Kazakhstan’s Eastern Dry Port to Get New Airport With German Cooperation
Kazakhstan will get a new airport at the special economic zone (SEZ) Khorgos - Eastern Gate near the Chinese border, with construction taking place over the next eight years. The project will be managed by local authorities in partnership with the German company, Skyhansa LLP. The project is planning to attract 250 billion tenge ($557 million) in investments and create 700 new jobs. The volume of cargo transportation at the airport is targeted to be 50,000 tons per year, and the passenger terminal capacity will handle up to 500 people an hour, the press service of the Zhetysu Akimat (regional administration) reported. The Zhetysu region has great transit potential, as it's located at the crossroads of some key transportation routes - between China, Southeast Asia, CIS countries and Europe, said the head of the region, Beibit Isabaev, speaking at a meeting with potential investors. In the SEZ Khorgos - Eastern Gate, 56 companies are working on projects worth more than 800 billion tenge ($1.8 billion), he stated. The head of the region added that the authorities are ready to help businesses with infrastructure development. Cooperation agreements between the investor company, the regional department of entrepreneurship and the administration of the SEZ Khorgos already been signed. Investors have shown interest in the development of small aviation and started joint work with the Akimat of Taldykorgan. The new airport is planned to be completed by 2032, and the construction project involves three stages. In the first stage, the airport's basic infrastructure will be built, and at the subsequent stages, the functionality will be expanded and new facilities will be added, including a hotel and a shopping and entertainment center, said General Director of Skymax Technologies Group LLP, Yerik Shortanbayev.
