Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov spoke at the main plenary session entitled "Industrial Strategies of the New Time" within the framework of the international exhibition "INNOPROM. Kazakhstan", which is currently taking place in Astana, El.kz reports with reference to the press service of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The event was also attended by Prime Minister of Belarus Roman, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Head of the Presidential Administration of Kyrgyzstan Akylbek Zhaparov, as well as Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin. The main plenary session brought together about 700 participants, including high-ranking representatives of the public sector, heads of regions, heads of manufacturing enterprises and members of industrial unions of the EAEU countries.
Alikhan Smailov stressed that in order to develop the industrial sector of Kazakhstan and ensure economic self-sufficiency, the government focuses on the accelerated development of the manufacturing industry.
This includes the implementation of projects aimed at forming clusters in the fields of oil, gas and coal chemistry, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, the production of automotive components, fertilizers, the uranium industry and other high-value-added industries.
"To this end, systemic reforms are being carried out in Kazakhstan, state support measures are being improved, and a proactive approach to attracting investments has been introduced," Alikhan Smailov said.
According to him, over the past 5 years, the volume of manufacturing production has grown by 2.2 times, and the volume of gross value added of the industry by 2.3 times. At the same time, labor productivity increased to $ 49 thousand, which is more than 2 times higher than the average for the economy.
"Speaking in the industry context, the mining and metallurgical complex is the basis of the domestic manufacturing industry. Last year, products worth $19.3 billion were exported, which is about 23% of the country's total exports. We have provided a mechanism for providing domestic enterprises with affordable raw materials. Agreements have been signed with major suppliers of raw materials on the supply of primary aluminum and copper," the Prime Minister said.
He added that mechanical engineering continues to develop dynamically. So, in 2022, a record half a billion dollars of direct investment was attracted to the industry. For the 1st quarter of this year, direct investments have already exceeded $208 million.
In the automotive industry, the volume of production over the past year amounted to 113 thousand units of production. For 8 months of this year, almost 100 thousand units were produced with an increase of 41%. In value terms, this is more than 1 trillion tenge.
"All these indicators are reflected in the Concept for the Development of the Manufacturing Industry, adopted this year. By 2030, we plan to ensure the growth of gross value added by 2.8 times, labor productivity by 1.8 times, and export products worth $225 billion," the head of government said.
As Alikhan Smailov noted, a wide range of support tools was strengthened by the creation of the Industrial Development Fund, which has already financed investment projects worth more than 200 billion tenge. Projects worth another 150 billion tenge are in the works.
"Currently, there are more than 1,000 projects in the mining and metallurgical complex, mechanical engineering, petrochemical, chemical, pharmaceutical industries and other industries. At the same time, the main priorities of cooperation are deep processing, maximum localization, production of new products and export potential," the Prime Minister said.
At the same time, he stressed that the formation of a new technological order, including the transition from basic to complex production, requires legislative strengthening. To this end, the Government is improving approaches in terms of tax, budget and regulatory incentives for business economic activity.
So, last year, new approaches to the functioning of free economic zones were legislated. The main focus of their activities is on the manufacturing sector with a combined mode of action. Among other things, investors are given the right to buy out the leased land ahead of schedule, without looking back at the terms of the FEZ itself.
In order to develop small and medium-sized businesses, small industrial zones are being created in the regions. Here, ready-made production facilities will be leased for entrepreneurs.
According to Alikhan Smailov, an important component of the industrial breakthrough should also be the widespread introduction of innovations and advanced technologies. According to UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development), the global market for new technologies in 2025 will be more than $3 trillion.
"Artificial intelligence is already being used in all industries, contributing to the optimization of the production cycle, full automation of processes, control and safety management. Therefore, in such conditions, flexibility and adaptation are required," the Prime Minister emphasized.
As Alikhan Smailov noted, against the backdrop of the rupture of global production chains, new benchmarks for investment flows are emerging, so it is necessary to effectively develop our competitive advantages.
"In this regard, in our opinion, special attention should be paid to the development of regional value chains," he said.
The Head of Government added that another global trend is digital transformation, which should be considered as a priority area for cooperation between the EAEU countries.
"Today, large-scale projects have been implemented in Kazakhstan in such areas as FinTech and GovTech. We have achieved a high level of penetration of digital solutions into everyday life. Now our task is to reach the same level in the real sector. The Autonomous Cluster Fund "Park of Innovative Technologies", the IT Technopark "Astana Hub" and research centers at higher educational institutions are already actively involved here," Alikhan Smailov said.
According to him, the most important factor in achieving these goals is staffing. In this regard, work is underway in the republic to open branches of leading technological universities in the near and far abroad.
"This will make it possible to train specialists with new views on the management of innovative projects and the development of competencies, engineers of the future," the Prime Minister emphasized.
In conclusion, he noted that along with addressing the issues of industrial growth, one should not forget the relevance of the environmental agenda: emission control, the introduction of clean technologies in production, waste disposal and recycling should be priorities in the activities of enterprises.