Prior to the meeting, the Head of State got acquainted with a number of large projects and visited a consumer goods exhibition “Made in Kazakhstan.”
A number of facilities, built within the Industrialization Map and “Nurly Zhol” new economic policy, were officially launched during a televised conference with the regions of Kazakhstan. In addition, the existing manufacturing facilities have been showcased during the event.
In his speech, Nursultan Nazarbayev noted in the first five years of industrialisation nearly US$ 33 billion of foreign direct investment were attracted to Kazakhstan, half of which came through the Programme of Industrial-Innovative Development of the country.
The Head of State stressed that the second five-year plan of industrialisation has a more clear focus.
We have identified six priority areas, including oil refining and smelting industry, food and chemical industries, as well as the production of industrial equipment and building materials. The programme is based on the cluster approach. We tried to keep in mind the lessons learned and base on the experience of the first five-year plan, he said.
The President underscored that today 22 new projects with the participation of foreign investors are being prepared in the manufacturing industry.
At the moment we are working on a number of large projects. Thus, in co-operation with the “Renault-Nissan” alliance Kazakhstan is starting the construction of full-cycle car assembly plant and technology park for producing car parts. The Italian company “Tenaris” is investing funds into the construction of pipe production plant. Together with the English company “Dando Drilling” we will launch the plant for the production of drilling rigs. The Russian company “Eurochem” plans to produce mineral fertilizers, while the Canadian company “Kudu Industries” intends to establish production of screw pumps for the oil and gas industry. We are implementing a large package of projects with our Chinese partners in the framework of the “Silk Road” programme, he said.
Nursultan Nazarbayev said industrialisation is an essential part of the country’s economic policy that aims to achieve the main goal of the Strategy “Kazakhstan-2050”, which is to join the 30 most developed countries in the world.
The President stressed the necessity to increase the efficiency and productivity of existing enterprises.
To this end, we need to introduce lean production, robotics and automation, modernization of production lines. This is especially true of our traditional industries - metallurgy, oil refining, and chemicals, he added.
The Head of State also noted the importance of the creation and further development of fundamentally new industries for Kazakhstan, including petrochemical, car production and others.
Here the solution lies in the implementation of several large-scale strategic projects with global players. I charge the Government, national holdings to determine the list of such projects, to fix responsibility for their implementation. To gain access to modern technology, expertise and global markets it is necessary to ensure the involvement of ten transnational corporations and “anchor” investors, he maintained.
Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that the food processing, construction and machinery have a huge potential for further development of domestic businesses, creation of competitive products and gaining access to foreign markets. In this regard, the holding “Baiterek”, together with the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs “Atameken” were tasked to implement the project “National Champions”.
The President also stressed the importance of developing Kazakhstan’s own brand that would be directly associated with the country, positively affecting the country’s image in the international arena.
The Head of State noted that the country should start more intense activities at the border markets with Russia, Central Asia, China, India and Iran in the framework of integration processes, particularly within the EAEU. In addition, he said that WTO membership opens up new horizons for the country’s economy.
On the one hand, the WTO provides Kazakhstan’s companies with access to vast foreign markets and customers - with a wide range of goods and services. We get the opportunity to create new industries and jobs. Our main task is to help local companies to quickly adapt to the new conditions and derive maximum benefit from the accession to the Organisation, he said.
Nursultan Nazarbayev stressed the special significance of the “Nurly Zhol” new economic policy aimed at achieving long-term outcomes for the benefit of future generations.
We have to build and reconstruct 7,000 kilometers of roads in the country. In the next 3 years, more than US $20 billion will be allocated to implement the programme, of which more than a third comes from the international financial institutions. It is expected that within four years, the programme will boost our GDP by as much as 16%. As a result, by the year 2019, we are going to reduce the travel time between major cities by one-third, to form a single energy system of the country and, most importantly, to combine all our economies into a single market, he added.
The President of Kazakhstan emphasized that the programme “Nurly Zhol” will also encourage the development of industry and services.
It is necessary to strengthen the local component to allow our businesses to fully participate in the implementation of all projects of the programme. The development of services, in turn, will increase the attractiveness and comfort of the routes through our country. In addition, we are building a road that will serve more than one generation of Kazakhstanis. This requires not only high-quality construction, but ongoing support and maintenance. Therefore, the Government needs to consider creating a single operator, who will be fully responsible for the maintenance and development of road infrastructure of our country, he maintained.
Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that in line with the Plan of the Nation “100 concrete steps to implement the Five Institutional Reforms” the regulation in the field of construction, subsurface, energy and transport will be brought into compliance with the best international practices.
In conclusion, the Head of State stressed that all the reforms are aimed at the creation of enabling environment for the development of our country.
These reforms are among the measures the government takes to increase the role of the private sector in the domestic economy. This will encourage the improvement of the citizens’ living standards. Today we have been witnessing some serious achievements made by our country. However, our goal now is to accomplish other important tasks, he said.
Minister for Investment and Development Asset Issekeshev, Minister of National Economy Yerbolat Dosaev, as well as mayors of Pavlodar region Kanat Bozumbaev and mayor of Almaty region Amandyk Batalov delivered a report during the meeting.
