ASTANA – President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited the Almaty Region on Sept. 5 to review military, food, construction, sports, education, and agriculture facilities, reported the Akorda press service.
Tokayev, also Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan, chaired a meeting of the General Staff and checked its forward command post as he visited the Batyl Toytarys (Bold Rebuff) 2023 military exercises.
Checking capabilities of military enterprises
Tokayev attended an exhibition showcasing the capabilities of Kazakh military enterprises in producing and repairing weapons and military equipment.
Semey Engineering, the only armored repair plant in Central Asia, demonstrated restoring damaged armored vehicles using an armored repair evacuation transport vehicle.
Astana-based NavyCo enterprise presented a field exchange fleet of units for the repair of armored vehicles, Kokshetau’s KamAZ Engineering and Almaty’s aircraft repair plant No. 405 showed their capabilities in assembling and restoring military equipment.
The President overviewed the ARMA armored vehicle from the Turkish company Otakar with an ability to overcome water barriers and other products of joint ventures situated in different cities.
The general plan of the city of Konayev
During the working trip to the region, Tokayev also visited Konayev, a town that has been the region’s administrative center since May 2022.
The city’s general plan envisages the expansion to 19,000 hectares by 2050 and a population growth of 200,000. Local authorities chose the Zhana-Ile site as a new cultural and public center to build social, cultural, housing, educational, and recreational facilities.
The city plans to create over 20,000 jobs in backbone clusters and enterprises, expecting the growth of small and medium-sized businesses with more than 30,000 employees.
The Almaty Region’s akim (governor) Marat Sultangaziyev presented a project of public embankment upgrade to create a 1,000-meter-long water promenade.
The President was briefed on connecting 67 social facilities to high-speed internet and laying a 104 kilometers-long fiber-optic communication line for the implementation of a 5G project.
Ensuring food security
The President visited a greenhouse complex of Lst Agro company, which specializes in cultivating tomatoes and seedlings. The complex produces 3,650 tons of tomatoes annually. The facility attracted 5.2 billion tenge ($11.2 million) worth of investment, receiving state support through the Damu Fund.
The President also highlighted camel breeding, the region’s booming sector with significant export potential. He stressed the importance of adopting cutting-edge technologies in agriculture and producing eco-friendly goods.
Sports development
Tokayev toured the construction progress of the Olympic training base, one of the largest sports complexes in the Commonwealth of Independent States with a capacity to host 2,300 athletes.
Minister of Tourism and Sports Yermek Marzhikpayev, who was appointed on Sept. 2, said that most facilities have been built, while the remaining ones are near completion.
Tokayev visited an athletic arena and hotel and met with athletes on the base’s central square near the Olympic cauldron.
Education progress
The President visited Suleyman Demirel University in the city of Almaty. University Rector Alimzhan Igenbayev said the institution has over 8,500 students from Central Asia, China, Indonesia, Mongolia, and Russia, and around 500 professors.
Tokayev noted the importance of introducing advanced approaches to the education system, stressing the need for technological proficiency. He recalled his state-of-the-nation address, where he declared Kazakhstan should become an IT country and praised the university’s contribution to achieving this goal.
While meeting with the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences students, the President was presented with a car they made as part of the Formula Student engineering racing project.