Kazakhstan plans to increase the volume of machine-building production by 2 times by 2028. This was reported by Minister of Industry and Construction Kanat Sharlapayev at the Government session chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, primeminister.kz reports.
The institutional basis for the development of the machine-building industry is defined in the Law "On Industrial Policy", adopted in 2021, and the Comprehensive Plan for the development of mechanical engineering for 2024-2028, approved in 2023. The tasks are to improve the competitiveness of machine-building enterprises by creating affordable financial instruments, introducing new technologies, strengthening personnel training, increasing local content and promoting exports.
As the Minister noted, the manufacturing industry has caught up with the mining industry in terms of volumes and continues to grow. One of the leading positions is occupied by the machine-building industry - almost 20 per cent. About 4 thousand companies operate in the industry, employing more than 120 thousand people. According to international experience, the creation of one job in the industry stimulates the emergence of about seven or eight jobs in related industries. One of the main advantages of machine building development is its powerful multiplier effect.
For 9 months of 2024, the industry attracted about 124 billion tenge of investments, a 2-fold increase. The volume of production totalled more than 3 trillion tenge. The physical volume index is 104.2%. In the structure of mechanical engineering, the largest share is occupied by automotive, railway and electrical engineering.
According to the results of 9 months of the current year, more than 82 thousand units of passenger cars were produced. Emphasis has been placed on increasing the production of cars by small-unit assembly. The construction of the plant for production of CHANGAN, HAVAL, CHERY cars with the production based entirely on small-unit assembly with the capacity of 90 thousand units is nearing completion.
The construction of a plant for the production of KIA automobiles is underway. The investment amount is $200 million. A project for the production of passenger cars Geely, Exeed, KAIYI has been launched for the amount of $150 million. Further development of the sector is planned through deepening of localisation and development of component base production. Serial production of multimedia systems and car seats is expected to be launched in Almaty this year.
In railway machine building enterprises produced products worth 423 billion tenge, an increase of 1.5 times. At the end of the year we set the task to ensure the growth of production of freight cars in 4 times - up to 2 thousand units, passenger cars up to 122 units and locomotives up to 130 units. Production of locomotives based on Wabtec and Alstom technologies, as well as freight and passenger cars has been established," Kanat Sharlapayev said, stressing that railway engineering is characterised by a huge potential for development. Currently, the total fleet of rolling stock is about 139 thousand units. The average depreciation is 55%. In this regard, work is underway to launch new projects.
This year TexolTrans started the implementation of a project for the production of freight cars and tank cars with a capacity of 6 thousand units per year. In 2025 the production of passenger cars will be launched at the plant ‘Stadler Kazakhstan’ with a capacity of 100 units per year. ‘Semipalatinsk Machine Building Plant’ is working to organise the production of gondola cars in the amount of 600 units per year. The project on creation of bandage complex ‘Railcast Systems’ is being realised. The launch date is 2025-2026. In 2025, Vostokmashzavod plans to complete the modernisation of the shop, which will ensure import substitution of medium and large wagon castings. It also plans to launch a spring production plant in the Kostanai region at the end of 2024.
In agricultural machine building for the last 5 years the production volumes in physical terms have increased 4 times. According to the results of 9 months of this year, more than 5 thousand tractors and combines were produced. Kazakhstan agricultural producers are provided with modern machinery of domestic production, including world brands Claas, Horsch, Deutz Fahr. This year, new major investors - Amazone and Zoomlion - have been attracted. Production of large-size parts was launched: tractor cabs and combine hoppers. Co-operation between manufacturers and related industries has been established," the Minister stressed.
He also said that in the city of Kostanai a Localisation Centre has been created, where workshops for the production of component base have been set up. Further development of the sector will focus on increasing production of mounted and trailed machinery, the production of which does not fully cover the needs of the domestic market.
Kanat Sharlapayev noted that the electrical engineering sector is characterised by the greatest competitiveness, which is confirmed by annual export volumes of transformers, batteries, capacitors and cable products. The sector is working to ensure the utilisation of enterprises through the introduction of priority procurement in public procurement and increasing the in-country value in the procurement of subsoil users. At the end of 9 months, there was an increase in production of lead accumulators and cable and wire products by an average of 17 per cent. In order to develop new types of goods, projects for the production of energy-efficient transformers and industrial batteries are being launched.
Domestic manufacturers produce kitchen household cookers, mini ovens, washing machines, televisions, water heaters, hoovers, extractors. We set ourselves the task of scaling up the production of consumer goods by attracting international investors. The oil and gas and mining and metallurgical engineering sectors have seen growth in production indicators. The country has the capacity to produce pumps and compressors, valves, stop valves, hydraulic and pneumatic equipment. Measures are being taken to reduce the share of imports of oil and gas and mining and metallurgical engineering. At the end of 2023, it exceeded $3 billion. In this regard, we have started work on changing the legislation in terms of introducing responsibility for the conclusion of long-term off-take contracts," Kanat Sharlapayev informed.
In the mechanical engineering sector, 2 sustainable clusters have been formed in the cities of Ekibastuz and Saran. In Ekibastuz there is a cluster of 6 enterprises producing a wide range of products for the railway industry with a total number of 2 thousand people. In addition, 3 projects worth 104 billion tenge are being implemented. A cluster of 6 enterprises has been formed in Saran, 3 of which belong to the machine-building industry. Diversification of the economies of these cities has been achieved, which allowed Saran from the status of a single-industry town. In addition, 2 new engineering projects are being developed, including a project to create a localisation centre for the production of electrical components for household appliances. In the future, it is planned to extend the cluster approach to other machine-building sectors.
The Ministry is taking a number of important measures to support domestic enterprises:
- in order to increase the share of products manufactured in Kazakhstan, the work on concluding long-term agreements and off-take contracts has been strengthened;
- priority purchase of more than 1.5 thousand machine-building goods has been introduced within the framework of state procurement;
- the issue of financing of machine-building projects is being worked out, the need is 600 billion tenge for 5 years;
- The Ministry, together with enterprises, is working on strengthening targeted training of personnel on the basis of dual training.
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