At the government session chaired by the Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov, measures were considered to fulfill the instructions of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, which were given at the extended government session on Feb. 8, 2022. Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kairbek Uskenbayev spoke about measures to improve the efficiency of the special economic zone.

“In order to implement the instruction of the Head of State, an analysis of the effectiveness of the SEZ was carried out, a Roadmap was developed based on the results of the analysis, and a package of amendments to the current law was prepared,” the Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development said during the meeting.

At the legislative level, it is proposed to introduce the following changes:

First. Differentiation of terms of benefits depending on the volume of investments, types of taxes and the complexity of products.

Second. Establishment of the possibility of redemption by the participants of the SEZ of a land plot after the expiration of the term of the contract, subject to the fulfillment of all the obligations assumed.

Third. Strengthening the role and responsibility of the involved state bodies and organizations.

Fourth. Review approaches to identify priority areas (exclude everything except processing).

As part of the reform, the key performance indicators of the Management Companies will be reviewed. In order to strengthen the staff of managing companies, the MIIR RK proposes the following:

• to introduce the positions of an investment officer.
• to include in the Board of Directors independent directors with experience in attracting investments, as well as from regional representatives of JS NC KAZAKH INVEST.
• to organize advanced training courses and internships in successful foreign SEZs.

“The issue of completing the construction of the SEZ infrastructure remains a priority, as this is one of the main conditions for attracting investors,” Uskenbayev said.

The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan also reported on the work done to inspect domestic factories for the production of vehicles and agricultural machinery.

“We have already visited three factories, in Almaty, Kostanay and Uralsk. In order to qualitatively fulfill the instructions of the Head of State, we have created a working commission, which included representatives of government agencies, the Senate and the Majilis of the Parliament, public associations, the media, as well as bloggers,” Minister Uskenbayev said.

All field inspections are scheduled to be completed by the end of February. Additionally, open days will be organized at the sites of automakers. A corresponding agreement with automakers has already been reached.

In addition to the above, the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development is conducting an analysis of all industrial assembly agreements with a further revision of the documents, with an emphasis on the transition of models to small-scale assembly and the production of components.

“In order to increase the localization of domestic enterprises, we have formed a step-by-step Action Plan for the production of auto components, and we are also working on the issue of attracting certified suppliers to create joint production and attract investments in the future,” the Minister of Industry said during the meeting.

As part of the issue on the mining and metallurgical cluster with the creation of products of medium and upper processing stages, the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan has identified a list of 12 key projects.

To date, a list of 12 new key projects for the production of deep processing goods has been defined, such as: aluminum radiators, profiles, wire rods, car rims, batteries, food cans and other products aimed at deep processing. Global demand for base metals continues to grow.

During the meeting, Kairbek Uskenbayev also noted the need to build two new plants.

“Our country has a large raw material potential for alumina and copper concentrate, which is currently exported: alumina — 830 thousand tons, copper concentrate — 1,100 thousand tons. Now we are working on the issue of creating a new electrolysis and copper smelter for processing inside the country of all produced alumina and copper concentrate,” the minister said.

Following the instructions of the President, the ministry plans to check all the multi-apartment and individual residential buildings put into operation.

“By the end of February, the akimats will form an appropriate list by object. Until the end of March, a reconciliation with the statistical authorities and databases of justice will be carried out. Based on the results of the work carried out, recommendations will be developed,” the minister said during a meeting of the Government.

On the issue of increasing the capacity of communal infrastructure, taking into account the development plans of the territories, the Ministry of Investment and Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan prepared a calculation of the need for life support sources in accordance with the standards of urban planning documentation. Until the end of 2025, 70 million square meters of housing will be built.

“In order to commission this volume, 1.5 GW of electricity, 2.9 thousand Gcal / hour of thermal energy, 3.3 billion m³ of natural gas, 887 thousand m³ of water supply, and 749 thousand m³ of water disposal will be required. This calculation was sent to the Ministry of Energy to form a forecast balance of electrical energy and capacities for 2022-2025. At the same time, together with the akimats, we are now determining the necessary need for energy resources,” the Minister of Industry said during a government session.

Together with the Agency for Protection of Competition, the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan has developed measures to demonopolize the construction market and its competitive development.

Reforms are proposed in 3 main areas:

– regulation of participation in shared construction;

– provision of land and development planning;

– improvement of public procurement procedures.

The Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan plans to amend the Land Code and the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Public Procurement”.

The changes will provide for the exclusion of the out-of-competition provision of land plots, the improvement of the requirements in shared construction by strengthening the responsibility for circumventing the law and identifying the illegal attraction of funds from equity holders.

In terms of public procurement, it is proposed:

- to introduce an obligation to provide projects for the production of works at the tender stage, indicating material resources;

- establish a limit on the amount of purchases for participation in the competition, as well as distinguish between the indicator of taxes paid by types of work and services;

- administer relationships, in terms of subcontracting.

As part of joint work with Baiterek NMH JSC, by March 15, 2022. The Ministry of Investment and Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan plans to launch a test version of a digital platform for accepting applications for subsidizing rental housing.

“The platform involves filing an application using an EDS and automatically checking the applicant's compliance with the requirements. Verification will be carried out by integrating with the state databases of the ICRIAP, the Ministry of Justice, the State Revenue Committee, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection. We plan to start accepting applications from April 5,” Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kairbek Uskenbayev summed up his speech.