The Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development has started realization of commissions of the Head of the state, given during opening session of Parliament on March 29 this year. The acting Minister of Industry and Infrastructural Development Marat Karabayev told about the basic directions of work during session of the Government under chairmanship of the Prime Minister Alihan Smailov.

The Acting Minister said a package of amendments to existing legislation was planned as part of improvements in geology legislation.

"The first thing the project provides for is the rational and integrated use of subsoil during the operation of exploration and production of solid minerals, by ensuring reliable accounting of recoverable and extinguished in the subsoil reserves. This will allow for the full extraction of minerals from the subsoil, not allowing the selective mining of rich areas," Karabayev said.

Second. He said, is the granting of the exclusive right to move from the geological exploration phase to the exploration and production phase.

Third. Simplification of the licensing procedure, through digitalisation of the industry. This will ensure openness and transparency of the granting mechanism on the basis of the "first application" principle.

According to the acting minister, over 800 investment projects worth over 33 trillion tenge are planned to be launched and create around 147,000 jobs for industrialisation, localisation of production and modernisation of infrastructure. The implementation of these projects will ensure a production volume of about 9 trillion tenge.

Small industrial zones will be launched this year in order to provide the necessary infrastructure for the projects being implemented. Funds have been earmarked through the Enterprise Development Fund.

As the acting minister further noted, the main sectors that have the greatest potential for development are engineering, chemicals, light industry and construction materials.

Work is now underway on the following areas:

1) Strengthening regulations on off-take and long-term contracts;

2) Establishing a commitment by large enterprises to adopt Inland Value Development Programmes for a period of at least 3 years, including TNA support, contracting, SME belt, social security and other issues.

A working group of concerned state and local executive bodies will be set up to develop the National Infrastructure Plan, the acting minister said.

"In order to improve the quality of life for the population and solve major infrastructure development problems, the Plan will include basic infrastructure projects, including provision of roads, railways, airlines, water supply, heating, gas supply, electricity, communications and telecommunications, etc.," Karabayev said.

According to him, the National Plan will address problems not only in the social and communal spheres, but also to meet the growing energy needs of new industrial facilities being commissioned.                                          The Acting Minister further reported that in order to reduce the outflow of population from the rural and border areas, it is planned first to create permanent jobs by launching new production facilities. Preferential financing for projects will be provided from the Industrial Development Fund.

"In order to solve housing issues in rural areas, a mechanism will be launched to subsidise the costs of employers who have built rental houses for their employees. Through this mechanism it is planned to build 2,855 dwellings for rural workers," Karabayev reported.

In addition, according to the acting minister, 22,000 plots of land will be provided with utilities every year in order to encourage individual housing construction in rural areas.

The acting minister dwelt in detail on the development of the draft Urban Development Code. He said that a working group has been set up and a roadmap with step-by-step measures has been approved in this regard.

"Together with representatives of major industry associations and sectoral institutions, a first draft of the Code has been developed, which we plan to put up for public discussion this month," Karabayev said.

By the end of this year, he said, it is planned to submit the draft to the Majilis of Parliament.

In total, the Building Code will combine 4 laws and envisage amendments to 8 codes to cover the full life cycle of the construction process, which involves work from planning to operation.

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