NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan plans to double domestic production of automobiles to meet demand within the Eurasian Economic Union, according to the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development.
Photo credit: kazautoprom.kz.
The country will open three new vehicle assembling plants jointly with Hyundai, KAMAZ and Kirovets.
“We plan to increase the production of vehicles from 32,000 to 60,000 units. The markets of the Eurasian Economic Union are very important for us. This year, we will begin construction of a Hyundai passenger car assembling plant, a joint venture will be established with KAMAZ, and cooperation with the Kirovets plant will be launched to transfer technologies for the production of agricultural machinery components,” said Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Roman Sklyar at a recent government meeting.
Since 2015, the second five-year plan of industrialisation has been implemented in the country. The current year is the last year of the programme. During the four years of the programme, 480 projects were implemented worth 4.9 trillion tenge (US$12.9 billion), more than 44,000 new jobs were created. The projects were implemented in industries such as mining and metallurgy, chemistry, pharmaceuticals, light and food industries, engineering, construction industry, energy, oil refining, agricultural and industrial complex, agricultural processing and others.
This year, it is planned to introduce about 120 projects worth 1.1 trillion tenge (US$2.9 billion) with the creation of 20,000 new jobs.
Kazakh officials, mainly representing Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development and industrial enterprises of the country, visited the new KAMAZ plant March 20. They visited workshops producing cabins and the main assembly line of the automobile plant. The officials also visited Cummins Kama joint venture and got acquainted with Cummins engine assembly line.
“The visit of Kazakh delegation took place to develop cooperation between KAMAZ and Kazakhstan. At this stage, we are discussing the creation of working groups in several areas. In particular, the support of the automotive industry based on KAMAZ’s experience, developing local production and cooperation in Kazakhstan,” said KAMAZ Director for Kazakhstan, Caucasus and Ukraine Radik Sofiyanov.
He highlighted that the market of heavy trucks in Kazakhstan is one of the most promising for the company. The main consumers of the company are enterprises of the agricultural sector, oil and gas industry and public utilities.
KAMAZ-Engineering, a joint venture in Kazakhstan, established in 2005, has a design capacity of the plant of 1,500 trucks per year. Over the years, the plant has produced more than 12,500 trucks and special vehicles, which are used in many economy sectors of Kazakhstan. The company produces 50 types of vehicles, including dump trucks, tractors, flatbed and four-wheel drive vehicles, as well as more than 35 types of special equipment.
