Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov reported to the Head of State on the results of measures to support domestic producers, IT-sector, social sphere and science at the enlarged Government session.

Last year the Government prioritised the support of domestic producers. The list of commodity items purchased within the framework of state procurement exclusively from Kazakhstani producers has been tripled to 4.5 thousand items. Within the framework of regulated purchases, long-term and off-take contracts worth over 1 trillion tenge were concluded with domestic enterprises, which is a 2.5-fold increase.

In turn, Kazakhstani manufacturers assume counter obligations to technologically modernise their enterprises, improve the quality of products, improve working conditions, and deepen localisation. For example, the obligations of automakers to increase localisation to 30% this year and to 50% by 2027 are fixed. Two large car plants are planned to be launched this year: KIA in Kostanay region and a multi-brand plant in Almaty, with a total production capacity of 160,000 cars per year.

As a result of last year's decision to refuse subsidies for imported tractors and combines, foreign manufacturers of agricultural machinery, which had previously opened plants in Kazakhstan, rightly found themselves in a more favourable position. In particular, the plant of German concern Claas in Petropavlovsk has doubled its orders. Other major manufacturers of agricultural machinery are also starting to localise production in Kazakhstan.

Alstom and Wabtec plants have made serious technological progress in the production of electric locomotives and locomotives. Last year, a $350m plant with a capacity of 6,000 cars a year was commissioned in Atyrau Oblast. The Stadler plant in Astana will start production of the first 50 passenger cars this year.

At the same time, support for domestic producers is also being extended to new promising areas, such as trading in carbon units. The first such project is being implemented in Almaty region, where 200,000 seedlings have already been planted out of the planned 3 million. It is expected that more than 1 million carbon credits will be received over the course of the project. Similar practices are planned to be scaled up across the country. At the same time, this project and other similar ones are an integral part of the large-scale ideological and educational platform Taza Kazakstan. Olzhas Bektenov emphasised that the domestic business should consider care about ecology as a part of its social responsibility. This will be, among other things, provided for in the counter obligations of business in lieu of state support measures.

In general, today large industrial enterprises are becoming points of attraction for small and medium-sized businesses, the support of which remains an absolute priority in the work of the Government. Within the framework of The Year of Vocational Professions announced by the President, work is underway to improve the quality of vocational education and the prestige of technical specialities. Preferential mortgage and rental housing programmes have been launched for in-demand technical specialists.

An important area is the large-scale introduction of digital technologies and artificial intelligence. The government has started using AI in decision-making based on big data in the spheres of social protection, ecology, emergencies, and industry. A full-fledged launch of a virtual assistant in the provision of public services is planned for this year. The first own language model of artificial intelligence KazLLM was created. The Alem.AI International Centre for Artificial Intelligence will open this year. Under the AI-Sana programme, 100,000 students will be trained this year in applied skills for introducing AI in economic sectors. On the basis of 20 universities, training of specialists in artificial intelligence has begun, and a separate quota under the Bolashak programme has been introduced.

Astana Hub is an effective platform for nurturing successful startup projects. Today, 1,600 IT companies are registered here. One of the successful examples is the Alaqan system, which allows users to be identified by their palm. The project has already been implemented in 300 schools, and the system has recently been installed in the Government building. In the first half of the year it is planned to be exported to 6 countries: Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Kuwait, etc.

Another startup is Higgsfield AI to create and edit video from text based on artificial intelligence. The project is estimated at $100 million. Codiplay's project to teach children programming is already being used in schools in 13 countries, including South Korea, Turkey, the UK, Qatar, etc. The project is also being used in schools in Kazakhstan. Other successful Kazakhstani projects include Grand Mobile, CITIX, CEREBRA, OGames, Parqour, ApartX.

A network of advanced schools is being formed in Kazakhstan, including 217 comfortable schools and 200 support schools. The main task is to gradually equalise the quality of education in all general education institutions in the country through the translation of best practices. This year, 10 leading technological colleges will be formed, which will become supporting resource centres for other vocational education institutions.

There are 23 branches of foreign universities in the country, 5 of which were opened last year. There are plans to open 11 more this year. Attention is paid to the development of university science and its commercialisation. For example, Satpayev University has developed a new method for producing pure selenium, which is widely used in medicine, electronics and other high-tech areas, at the request of Kazakhmys Corporation. On the basis of NU, production of exoskeletons for rehabilitation of people with locomotor system disorders is being set up. After obtaining the necessary certificates, the manufacturer will be provided with guaranteed orders from the Ministry of Healthcare.

Work continues to improve the quality and coverage of medical services. Infant mortality has decreased by 6.7% and maternal mortality by 11.4%. Screening coverage was increased by 38 per cent over the year for early diagnosis of diseases. As a result, the mortality rate from malignant neoplasms decreased by 3.5%. In addition, a group of Kazakhstani scientists has developed a drug for the treatment of oncological diseases. The second phase of clinical trials is currently under way. Their completion and registration of the drug are planned by the end of this year.

#Olzhas Bektenov #The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan #Digitalization #Enlarged Government Session #Public procurement #Social Security