The Astana Times - The new economic challenges bring not only risks but also opportunities for investment growth, said Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov as he chaired the meeting of the Investment Office on April 20, reports the government’s press service.
The meeting focused on the results of the implementation of target indicators for attracting investments in fixed capital in 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.
Deputy Minister of National Economy Ilyas Userov said that based on the results of last year, Shymkent city, Aktobe Region and Kostanai Region are leading in terms of their performance in attracting fixed capital invetsments. North Kazakhstan, West Kazakhstan and Kyzylorda regions, however, lag behind. Each region has a separate target plan that depends on its economic development and indicators.
Among the state bodies, the Ministry of Agriculture attracted US$2.01 billion of fixed capital investments (108.4 percent of the plan), the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development US$13.5 billion (100.3 percent of the plan) and the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry – US$531.8 million (98.7 percent of the plan).
Smailov instructed regional officials and government agencies to intensify their work in this area.
“We see that there are certain risks in the state agencies for not achieving the targets. The lagging central government agencies and regions should pay attention to this. I instruct them to step up work on attracting investment in fixed assets and to keep this issue under special control. The ministers and akims (mayors and governors) will be held personally responsible for it,” said Smailov.
