ASTANA – Over first six months of 2017, the volume of attracted investments in the South Kazakhstan region reached 180.6 billion tenge (US$543.78 million), having increased 33 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the regional akimat (administration) press service.
Photo credit: ictsd.org
Under the State Programme for Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development, 162 projects totalling 208 billion tenge (US$626.2 million) were implemented in the region, creating 13,500 jobs. To date, three new plants worth 37 billion tenge (US$111.4 million) have been put into operation.
In addition, the region plans to introduce 17 projects totaling 37.1 billion tenge (US$111.7 million) this year.
“One of the implemented projects is a waffle production plant in Shymkent, which is capable of producing 1,700 tonnes of products per year. The second project is the Asia Agro plant in the Otyrar region for corn processing. The third project is a polyethylene plant, designed for servicing the production of uranium in the Sozak district,” head of Regional Department of Entrepreneurship, Industrial and Innovative Development and Tourism Batyrkhan Kurmanseit said.
The South Kazakhstan region is considered an attractive destination for investors. Shymkent, as well as Otyrar, Tolebi and Saryagash districts lead in investment attraction. Along with this, the South Kazakhstan region is among the first to implement investment projects. Investors have expressed interest in the pharmaceutical industry, the production of textiles, light industry, agriculture and processing industry.
Local specialists plan to visit Germany, Great Britain, Georgia, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Russia and other countries with business trips to boost machine-building, tourism and agriculture, and share experience on building smart cities. Such measures will familiarise foreign business community with the investment opportunities of the region, and contribute to the development of cooperation.
Five years ago, the region had 120,000 small- and medium-sized business entities, while today this figure soared to 176,684 enterprises. Moreover, the region has emerged as a leader in attracting investments in this sector. In general, the region’s economy attracted 380.6 billion tenge (US$1.14 billion) of investments last year.
