NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — At the extended Government session on July 15 with the participation of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Askar Mamin said that the growth rate of the economy of Kazakhstan increased from 2.9% to 4.1% in the first half of 2019, the press service of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
“The main sources of growth were industry, construction, transport, trade, and agriculture. In the manufacturing industry, growth was mainly due to pharmaceuticals, engineering, oil refining, non-ferrous metallurgy, light industry and beverage production,” Prime Minister Mamin said.
To ensure sustainable economic growth and create productive jobs, a key issue is attracting a new wave of investment.
“Our task is to increase the volume of investment in fixed assets annually by an average of 20% and bring it to 30% of GDP by 2025,” said Mamin, noting that investments in fixed assets increased by 11.7% in the first half of the year, including private investment — by 13%.
“Today a pool of projects has been determined in the amount of 12.4 trillion tenge. That is, there is a need to additionally attract an average of 3 trillion tenge of investment annually. Annual foreign direct investment needs to be increased from the current $24 billion to $34 billion by 2025,” said the head of Government, noting the great potential for attracting investment in the manufacturing industry, the fuel and energy sector, transport and logistics, the agro-industrial sector, and tourism.
“The labor market remains stable. The unemployment rate in the first half of 2019 decreased to 4.8%. Nearly 186 thousand new jobs were created, including 126 thousand permanent ones,” said Mamin.
The head of Government also said that in 2019 the coverage with measures to promote employment will increase fourfold and amount to more than 300 thousand people, including through short-term vocational training in the framework of Bastau Business and Zhas Kasіpker programs.
