Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov held a meeting on the development of Mangystau region. The key task is to fulfil the instructions of the President, voiced in the Address "Fair Kazakhstan: law and order, economic growth, public optimism", to ensure sustainable socio-economic progress through improving the welfare of the population in the regions and addressing strategic objectives.

The reports of the Akim of Mangystau region, heads of relevant ministries were heard. Measures to develop key sectors of the region's economy, including transport and logistics, fuel and energy complex, communal infrastructure, tourism cluster have been discussed.

The Head of the Government was informed that the Comprehensive Plan of Socio-Economic Development of Mangystau region from 2021 to 2023 provided growth of gross regional product by 50% - up to 4.5 trillion tenge. For the period up to 2025 it is envisaged to implement 259 measures to the amount of 1.8 trillion tenge.

Taking into account the strategic importance of Mangystau region for the transport and logistics industry of the country, the issues of infrastructure development were considered, including the planned reconstruction of 680 km of national roads, construction of a container hub on the basis of the port of Aktau and others. It was noted that expansion of sea port, air and railway infrastructure, provision of various types of services and improvement of their quality should be a priority.

Minister of Transport Marat Karabaev reported that for 10 months of the current year the volume of transportations along the corridor TMTM increased by 68%, and container transportations increased by 2.7 times. Rail transport transported 2.3 million tonnes of cargo, by sea route transported 6.3 million tonnes, which is 3% more than in 2023.

The Head of the Government emphasised the need to develop an aviation hub in Mangystau region. The Ministry of Transport together with the Ministry of Energy and KazMunayGas has been instructed to work on direct supplies of aviation fuel to the region, as well as increasing subsidised domestic flights to new destinations with the involvement of foreign airlines. At the same time, it is important to develop railway infrastructure for the growth of passenger routes to Mangystau region from other regions.

Olzhas Bektenov emphasised the importance of strengthening work to attract potential investors to expand the free economic zone ‘Seaport Aktau’. At the same time, during the implementation of projects it is important to create permanent jobs for the residents of the region. According to the results of 11 months of this year, 14 projects were launched with the creation of 525 jobs.

As of today, 17.2 thousand people are employed in the region's manufacturing industry. Minister of Industry and Construction Kanat Sharlapayev reported that in order to create permanent jobs in the industry is working on finding investors. At present, 19 promising projects worth 1.5 trillion tenge are being worked out with the creation of 3.9 thousand jobs.

In the energy sector, the relevant Ministry has set tasks to modernise MAEK, which is included in the list of 19 energy sources of the ‘red risk zone’, heat and electric main and intra-block networks. Earlier, 5 billion tenge was allocated from the republican budget for the stable operation of MAEK. The need to address the issues of heat and water supply was noted.

"In the region, a big problem is a high wear and tear of intra-quarter heating networks. Since the beginning of the heating season 225 breakages have been recorded, the level of wear and tear of water supply networks in Aktau is 82%. We know that the population of the city complains about the lack of water. These are the issues that need to be addressed by the regional akimat in the first place. Support from the Government is provided," Olzhas Bektenov emphasised.

The Ministry of Industry and Construction was instructed to assist the Akimat. Also considered the ongoing work on the implementation of the task set by the President on the development of tourism, including the resort area "Kenderli". Within the framework of the Complex Plan aimed at long-term development of Mangystau region as an international centre of beach tourism, 64 measures worth 165.1 billion tenge are planned till 2030 with attraction of private investments. Among the priority projects is the creation of resort zones "Warm Beach" and "Kenderli". These measures will increase the number of tourists to 1.3 million people and expand the region's hotel infrastructure. The Ministry of Tourism has been instructed to provide maximum assistance to the Akimat in the development of the Masterplan of tourism development of the region.

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