ASTANA – Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov emphasized the urgent need to attract at least 18.5 trillion tenge ($39.5 billion) of investment in fixed assets this year during a Sept. 18 meeting of the investment headquarters, reported the Prime Minister’s press service.
Alikhan Smailov at a meeting of the investment headquarters. Photo credit: primeminister.kz.
He said people need jobs now and cannot wait while the government is slow in producing results.
Minister of National Economy Alibek Kuantyrov reported that over the first eight months of the year, the volume of investments in fixed assets totaled 9.6 trillion tenge ($20.5 billion), 12.2% more than in January-August last year. However, Smailov noted that this shows that the annual plan has been fulfilled by only 52%.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the slow resolution of infrastructure issues has led to delays in the launch of a hydrometallurgical processing plant for raw copper concentrates valued at 11 billion tenge ($23.5 million) in the Ulytau Region, impeding economic progress.
Smailov criticized the work of the Almaty city administration, which has not materialized over 200 billion tenge ($427.9 million) that could have been invested in the city’s real economy.
The Prime Minister expressed concern over the slow pace of other significant projects, including a food production plant in the Almaty Region, an international school for 4,000 places in Astana, and a biotechnological drug production enterprise.
“We need to straighten out the implementation of investment projects, as this affects the creation of new jobs and the well-being of our citizens,” he said.
Smailov instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to strengthen its coordinating role in attracting large investors to Kazakhstan and intensify the work of Kazakh Invest and the country’s diplomatic missions abroad.
