The Head of State, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, had a meeting with Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, during which he was briefed on the results of the country’s socio-economic development for January-June this year and plans for the further diversification of the economy, Qazinform News Agency cites Akorda.
The prime minister reported that in the first half of the year, GDP growth reached 4.1 percent. The contribution of the manufacturing industry to the economy increased by 9.8 percent, the transport sector by 7.1 percent, and construction by 15.2 percent. Growth was also recorded in trade (5.7%), agriculture (4.4%), and communication services (4.3%).
Investments in fixed assets amounted to 9.5 trillion tenge, with the inflow of private investment growing by 21.4 percent. Bektenov announced government efforts to strengthen the structure of the national economy, detailing the rollout of 200 investment projects worth 1.7 trillion tenge this year, a move that will generate 17,000 permanent jobs.
The head of the Kazakh Government also spoke about the progress of major highway projects, plans for the construction of a second airport in the city of Astana, and the second phase of Tarlan Astana. In the construction sector, housing commissioning will be brought up to 20 million square meters.
In agriculture, production volume reached 15 trillion tenge, and sown areas were increased to 23.8 million hectares. One trillion tenge was allocated to support farmers, with 6.5 tenge of private investment attracted for every tenge from the budget. The head of state was briefed on the implementation of the comprehensive plan to increase population income and the ongoing measures to reduce the inflation rate.
In June, the annual inflation rate stood at 10.3 percent. Tokayev was also informed on the current results of improving social and migration policies, as well as approaches to further increasing the effectiveness of social support mechanisms by stimulating employment.
The cumulative effect of optimizing inefficient social payments will exceed 800 billion tenge per year. Special attention during the meeting was paid to preparations for the heating season. Based on the results of the previous season, 5 combined heat and power plants (CHPPs) were successfully removed from the critical "red" risk zone, and an additional 3 CHPPs were moved to the "green" zone.
This year, the reconstruction covers 9 power units, 55 boilers, and 51 turbines, with 384 billion tenge allocated for these purposes. Under the Modernization of the Energy and Utility Sectors national project, the repair of 12,000 kilometers of utility networks will be completed by the end of the year.
During the meeting, information was presented on the execution of the president's tasks regarding digitalization and the development of the national AI infrastructure. Bektenov reported on the implementation of the Data Center Valley project. In cooperation with global IT leaders, infrastructure with a capacity of 250 MW is being deployed.
The volume of attracted foreign investment exceeds 10 billion dollars. The head of state heard a report on the modernization of tourism infrastructure. The development of the Almaty mountain cluster will increase the share of the tourism sector in the GDP structure.