How Domestic Production Provides Jobs for People and Stable Prices for the Market

As part of the implementation of the instructions of the Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on the deep diversification of the national economy, the Government is taking systematic measures to develop the manufacturing industry and modernize the agro-industrial complex, El.kz cites primeminister.kz.

Today, in accordance with the President’s instructions, the key emphasis has shifted toward economic patriotism, maximum realization of the potential of Kazakhstani producers, and the launch of large-scale high-value-added production facilities.

This year, the manufacturing sector has consolidated its position as the main locomotive of industrialization, while an unprecedented scale of investment and technological modernization has been launched in the agro-industrial complex. Read in this special review by the editorial board of the Primeminister.kz website about the mechanisms through which the Government stimulates domestic production, how digital filters cleanse the market of fictitious enterprises, and which breakthrough projects are changing the industrial map of the country.

Course Toward Economic Patriotism: 466 Billion Tenge of Guaranteed Sales for Domestic Enterprises

One of the most effective tools for supporting the domestic market has been the introduction of mechanisms for long-term guaranteed demand. In the first six months of 2026, subsoil users and the largest quasi-state sector companies provided powerful support to Kazakhstani enterprises by concluding offtake contracts and long-term agreements totaling 466.1 billion tenge.

An important change in legislation is that now all large companies and government agencies are required to purchase goods and services exclusively from local producers. This creates a guaranteed sales market for domestic enterprises. Instead of importing components from abroad, raw material giants are now helping to open and develop new factories directly in Kazakhstan, providing them with stable orders for years to come. As a result, a strong industrial belt of sustainable local production is forming around each large plant or department.

In parallel, to protect honest business and reduce corruption risks, a unified state digital system “Register of Kazakhstani Commodity Producers” has been put into operation. This platform automatically identifies so-called fictitious producers and verifies real production capacities. To date, more than 6,600 companies have been authorized in the system. Of these, 4,467 producers manufacture goods fully produced in Kazakhstan, and another 2,146 produce processed goods.

To strengthen the role of business in lending to the real sector, the Government carried out the recapitalization of the Baiterek holding to 1 trillion tenge. This allowed expanding its overall financial capabilities to support entrepreneurship up to 8 trillion tenge. To date, more than 4 trillion tenge has already been disbursed, and support has been provided to over 8,000 business entities, of which 96% are small and medium-sized enterprises. In the medium term, the planned financing volume through the holding’s institutions should reach 10 trillion tenge by 2027.

Growth of the Manufacturing Sector and 17 Megaprojects of the Presidential Pool

Systematic stimulation of deep raw material processing has led the manufacturing industry to outpace growth rates. As a result, in the first six months of the current year, growth in the processing sector reached 9.8%.

The infrastructural framework for attracting capital is formed by 18 special economic zones, as well as 67 industrial and 34 small industrial zones. The geography of SEZs is systematically expanding: following the previously launched sites in Aktobe, Kyzylorda, and Atyrau regions, a new SEZ “ITLK Alatau” was created in 2026 in the Zhambyl region. To date, 558 projects have been launched in these zones, of which 85 were implemented with foreign participation. At the same time, the volume of attracted direct foreign investments exceeded 1 trillion tenge.

Within the framework of the Investment Headquarters’ work, 18 Investment Agreements totaling over 3 trillion tenge have already been signed this year.

The Government pays special attention to a pool of 17 breakthrough projects being implemented on the direct instructions of the Head of State. They are aimed at maximum development of higher processing stages, use of domestic raw materials, and development of related clusters. As part of this program, the KIA Qazaqstan plant in the Kostanay region and LLP “Astana Motors Manufacturing Kazakhstan” in Almaty have already been launched in the automotive industry. Active work is underway on the creation of a metallurgical cluster by LLP “Mineral Product International” in the Pavlodar region, modernization of the Qarmet plant, construction of a copper smelter in the Abai region, as well as large gas chemical complexes by LLP “Silleno” and LLP “Butadiene” in the Atyrau region.

In total, 200 industrial projects worth 1.7 trillion tenge are planned for implementation in 2026, creating about 18 thousand permanent jobs. To date, 77 projects worth 267 billion tenge have already been commissioned, creating 4.5 thousand jobs. Once they reach design capacity, these productions will ensure an annual output of products worth about 1.5 trillion tenge, of which products worth 500 billion tenge will be directed to export. It is important that the new factories are focused on the development of regions. This year, the production of more than 15 types of completely new goods, previously not produced in Kazakhstan, will also begin: from unique large-sized engineering units and special equipment to hydrogen and complex mineral salts. Against this background, in the oil and gas chemical industry, production last year showed a twofold increase, reaching 619 thousand tons, and in the first 5 months of the current year, the output volume amounted to 225.3 thousand tons.

