Fifty kilometres of bike paths will be built in Astana by the time EXPO 2017 opens, Deputy Chairman of the Agency for Sport and Physical Culture of Kazakhstan Tastanbek Yessentayev said.“We are now creating a presentation about these bike paths. Construction is to be divided into three stages. About 50 km of bike paths are to be built during the first stage. Bike paths will be built along main roads leading to the EXPO 2017 exhibition complex as well as at the complex,” Yessentayev said. According to him, there is only 4 km of bike paths currently in Astana, while for example, in Germany, there are 1,400 km of bike paths, China has 450 km and Moscow 74 km.
The international scientific conference “Kazakhstan Industrial Policy” took place in Astana from Nov. 21-22. The conference brought together representatives of state bodies, heads of national companies, representatives of scientific organisations and development institutes, mayoral administrations and domestic and foreign mass media representatives. Issues surrounding the second five-year Programme of Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development (PAIID) and industrial cooperation within the Common Economic Space as well as measures aimed at the improvement of Kazakhstan’s industrial policy were discussed by conference participants.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and New Technologies of Kazakhstan, Asset Issekeshev, representatives of state bodies and national companies and holdings took part in “Atyrau Invest – 2013”, an international business forum that was held in Atyrau from Nov. 21-22. The forum was focused on the green economy, new investment projects, the development of local content and public-private partnerships as well as further cooperation in the Customs Union.
At a Central Communications Service media briefingon Nov. 22, Akim (Governor) of Almaty region, Ansar Mussakhanov discussed investment projects in the region. “The Almaty region is one of the most attractive ones for investments in the country. The volume of investments in the regional economy has grown by 30 percent over the past three years. During the first 10 months of the current year, over 320 billion tenge (US$2 billion)was invested in the region. The international investment forum titled “Zhetysu Invest-2012” was held in Taldykorgan last year in hopes of attracting investors to the Almaty region. It is believed that the forum fetched 11 projects totaling 191 billion tenge (US$1.25 billion),” Mussakhanov said.
Akim Ansar Mussakhanov said on Nov. 22 that according to regional social and economic development rankings, “Almaty region took first place in the actual volume of goods produced by small and medium businesses. The region is in second place in terms of unemployment and in third place in terms of the actual volume of agricultural production, the real income of the population and the efficiency of interregional migration, only lagging behind Astana and Almaty (city). The region produces 98 percent of all soybeans produced in the country, 71 percent of corn, 74 percent of white beats and over 20 percent of potatoes and grapes. In terms of these indicators, the region is among the top regions in the country. The Almaty region takes one of the leading positions in the production of poultry and is the only producer of malt. Gross agricultural production increased 1.5 times over the last three years and reached 42 billion tenge (US$275 million) in 2012, which is 17 percent of the overall agricultural output of the country. We transferred an additional 22 thousand hectares of agricultural land as well. Advanced technologies are also being applied to the cultivation of over 15 percent of farmland. Gardening is well developed in the region, something that the President has wished for. Presently, we have 12 thousand hectares of apple orchards including 1,400 hectares inhabited by Aport apple trees. We had hoped that this indicator would have reached 30 percent by 2012,” Mussakhanov said.
