ASTANA (TCA) — At the government meeting on May 5, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that the country’s agricultural sector needs investment to increase productivity, the presidential press service reported.
“Productivity in this sector remains low. Kazakh farmers produce products worth an average of $400 per each hectare of land, while this figure is $1,500 in the United States, $2,800 in Germany, and $3,200 in France. The agricultural sector needs investments in new machinery, fertilizer, storage facilities, new technology, and irrigation systems,” Nazarbayev said.
He said that for a quite long time now, Kazakhstan has had a law on 10-year lease of agricultural land, including by foreigners. “During this period of time, however, this sector has not received any serious investment. Foreigners have leased and worked on 65 thousand hectares of farmland, or 0.06 percent of all rented land in the country, ensuring high productivity on that land. Long-term lease of land is a way to attract investment all over the world,” the president said.
On May 5 Nazarbayev postponed until 2017 the implementation of a controversial law on the privatization of state-owned agricultural land in Kazakhstan and announced the formation of a government commission to oversee land reforms.
The decision followed nearly two weeks of protests against the land privatization plans in several cities and towns across Kazakhstan amid rumors that foreigners would be allowed to purchase land.
The government says foreigners would only be allowed to lease agricultural land for up to 25 years.
