Construction has commenced on a high-tech chip and electronics manufacturing plant in the Ondiris industrial zone of Semey, the administrative center of Kazakhstan’s Abai region. The project is being developed by the joint Kazakh-Chinese venture, Suto Kazakhstan.
The initiative was formally presented at the Big Altai international subregional conference held in Altai, located in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. During the forum, 15 memoranda of cooperation were signed between the Abai region and Chinese investors, amounting to a total of $1.5 billion.
$50 Million Investment in High-Tech Infrastructure
The Semey plant, with an investment of $50 million, will be developed in three stages from 2025 to 2028. Once completed, the facility will manufacture microchips, microcircuits, optoelectronic modules, intelligent host controllers, and electronic displays. The products will be supplied to both domestic and international markets.
“A modern microchip manufacturing plant labeled ‘Made in Kazakhstan’ will appear in Semey. We have been allocated a 20-hectare site. In the first stage, we will build the main building and production facilities. If we manage to complete construction within 90 days, we will immediately launch the first line,” said Suto Kazakhstan founder Ernur Bolatuly. “Our main goal is to establish the production of chips that have never before been manufactured in Kazakhstan only assembled.”
Broader Context of Technological Expansion
The project is part of a broader effort by Kazakhstan to position itself as a technological hub in Central Asia. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, in May 2025, the country received the region’s most powerful supercomputer, further demonstrating its ambitions in high-performance computing and digital infrastructure.
