Kazakhstan's manufacturing industry sees 6.4% drop in investments in nine months

ASTANA. Oct 23 (Interfax) - In the first nine months of 2023, Kazakhstan's manufacturing industry saw a 6.4% drop in fixed capital investments compared to the previous year, the government's press service said.

"During the first nine months, the manufacturing industry attracted 1.027 trillion tenge in investments, 6.4% less than in the previous year. The government's goal for the remainder of the year is 2.1 trillion tenge," Deputy Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Ilyas Ospanov said at a meeting of the investment headquarters chaired by Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov.

Prime Minister Smailov emphasized the importance of the regions taking a more proactive role in executing investment projects. "When challenges arise, local authorities have often opted to delay or even abandon projects, instead of addressing the issues promptly and directly as they should," he said.

The decrease in investments is reported to be due to various regions postponing projects scheduled for 2027, mainly because of capital limitations, infrastructure issues, equipment delays, and land issues.

In the Aktobe region, the construction of a ceramic tile project was delayed due to land allocation issues. The construction of a gold ore processing plant was also pushed back because of electricity and gas approval delays.

Similar issues were seen in the Akmola region, where investment volumes decreased over nine months. Six investment projects, including a brick factory, were delayed due to licensing issues.

In the Mangistau region, ten projects faced implementation delays, particularly a project for ammonia and urea production, which was hampered by infrastructure and natural gas supply issues.

The light manufacturing sector has grown 150% to 11.3 billion tenge. Furniture production rose 350% to 14 billion tenge, and rubber and plastic products increased 60% to 81.4 billion tenge.

In addition, investments have been on the rise in companies producing paper products, beverages, and food items.

In the current year, there are 170 projects with a combined investment value of 1 trillion tenge in progress. Among them are projects involving household appliances, specialized coke production, and a sludge processing plant. As of now, 65 projects worth 200 billion tenge are already operational.