Kazakhstan has adopted a road map to promote exporting non-primary goods and services. The plan eliminates internal and external barriers, which will reduce the negative factors and consequences faced by producers and exporters while promoting domestic products to foreign markets. The measures will also enhance export sectors through economic and income policies by supporting national exports through creating favourable competitive conditions and trade policy. The road map was developed based on the conceptual and reformatory proposals by non-resource sector exporters and the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs. It also contains new approaches to providing state support measures and offers 81 events, 52 to promote exporting non-primary goods and 29 for services.
The Chess at School programme was launched this year in 160 schools in 80 towns and villages, bringing the total to more than 15,000 children studying the strategy board game in 205 schools nationwide. The Kazakhstan Chess Federation began the programme in 2017. “Special textbooks were developed and 223 teachers and 25 psychologists took part in trainings. The effects of chess on development of children were assessed in 22 schools. A training section, a glossary of chess terminology and an online platform for trainers are available on the federation’s website,” said executive director Irina Grishchenko.
FlyArystan, the national low-cost airline, will begin flights from Kostanai to Nur-Sultan on Oct. 3, reported the company’s press service. Ticket prices will begin at 5,999 tenge (US$15) one way, which is 73 percent lower than competitors’ existing pricing. Daily one-hour flights will be operated on 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft and tickets are available on the airline’s website until March 28, 2020. Earlier, FlyArystan expanded its route network with flights from Shymkent to Nur-Sultan starting Oct. 3 and also announced plans to double flights from Pavlodar to the capital beginning the following day.
BI Group has started work on the ModeX modular home plant in the Astana Industrial special economic zone in Nur-Sultan, reported Primeminister.kz. Modular housing construction, an advanced technology used in countries such as China, Germany and Singapore, reduces the cost and time of construction and makes housing more affordable. The project will create in excess of 700 jobs and 405,000 square metres of housing per year. The first phase of the plant will be commissioned in December. “The construction sector is the most dynamically developing sector of the economy. This project will not only increase housing affordability, but also give impetus to the development of the construction industry,” said Prime Minister Askar Mamin at the plant’s Sept. 2 opening ceremony.
Kazakh geologists have identified more than a dozen sedimentary basins which, according to the forecast, can produce approximately 130 billion tonnes of fuel. “There is a need now to intensify exploration, since at least 15 years went by between the discovery and launch of a new field. The KazMunayGas national company started to develop a geological exploration programme for 2021-2025. The programme will indicate the areas of prospective sites and the necessary financial resources. A set of measures will be developed to improve legislation and provide tax incentives to attract investment,” said Minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources Magzum Mirzagaliev at the Sept. 6 oil and gas sector meeting in Atyrau.
The Astana Motors car assembly company will provide 60 18-metre Golden Dragon buses to Almaty transport parks, reported Kazinform. The larger-capacity vehicles will serve routes with intensive passenger traffic and the specific engines are adapted to operate on environmentally friendly gas fuels. The first buses will start running in December. All buses meet the Euro-5 standard requirements and a test drive is available for all fleets.
