As part of his working trip to Kostanay region, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov visited a number of production facilities of machine-building industry.

Thus, the head of the Government familiarized with the progress of construction of Kia automobile plant, which will produce up to 70 thousand cars per year.

General Director of the enterprise Kim De Kee noted that 1.5 thousand new jobs will be created. At the initial stage it is planned to establish small-unit production of 3 models: Sorento, Sportage and Cerato. Commissioning of the plant is scheduled for 2025.

Alikhan Smailov stressed that the Government pays great attention to diversifying the economy and deepening localization in the manufacturing industry.

"We welcome our Korean partners and the realization of such a large investment project in Kazakhstan. As far as I know, this is the only plant of this kind on the Eurasian continent. There is one in the United States and the second one here. This is a very important project for our republic, given the capacity of this plant," Prime Minister said.

He noted that today the domestic machine-building industry, including automotive industry, shows good dynamics of development. According to the results of last year, 148 thousand cars were produced in the country, which is 30% more than a year earlier. 

"We should continue to support this dynamics in order not only to saturate the domestic market with various types of cars, but also to enter the export market, which is very important in terms of our further sustainable development," Alikhan Smailov emphasized.

He also added that about 50 thousand cars at the new Kia plant will be produced by small-unit assembly method. 

"This is a very important stage in the development of the domestic automobile industry. We will fully support the rapid realization of this project," Head of the Government said.

Then Prime Minister familiarized himself with the plans for the production of Chevrolet Onix at the plant "Allur". According to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the group of companies "Allur" Andrei Lavrentiev, the plant is fully oriented to the domestic market and will produce cars at affordable prices. With the volume of serial production of 30 thousand units per year, the assembly line will create more than 400 new jobs.

As Alikhan Smailov noted, today the share of manufacturing industry in the economy is already equal to that of mining industry. At the same time, the Government will continue to work on the advanced pace of its development to ensure a shift from raw material orientation in favor of industries with higher added value.

"The launch of new production facilities will make it possible to multiply production volumes in the automotive industry. It is already becoming a strategically important area of our economy. We will continue to contribute to its dynamic development, and the country's economy will become more sustainable," Prime Minister emphasized. 

In the region, Prime Minister also visited the localization center "AgromashHolding KZ", which is engaged in the assembly of agricultural machinery, production of components and spare parts. Today the enterprise can produce 1 thousand combines, 3 thousand tractors, about 300 seeders and 200 platform pickers per year. In particular, last year more than 1,200 tractors and combines were delivered to the fields of Kazakhstani farmers. 

Alikhan Smailov noted that currently agricultural machine building shows high growth dynamics. Thus, at the end of last year, 6.4 thousand grain harvesters and tractors were produced, which is 20% more than in 2022.

"We need to maintain this dynamics and increase production. In this sense, the work of such a localization center is very important to increase local content, create jobs and give work to small and medium-sized companies in the region. With the Akimat we will fully support such enterprises," Prime Minister said.

Given the dynamics of growth of industrial enterprises of Kostanay region, there is a growing need to increase freight transportation across the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Alikhan Smailov was presented a solution in the form of a project for the construction of a modern railroad terminal. The dry port will allow to increase the volume of container transportation through the region by 5 times.

#Alikhan Smailov #The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan #Engineering #Working trip