ASTANA – Kazakhstan intends to allocate more than 70 billion tenge (US$157.7 million) to construct missing infrastructure at the special economic (SEZ) and industrial zone (IZ) sites, said Kazakh Minister of Industry and Construction Kanat Sharlapayev at an April 29 meeting in the Mazhilis, the lower house of the Kazakh Parliament, reported the Mazhilis’ press service.
Photo credit: Kazinform
According to Sharlapayev, the primary objective of SEZs and IZs is to attract investment, which in turn is the main strategic goal of the state, which is to diversify the country’s economy and improve the well-being of the population.
“To date, 354 projects have been implemented in the territory of 14 SEZs, totaling over 7.5 trillion tenge ($16.9 billion) and employing more than 25,500 people. Some 2.9 trillion tenge ($6.5 billion) were attracted in investments,” said Sharlapayev.
Since 2001, the production volume has reached 8.4 trillion tenge ($18.9 billion), including exported products worth 601 billion tenge ($1.3 billion). The nation’s budget received 437 billion tenge ($984.3 million) in taxes from participants in all 14 zones.
There are 14 SEZs in Kazakhstan. Photo credit: Kazakh Invest
