ASTANA – The Kazakh government has developed a plan to increase the competitiveness of the country’s light industry while enhancing its social efficiency from 2015 to 2019, announced Amaniyaz Yerzhanov, chairman of the government’s Committee for Industrial Safety and Industrial Development at a briefing in the Central Communications Service at the end of October.
Amaniyaz Yerzhanov
The plan calls for modernising the productive sector, implementing economic measures, particularly in the improvement of local content, improving public procurement and human resources availability, enhancing innovative and scientific development and taking measures to ensure the financial rehabilitation and recovery of the industry.
“These measures will allow the textile industry to increase the volume of annually processed raw cotton from five to 50,000 tonnes. The task in the leather production sector is to increase the processing of raw materials to 500 million square inches, that is, by 50 percent of the current annual volume of cattle hides. Finally, plans are afoot to bring the annual volume of fine wool primary processing to the level of 15,000 tonnes by means of introducing new facilities,” Yerzhanov said.
The plan also improves the industry’s legal framework and provides economic incentives for light industry. “Support to companies will also be rendered in the form of accommodating the necessary working capital funds,” Yerzhanov added.
“The dynamics of the industry are positive. Output of light industry was 46 billion tenge (US$254.2 million) during the first nine months of this year. Processing of skins increased 3.5 times. Fourteen projects and production of new products were implemented within NP FIID (Programme of Industry Development of Kazakhstan) in the field of light industry in the current year. We expect to enter the targets despite some drops,” Albert Rau, vice minister of investment and development, said during the drafting of the law “On Comprehensive Plan for development of light industry in 2015-2019.”
