ASTANA – Kazakhstan plans to build 20 modern multidisciplinary hospitals with private sector involvement, as directed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, said Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov during an Oct. 2 meeting of the Council for Improvement of the Investment Climate, reported the Prime Minister’s press service.
Alikhan Smailov chairs a regular meeting of the Council for Improvement of Investment Climate. Photo credit: primeminister.kz.
The meeting was attended by British Ambassador to Kazakhstan Kathy Leach, Canadian Ambassador Alan Hamson, United States Ambassador Daniel Rosenblum, representatives from the World Bank and Citibank for Kazakhstan, Ernst & Young, AstraZeneca, Janssen and Pfizer, and heads of Kazakhstan’s central government agencies.
Smailov recounted the large-scale reforms that Kazakhstan has been implementing over the past several years, which resulted in the creation of the Unified National Health System, the execution of compulsory medical insurance, telemedicine development, improvement in equipment and medicines procurement processes, and substantial wage increases for medical staff.
The Prime Minister stressed the need to attract investment and cutting-edge technologies in the healthcare sector to bring its financing to 5% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2027.
In 2022, investments in fixed assets within this industry witnessed a surge of approximately 30%, reaching close to $540 million, and the pharmaceutical market experienced a 2.9-fold increase over the past seven years.
The Prime Minister said the government provides state support packages in collaboration with major pharmaceutical companies. Kazakhstan has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca to establish contract manufacturing for original medicines with $32 million worth of investment and is in discussions with Pfizer to reach an agreement to localize medicines production.
Smailov referenced a framework agreement inked with GE Healthcare during President Tokayev’s visit to the United States on localizing production of medical equipment valued at $60 million. Additionally, several projects totaling $2.5 million with the company Roche are under review, and contract manufacturing endeavors with investors from Egypt, Israel, South Korea, and Türkiye are progressing through various implementation phases.
