Kazakhstan has identified 20 strategic investment projects.

The Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov held a meeting to review the progress of the implementation of the President's instructions regarding attracting investments into the country's economy, reports inbusiness.kz citing the press service of the Government of Kazakhstan.

The main goal is to accelerate the realization of major investment projects and address systemic issues that hinder the improvement of the investment climate in the country, as well as to consider possible measures to enhance the effectiveness of investment policy, create favorable conditions for investors, and activate efforts to attract capital.

Information was presented by the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kazakh Invest regarding the pace of work and an analysis of factors influencing the dynamics of investment activities. In 2024, 230 investment projects worth 1.85 trillion tenge were launched in Kazakhstan. The work of the investment headquarters over the year has resolved 115 problematic issues faced by investors concerning projects totaling over 50 billion dollars.

A targeted approach to attracting investors to priority niches where Kazakhstan has a competitive advantage with potential for higher processing and export opportunities is being implemented. The top 10 leading companies in various sectors have been identified for negotiations on specific prospects for cooperation and moving into the active investment phase. Thus, the work is being restructured based on the principle of "investment orders," taking into account the needs of the economy, the competitive advantages of regions, and other factors.

For example, productive work has been carried out with the largest Chinese agribusiness companies. Fufeng Group plans to start construction of a sodium glutamate plant based on deep corn processing worth 350 million dollars in the Zhambyl region in the near future. Dalian Hesheng Holding Group will begin construction and installation work on a complex for deep wheat processing in the Akmolinsk region worth 650 million dollars this summer. Active efforts continue with all companies to "land" projects, meaning creating favorable conditions, including accessible infrastructure and prompt resolution of administrative issues.

Additionally, 20 strategic projects have been identified with a total investment volume of 12 billion dollars, covering key sectors of the economy, including agribusiness, energy, industry, construction materials production, and others.

Among the presented projects, agreements on investments are planned to be concluded for 14 projects this year, construction and installation works will commence for 13 projects, and project documentation development is expected to begin for another 16 projects.

Attention was also focused on projects for which agreements on implementation were reached during business trips, meetings, and other events. The Prime Minister particularly addressed investment projects that have missed their implementation deadlines. The akims of Almaty, Aktobe, Atyrau, Zhambyl regions, as well as the cities of Astana and Shymkent, and the Ministers of Health and Trade were heard.

"Currently, the measures taken by the akimats to attract investments do not fully reveal the regions' potential, and the economic potential is not sufficiently utilized. Work in this direction should be conducted at all levels of the local government vertical – including district akims," the head of the government instructed.

The approaches for implementing planned performance indicators for the akimats of regions and ministries have been approved.

A new National Digital Investment Platform will serve as an effective mechanism for monitoring and strengthening control over project implementation, which already contains data on 1,159 projects. The data will be filled in collaboration with the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs "Atameken" and verified on the ground by akimats.

During the meeting, several problematic issues affecting the efficiency of government agencies and requiring action were also noted.

Among them are the lack of and deficiency of timely infrastructure development, complicated administrative procedures, delays in issuing permits, and lengthy timelines for providing land plots. Necessary decisions have been made regarding all issues.

"The President noted at the extended meeting that attracting investments is a critically important issue that requires more prompt work without excessive bureaucracy. Government agencies, especially akimats, need to manually monitor the progress of project implementation. Akims and ministers should be engaged with this issue on a daily basis. This is the main task today – we need to quickly resolve investors' issues," emphasized Olzhas Bektenov.

Work in this direction is under special control of the Prime Minister.