavlodar region, manufacture of truck components by iron casting in Kostanay region, a forging and bandage complex in Pavlodar region, a household appliances plant in Almaty region and production of components for wind-power plants in Karaganda region.
Summing up the discussion, Smailov stressed the importance of import substitution development, which remains a factor of ensuring sustainable economy.
In his words, the government adopted a program of in-country value and export-oriented productions.
He noted that measures were launched to boost domestic manufacture of goods by expanding their nomenclature and additional loading of the existing enterprises.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the importance of timely renovation of enterprises and launch of new productions.
To localize production, the projects must be sufficiently financed, including from extrabudgetary sources and expansion of guarantee mechanisms. This will enable the domestic enterprises to compete successfully with foreign suppliers, said he.