Tokayev held meeting on Akmola region’s development

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s working trip to Kokshetau has begun with a meeting on the development of Akmola region.

In his speech to the members of the Government and regional core groups, the Head of State noted the historical merits of First President of Kazakhstan, Leader of the nation Nursultan Nazarbayev, under the visionary leadership of whom the country has achieved significant success both in socio-economic development and in strengthening its position in the international arena.

“The task of the Government, deputies of the Parliament, Governors is to direct all their efforts to the full implementation of the long-term Strategy of Elbasy, the National Plan and the Five institutional reforms”, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized.

At the same time, the Head of State focused on the importance of the high-quality implementation of the new State Industrial and Innovation Program and instructed to take into account the shortcomings of the previous programs. The President believes that objective analysis, effective actions to implement plans are necessary.

“As the Head of State, I expect effective work aimed at meeting the urgent requirements of the nation”, the President said.

Speaking about Akmola region’s development, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted the positive transformations in the region, in particular, in agriculture, the implementation of industrial and innovative policy, mechanical engineering, non-ferrous metallurgy, construction and poultry farming.

Noting the increase in the share of industrial production, the President pointed out that the growth rate was low, the share of the region in the republican volume was only 2.5%.

The Head of State drew attention to the exclusion of the mining and metallurgical complex at the Masalsky deposit from the Comprehensive Plan for the Development of the Mining and Metallurgical Industry and the Republican Map of Industrialization. The project involved a technological chain from ore mining to rolled steel production and production of up to 1 million tons of products. The President believes that the functioning of the complex could provide employment in Zharkain and Esil districts, as well as become a source of economic growth in the region.

In this regard, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the Government, together with the Samruk-Kazyna Fund, to develop a clear position on this project and take appropriate measures.

The Head of State said that a key factor in the growth of the region’s economy should be the growth of labor productivity, including in agriculture.

“Over the past three years, in Akmola region, the area of ​​irrigated land increased by 7.5 times and exceeded 24 thousand hectares. This is a good indicator that directly affects the increase in productivity. It is necessary to continue this work”, the President said.

At the same time, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pointed to the low level of labor productivity in agriculture in three large grain-sowing regions of the country, ranging from 5 to 8 thousand dollars.

“In Russia, this figure is 17 thousand dollars, and in developed countries it reaches 80-90 thousand”, he said.

The Head of State instructed the Ministry of Agriculture, together with Governor’s Offices of agrarian regions, to take concrete measures to significantly increase labor productivity in the agricultural sector, including through the introduction of domestic developments.

“Agriculture should receive a new impetus for development through the use of new technologies, automation and digitalization. It is necessary to continue further work on the introduction of moisture- and resource-saving technologies for cultivating cultivated areas”, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.

The President of Kazakhstan brought to a mind his order to seize land from the so-called latifundists who do not cultivate them.

Much attention was paid to the development of small and medium-sized businesses and tourism. The President paid attention to the lag of the region in the ranking of ease of doing business, as well as low rates of employment and production of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev considers it important to actively involve entrepreneurs in projects of the “economy of simple things”.

“For example, in this area, industry, agriculture and the provision of services have great potential. It is necessary to use the potential of SMEs in providing the food belt of the capital”, the Head of State believed.

The President pointed out the insufficient use of the tourism potential of the region, which has rich natural and recreational resources and cultural heritage sites. According to him, the contribution of the tourism industry to the gross regional product does not exceed 0.5%, while within the framework of the state tourism development program, the task was set to increase this indicator in the country to 8% by 2025.

“I instruct the Government, together with Governor’s Office, to ensure the completion of the infrastructure projects that have been launched, which are being implemented as part of the third stage of the Schuchinsko-Borovskaya resort area development plan. Zerendinskoye recreation area is also located in the Tourism Map of Kazakhstan. It can specialize in the field of ecological and children's tourism”, the President said.

Continuing the theme of tourism, the Head of State criticized the quality of the roadside service and the low level of service and instructed to take effective measures to develop roadside service.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev recalled the inadmissibility of price increases, especially for socially significant goods.

“Since the beginning of this year, the increase in prices for this group of goods is far ahead of inflation. Sometimes twice. Prices rose by more than 9% with a general inflation rate of 5.3%”, the President said.

Having positively assessed the indicators of housing construction in the region over the past two years (900 thousand square meters), the improvement of the condition of 880 km of local roads and the road network, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pointed to the presence of a number of unresolved infrastructure issues. In particular, he called for speeding up the construction of gas distribution networks from the Saryarka gas main.

“I entrust the Government together with Governor’s Office to ensure the construction of gas supply networks in Arshaly and Tselinograd districts in 2020-2021”, the President said.

Focusing on the tasks of infrastructure development, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the Government to study the possibility of building a thermal power station in Akmola region by attracting loans from international financial institutions.

“This is approximately 200 million dollars. A small amount. Consider and give suggestions. We must definitely build a thermal power station in the city of Kokshetau”, the Head of State instructed.

The President also stated the need to quickly resolve infrastructure issues on the outskirts of the region agglomerations, and cited the village of Kosshy as an example.

“The population in Kosshy has 3 different figures: in fact, 52.5 thousand people live; according to the notebook of household accounting, the population is 34 thousand; the migration service officially registered 16.5 thousand people. This is dangerous from all points of view. Soon we are expected to census. It is necessary to clearly know the population and living conditions of people”, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.

The President also stated the need for a transition to integrated management of the development of territories, when improving the quality of life of the country's citizens is paramount. For this, in his opinion, it is necessary to increase mutual coordination of the work of akimats of the city of Nur-Sultan and Akmola region.

At the end of the speech, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the Government and Governor’s Office of the region to ensure full readiness for the Kazakhstan-Russian Forum of interregional cooperation in 2020 in Kokshetau.