ASTANA – The economic development of the Karaganda region is showing growth in all indicators as the region launches the modernisation programmes, said Akim (Governor) Yerlan Koshanov at a Nov. 23 briefing in the capital.
Yerlan Koshanov.
“The region achieved economic growth in the first 10 months of 2017 with an industry growth of 4.1 percent. A total of 258 billion tenge (US$778 million) in investments was provided with an increase of 3.8 percent,” he said.
Technological modernisation became one of the main development trends.
“The modernisation programmes were implemented in the region and in the whole country. Our four system-forming enterprises invested 140 billion tenge (US$422 million) in the reinvention of technologies,” said Koshanov.
ArcelorMittal Temirtau Company, the largest mining and metallurgical enterprise, plans to reach a capacity of 4.2 million tonnes of steel with a 9-percent growth by the end of the year.
“This result cannot be reached with the use of old technologies. The company updates production technologies and promotes business process optimisation. Three thousand detectors are used at all production stages from ore extraction to metal release. According to their data, the digital production management system issues optimal solutions,” he said.
Copper miner Kazakhmys has introduced hydrometallurgy technology. The company intends to extract 320,000 tonnes of copper this year, representing a 6-percent growth compared to 2016 .
ShubarkolKomir, the largest thermal coal producer, launched the Smart Quarry system to deal with mining industry transportation. The company increased production to 11 million tonnes per year and started deep coal processing.
Koshanov also noted that mass layoffs will be prevented.
Industrial production is expected to grow by 4 percent to more than 2 trillion tenge (US$6 billion) by the end of 2017.
“We plan to launch four more production facilities and create 120 jobs as part of the Business Road Map programme,” he said.
An industrial explosives plant will be constructed in the Saryarka Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The second stage of the car recycling plant will be implemented and a copper SX/EW pilot plant with a capacity of 300 tonnes will begin operation.
Agricultural production reached 210 billion tenge (US$633 million) with a 7-percent growth.
“This year, we supported 3,000 agricultural producers in the amount of 12 billion tenge (US$36 million). About 900 feeding stations for 7,800 head of cattle were constructed and 73 agricultural cooperatives with 3,000 participants were created. There are plans to modernise 11 enterprises involved in the processing of milk and meat,” he said.
Koshanov reported 400 social projects worth 13 billion tenge (US$40 million) will be implemented as part of the Rukhani Janghyru (Modernisation of Kazakhstan’s Identity) programme.
Karaganda occupies one of the nation’s leading positions in terms of mineral raw material reserves. The region is responsible for approximately 10 percent of the country’s economy with more than 9 billion tonnes of coal reserves, 3 billion tonnes of copper ore, 600 million tonnes of manganese and 400 million tonnes of zinc ore.
