ASTANA – Eight memorandums of cooperation were signed to implement projects worth 2.7 trillion tenge (US$5.7 billion) during the Investment Aktobe-2022 forum on Dec. 6, reported the press service of Aktobe governor’s office.
Investment Aktobe-2022 forum in Astana. Photo credit: press service of the Aktobe governor’s office. Click to see the map in full size
Kazakhstan’s Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) will implement four projects worth 700 billion tenge (US$1.48 billion) by the end of 2025. These include the commissioning of the chromium ore mine, the commissioning of the plant for processing stale and current chromium-containing sludge, and the building of a 153 MW wind power plant in Khromtau.
The Nigerian GEM Petrol Chemical Company will build a petrochemical complex for processing crude oil and gas in the town of Zhem, which will also produce 200 MW of electricity. The project, worth 1.5 trillion tenge (US$3.2 billion), will be commissioned in 2027.
Turkish Omtis Ortadoğu Makina plans to invest $550 million in building a plant that will produce 330,000 tons of white sugar per year. The forum participants noted that establishing such a plant is of utmost importance to Kazakhstan due to the country’s dependence on sugar imports.
Another Turkish company S Sistem Lojistik signed a memorandum of understanding with Aktobe International Airport to create a logistics hub with intermodular transportation. The first stage envisages the building of a 10,000 square meter cargo terminal.
Aktobe Governor Yeraly Tugzhanov at the signing of a memorandum with ERG. Photo credit: press service of the Aktobe governor’s office
In addition, an Aktobe plant will manufacture rail wheels for both cargo and passenger trains. The Aktobesteel company will start construction in early 2023, investing $278.6 million. The Petropavl Heavy Engineering Plant will invest 16 billion tenge (US$34 million) in rail welding enterprise construction.
Several companies will also work on building a plant to produce medical equipment. The facility, scheduled to launch in 2026, will produce more than 50,000 units of medical equipment, five million liters of disinfectants, and three million units of personal protective equipment per year.
The Kazakh Otbasy Bank will also launch a youth financing initiative in Aktobe, allowing those who are under 35 years-of-age to get mortgages at a lower interest rate.
The forum’s goal was to present potential investors with the region’s advantages, which include a desirable geographical location, excellent transportation infrastructure, and abundant natural resources. The region is second in the world for its chromium ore deposits and third in Kazakhstan for its hydrocarbon and copper ore reserves.
“In the era of global economic upheavals and transformational shifts, it is important to have a reliable partner, and our country, including the Aktobe region, is ready to act as one. We are ready to fulfill our obligations to investors,” Aktobe Region Governor Yeraly Tugzhanov said.
