Kazakh Government approves concept of regional development till 2030

Kazakhstan’s Deputy National Economy Minister Baurzhan Omarbekov said: “The document seeks to raise living standards of the population and unlock economic potential of regions through macro-regional development and growth points, including agglomerations, single-industry towns, support villages and new Alatau city.

“A key focus is placed to bridging gaps in access to social, engineering, and transport facilities”.

Now, the sufficiency level of settlements in terms of the system of regional standards stands at 64%. The figure is expected to increase to 70% by 2028. Moreover, the contribution of small- and medium-sized enterprises to the GDP will reach 40% in 2030, said Omarbekov.

The Government has also taken steps to develop single-industry towns, including creation of industrial zones, implementation of domestic content programs, SME development, conclusion of long-term agreements and offtake contracts between major enterprises and local producers, and others.

Efforts are underway to form and develop the city of Alatau, as the city’s major layout was approved, a special economic zone was created, as well as to develop design documentation, said the Deputy Minister.

Omarbekov noted that a synchronous implementation of all state measures will be in place in order to develop rural areas. He said: “As part of the 'Auyl – Yel besigi' project, 701 billion tenge was allocated from the national budget in the period from 2019 to 2024”.

These funds allowed to carry out up to 6,000 projects to develop social and engineering infrastructure. The work continues into this year, with 1,000 projects set for implementation in 500 villages, said Omarbekov.

According to him, 50 billion tenge has been earmarked for the 'Ayul amanaty' project this year. “In a bid to support entrepreneurship in rural areas, nearly 450 billion tenge is set to be allocated for over 25,000 projects in the next three years”.

Deputy National Economy Minister Omarbekov said the 'With a diploma - to the village!' program is being implemented to raise personnel potential in rural areas, with participants receiving a lump-sum relocation allowance of 100 monthly calculation indices and a preferential housing loan of up to 2,500 monthly calculation indices.

Since the launch of the project, from 2009 to 2024, over 114,000 specialists were given lump-sum relocation allowances and up to 52,000 specialists - preferential housing loans. A majority of the program’s participants are young people, said Omarbekov.

The Deputy Minister said special attention is placed to the development of local governance, with rural districts’ revenue increased 3.5-fold in the past few years, set to be boosted by the transfer of additional taxes and payments.

In addition, in 2023, Kazakhstan introduced direct elections of akims (heads) of districts and mayors of cities of regional significance. The elections of heads of 46 districts and mayors of three cities of regional significance took place for the first time on a pilot regime, concluded Omarbekov.

Earlier, it was reported Kazakhstan is to integrate green economy indicators to regional development plans.