Investments in the Village: How New Technologies Are Developing Our Agriculture

The positive dynamics of the industrial sector are also reflected in the agro-industrial complex. In the first six months of 2026, the gross output of agriculture increased by 4.4% and amounted to 2.2 trillion tenge. The main reason for this growth was a powerful inflow of investments: in the first five months of 2026, their volume in agriculture grew by 36.4%, and in food production — 2.7 times, reaching 207.3 billion tenge.

One of the key drivers of support for entrepreneurship in rural areas is the “Aul Amanaty” program. This year, 2,738 projects worth 29.4 billion tenge have already been financed under it. In total, 100 billion tenge is planned to be allocated for the implementation of the project in 2026. These funds will be used to provide budget microcredits and leasing for 5.4 thousand projects, which will significantly expand opportunities for opening and developing businesses for rural residents and residents of small towns.

Diversification of Crop Production and Growth of Livestock Farming

The total sown area this year has been expanded to 23.8 million hectares, which is 180 thousand hectares more than last year. Farmers have placed their bets on high-margin oilseed crops, allocated 4.3 million hectares, and fodder crops, occupying 3.3 million hectares, while 15.8 million hectares have been allocated for grain and leguminous crops.

At the same time, livestock farming shows a stable increase in livestock numbers. The number of cattle increased by 5.8% to 9.3 million heads, horses — by 7.4% to 5 million heads, and camels — by 3.6% to 312 thousand heads. As a result, the production of meat in slaughter weight increased by 5.5% to 559 thousand tons, cow’s milk — by 2.4% to 1.9 million tons, and egg production grew by 7.9% to 2.4 billion pieces.

Investment Map in the Agro-Industrial Complex

To systematize this work, the Ministry of Agriculture has developed a Roadmap for 2026–2028, under which 13 major international Investment Agreements have already been signed. Among the key projects are:

• LLP “Shengtai Biotech” (Fufeng Group, China): A plant for deep processing of corn worth $1.5 billion;
• LLP “Asia Altyn Dan” (Dalian Hesheng Holdings Group, China): Construction of a grain deep processing plant in the Akmola region worth $650 million;
• LLP “Alsera KZ” (Alarko Holding, Turkey): Construction of a mega-greenhouse complex worth $650 million;
• LLP “QazaqArab Sugar” (Al Khaleej, UAE): A sugar factory in the Almaty region worth $580 million;
• LLP “Kazak Protein” (Tiryaki Holding, Turkey): A grain deep processing complex in Astana worth $320 million;
• LLP “Carlsberg Central Asia” (Denmark): A plant for the production of soft drinks worth 216.3 billion tenge;
• Projects of world-class brands: Construction of new productions by Mars Petcare (88.8 billion tenge) and Coca-Cola Almaty Bottlers (41.8 billion tenge) in the Almaty region.

Preferential Leasing of Agricultural Machinery

A serious technological shift has occurred in the modernization of agricultural machinery. Thanks to an increase in funding for the preferential leasing program at 5% per annum to 350 billion tenge in 2026, the pace of fleet renewal has grown to 6.5%. Over two years since the launch of the program, the volume of agricultural machinery sales to farmers has increased by 35%. Notably, a year earlier, 25 thousand units of equipment were purchased, of which 10.4 thousand units were acquired precisely through leasing mechanisms.

At the same time, the share of machinery assembled in Kazakhstan in the procurement structure has soared to 95%. Currently, there are 10 main plants operating in the country, providing 90% of the domestic market for tractors and combines, including localized assembly of world leaders such as John Deere in Kostanay and CLAAS in Petropavlovsk.

Ensuring Food Security and Price Stabilization

All these investment and technological measures directly affect store shelves. In the first half of 2026, the physical volume index for food production in the country amounted to 114.7%, and for beverage production — 104.4%. Impressive growth was recorded across a number of basic categories: meat, sausages, vegetable and butter, cheese and cottage cheese, fermented milk products, cereals, pasta, rice, confectionery, and processed vegetables.

To date, the domestic market of Kazakhstan is already 80-100% supplied with its own goods for the main food items. Increasing domestic production directly works to keep prices inside the country and protect the market from import dependence.

Systematic work on full import substitution continues for the 6 remaining vulnerable categories, including poultry meat, fish, sausages, cheeses, sugar, and apples. It is the launch of new domestic enterprises that will gradually reduce dependence on external supplies for these items and stabilize the cost of the basic food basket. To directly restrain prices and eliminate speculative markups, the Government is holding direct working meetings with large retail chains and organizing regular regional farmers’ fairs, where products are sold directly from producers at 15-20% below market value.