Olzhas Bektenov checks implementation of President's instructions on industrial development at Kostanay region's industrial zone
Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov during his working trip to Kostanay region got acquainted with the industrial potential of the region, El.kz cites primeminister.kz.
Fulfilment of the President's instructions, voiced in the Address, on development of high conversion and increasing the level of localisation was checked.
The Head of the Government was informed that for 11 months of this year the volume of industrial production in Kostanay region reached 2.5 trillion tenge, the share of manufacturing industry exceeded 72%. This year 6 industrial projects worth 124.7 billion tenge were implemented in the region, 1,301 jobs were created.
Olzhas Bektenov familiarised himself with the technological process and the company's plans to build a new plant aimed at the production of steel billets at Caspian Steel QZ. The capacity of the existing plant is 450 thousand tonnes per year. Thus, for 10 months of this year 311.4 thousand tonnes of rolled steel and 10.9 thousand tonnes of scrap metal were produced. The plant's products cover domestic needs and are sold on foreign markets. Since the beginning of the year, 112.6 thousand tonnes of small section rolled steel products worth more than 32 billion tenge have been exported.
The estimated capacity of the new steel billet plant is 1 million tonnes per year. Alexander Kim, director of Caspian Group, said that $650m is planned to be invested in the project. During its operation, the plant will employ 600 people, and another 400 jobs will be created in contractor organisations. It is planned to use electric arc furnaces of the latest generation, which minimise environmental impact within the framework of global transition to ‘green’ economy. It is noted that the implementation of the project will allow localising the production of rebar rolled products with an increase in the domestic content in the final product up to 99%. At the same time, the share of manufacturing industry in the region will increase by 12.3%.
Olzhas Bektenov noted the significance of the investment project and emphasised the need to form a belt of small and medium-sized businesses around large industrial production facilities.
"The President has clearly set a task for the Government - to find new sources of economic growth. Each region has its own strengths and we strive to maximise the potential where we will get a concrete increase in the economy of the region, the country and in general in the work to improve the welfare of the people. The path of economic patriotism we have chosen is bearing fruit in the form of new domestic factories and production facilities, which in turn are developing a layer of SMEs around them. All this allows us to increase self-sufficiency of the domestic economy and create productive jobs," Head of the Government said.
Olzhas Bektenov got acquainted with the development of ferrous metallurgy at the plant KamLitKZ which is a key manufacturer of cast iron castings for trucks with a capacity of 45 thousand tonnes of castings per year. The Prime Minister was informed that the main technological process covers the full cycle of production of automotive components and ensures compliance of products with international quality standards. In 2025 it is planned to launch the second plant with capacity of up to 75 thousand products per year, which will apply advanced technologies of precision stamping.
Today, Kostanay region is the country's leader in the machine-building sector. Prime Minister was informed about the pace of development of automobile industry in the region on the territory of the industrial zone, where a plant for production of Kia cars is being built. The total cost of the project is estimated at $200 million, of which about 80% are direct foreign investments. The launch of the enterprise is scheduled for 2025, today the works on the construction of the main production building, the foundation, as well as the installation of steel structures have been completed. Head of the Government was informed about plans to establish paint and varnish production, including all types of polymer coatings, which will ensure a higher level of localisation. The full design capacity of the plant is up to 70 thousand cars annually. The plant's products will be manufactured using the small-assembly method. The production will be equipped with 68 robots. The launch of the plant will create 1.5 thousand new high-paying jobs.
At the site of one of the leading automobile enterprises of Kazakhstan ‘SaryarkaAvtoprom’ Prime Minister inspected production facilities and familiarised himself with the peculiarities of technological processes of car assembly on a full cycle. General Director of the plant Syrym Semeibayev said that in 2024 the volume of output is planned to reach 90 thousand cars. The production line is represented by such brands as JAC, Kia, Chevrolet, Jetour, Hongqi, Skoda.
The plant has a unique ‘Operational Response Centre’, which is an innovative platform combining physical and digital security. One of the key advantages of the centre is the use of teachable artificial intelligence, which allows the system to adapt to changes and introduce new analytical approaches. This is the first such project in Kazakhstan, aimed at increasing labour productivity and creating a comfortable working environment for employees. In addition, it was noted that the car plant is working to deepen localisation. In the industrial zone is under construction Localisation Centre with an area of 30 thousand square metres.
The enterprise pays special attention to the development of technical personnel. For this purpose, specialised areas of industrial training have been organised in all shops: over 1.2 thousand specialists have undergone it for 11 months of this year.
The Head of the Government noted that the expansion of production should be accompanied by parallel work on the training of qualified personnel and attracting young people to the implementation of industrial projects. The effective mechanism is vocational education, as well as the platform of the championship on skills WorldSkills Kazakhstan. Olzhas Bektenov also noted the importance of introducing digital solutions into production processes, aimed at increasing the efficiency of enterprises and the volume of products.