ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov and high officials considered measures to implement tasks announced by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in his annual state-of-the-nation address delivered on Sept. 2.
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov emphasized that the President’s address is a strategic guideline for the government and the entire Kazakh society. Photo credit: Prime Minister’s press service
During a Sept. 3 government meeting, Bektenov emphasized that the new address “is an important and timely document, each line of which is dictated by the current realities and challenges of the time”, reported the Prime Minister’s press service.
“As the President emphasized, we will be able to achieve this through structural changes in the economy. Such transformations in the industries have already reduced the share of the mining sector and accelerated the growth rate of the manufacturing industry…The President clearly focused on those problems that require the dedicated concentration of efforts by the government and akimats (local administrations),” he noted.
Bektenov emphasized the importance of an adequate spending of budget funds. It is also necessary to strengthen the work to ensure the revenue side of the national budget, he said.
Economy
Addressing the government meeting attendees, First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar addressed the national economy development.
In the manufacturing industry, a list of 17 projects in the metallurgy, oil refining and petrochemical, mechanical engineering, and chemical industries has been approved for the development of the industrial framework.
In 2023, production volume in the automotive industry increased by 30%. In the coming year, it is planned to commission two large projects with a total production volume of 160,000 units. By the end of 2025, it is planned to implement ten projects for the production of auto components.
Discussing the gas industry development, he noted that by the end of 2023, nearly 60% of the population had access to gas. By the end of this year, more than 300,000 people will be provided with gas and at least 1,700 kilometers of gas networks will be modernized.
According to Bektenov, maintenance and development of transport infrastructure requires attracting large investments. One of the measures is to revise tariffs for Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) services. In this regard, it is necessary to develop a new tariff policy for the transportation of goods by rail.
The Ministry of National Economy will take measures to increase the efficiency of budget policy, improve tax legislation, strengthen investment attractiveness and develop entrepreneurship.
Investment
The Investment Headquarters have reviewed 73 investment projects worth $30 billion. According to Sklyar, investment projects will be supported by the National Digital Investment Platform, which has registered 746 projects worth $68 billion.
To improve the ecosystem for attracting investments, work is underway to regulate the so-called investor’s path, as well as to determine the roles of all government agencies in this process.
Full support of the investment cycle will be provided from the search for investors to the completion of projects, including overcoming bureaucratic barriers and assistance from the quasi-public sector.
Similar to the Investment Headquarters, Regional Investment Headquarters will be created in each region under the leadership of akims (mayors), which will include heads of local executive bodies, regional representatives of Kazakh Invest, Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, prosecutor’s office and tax authorities.
Water management
Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev focused on effective water management. According to him, existing hydrological posts require modernization via increasing the network from 73% to 82% or from 377 to 419. This will improve the quality of monitoring and forecasting, as well as promptly respond to a potential threat.
“To reduce water losses in irrigation systems, accumulate additional flood waters for further use, and improve the condition of water bodies, a Comprehensive Plan for the Development of the Water Sector for 2024-2028 has been approved. This plan provides for the construction of 42 new reservoirs, the reconstruction of 34 hydraulic structures, as well as the construction and reconstruction of nearly 14,500 kilometers of irrigation systems at a cost of 3.2 trillion tenge (US$6.6 billion) from all sources of funding,” he said.
