Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar and Chair of the Board of Atameken NCE Ablay Myrzakhmetov reported on progress in implementing projects on import substitution and development of industries of the “economy of simple things,” the first results of screening regions to develop entrepreneurial potential and increase population incomes are the first Deputy Chair of Atameken Eldar Zhumagaziev. Representatives of the business community of the Republic of Kazakhstan also made comments.

Over the past month, the Design Office of the Economy of Simple Things has received over 130 new projects; in total, 227 projects worth about 1 trillion tenge are under development. The leaders in the number of initiatives presented are Kyzylorda, Zhambyl and East Kazakhstan regions. Among those lagging behind are Atyrau, Almaty and North Kazakhstan regions.

In terms of sectors, the number of projects is dominated by engineering (55 projects), food industry (37) and agribusiness (35). Moreover, the projects with the largest amounts are in the chemical industry (by 324 billion tenge) and the production of building materials (by 116 billion tenge).
Screening of the regions conducted by NCE Atameken covered 2.2 million households (10 million inhabitants) and 788 thousand business entities. The results of the screening revealed the personnel needs of enterprises (over 105 thousand people), the number of active residents who are ready to learn the basics of entrepreneurship (over 153 thousand people) and other parameters.

The Interdepartmental Commission together with the Atameken decided to establish project offices at a level not lower than the deputy regional akim in order to practically implement the results of regional screening to increase local production, create additional jobs and increase population incomes.

The Commission approved the rules for the selection of import substitution projects. In particular, investment projects will be considered to create new or expand existing production in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, the volume of investment in fixed assets is at least 100 million tenge, the implementation period is not more than 5 years, and other criteria. At the same time, projects on refinancing current loans are not subject to consideration.

The meeting participants considered several specific projects on import substitution in the agricultural, chemical, textile, engineering and other fields, which together will create about 4 thousand new jobs and attract over 350 billion tenge of investments.

The Head of Government instructed to continue active work on import substitution and export promotion.

“The state will expand measures to support business and promote entrepreneurship,” said Mamin.