Kazakh PM discusses plans for further localisation of railway engineering in Kazakhstan with CEOs of US and French companies
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov within the framework of the Kazakhstan Round Table on Global Investments met with heads of major international companies - world leaders in the railway engineering industry, El.kz cites primeminister.kz.
With the President of the French company Alstom for Africa, Middle East and Central Asia Andrew Deleoni discussed plans for further localisation of production and launch of new investment projects.
Alstom is a key investor in the country's railway industry. For 10 years the company has invested about €120 million in construction, technology transfer and training of Kazakhstani specialists. More than 1 thousand people have been provided with jobs. Seven production bases have been opened, including "Electrovoz Kurastyru Zauyty" in Astana, where passenger and heavy-duty electric locomotives are produced.
The French company has started construction of four maintenance centres for electric locomotives, creating over 450 new jobs. The total amount of the project is €50 million, and the opening of the first service centre in Shu is scheduled for early 2025.
The plant has successfully won its niche in the Kazakhstan and CIS markets. The demand for the manufactured products has increased taking into account the growth of container transportations from East to West. Today, the enterprise occupies about 30% of the railway engineering sector of the Republic of Kazakhstan in terms of production volumes.
The head of Alstom Andrew Deleoni declared about support of investment policy of Kazakhstan and emphasised that created in the country conditions for business promote expansion of production capacities. Attention was also paid to the prospects of expanding cooperation aimed at developing the industrial and transport and logistics potential of Kazakhstan, including discussion of partnership with KTZ.
During the meeting with Rafael Santana, President of the American company Wabtec, the issues of introducing ‘green’ technologies in the railway industry were discussed. The company is a long-term investment partner of Kazakhstan and is developing localisation of locomotive production in the country.
Locomotive Kurastyru Zauyty is a leader in transport engineering in Central Asia. The plant produces freight, passenger and shunting locomotives, which not only meet the needs of the domestic market, but are also exported to such countries as Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and others. Over 800 jobs have been created at the plant. Employees undergo on-the-job training in the USA with subsequent participation in regional and global projects. In June this year, a new engineering centre was opened in Astana, where work is underway on the production of "green" locomotives using alternative energy sources. In total, the company intends to invest about $200m in the development of new products using alternative fuels over the next 10 years, starting in 2027.
"The Head of State in his speech at the meeting of the Foreign Investors Council noted Kazakhstan's focus on strengthening the country's position as a key Eurasian transit hub. Special attention is paid to the development of the transport and logistics sector, infrastructure renewal and localisation of machine building in our country. We highly appreciate business initiatives aimed at localising production and are ready to support such companies. The implementation of such projects will allow Kazakhstan to become a hub for the production and modernisation of locomotives and integrate into the global supply chain," Olzhas Bektenov said.
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