EFFECTIVE MONITORING OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INVESTMENT PROJECTS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE ECONOMIC GROWTH OF THE REGION
November 27, 2023
Speaking at the International Forum “Turkestan: Tourism, Investment, Economy” – TIF’23 in Turkestan, the chairman of the presidium of the “Atameken” NCE Raimbek Batalov spoke about state policy to support small and medium-sized business and investments.
Today, life in the region is in full swing: extensive construction is underway, infrastructure is rapidly developing, and trade is developing. It is not for nothing that the region is called a region of enormous opportunities. Indeed, the potential for economic development of the region is very large. The main advantages of the region are its favorable geographical location and logistics, the presence of the Western Europe – Western China highway, rich natural resources, human capital, high potential for the development of the agro-industrial complex and tourism.
Since 2018, that is, since the creation of the region, the share of gross value added by SMEs in the gross regional product has increased from 19.5% to 30.8% in 2021.
“Small and medium-sized businesses play an important role in the socio-economic and political life of not only the Turkestan region, but the entire country. Specific goals and objectives for the development of small and medium-sized businesses were set by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan K. Tokayev in his Address to the People dated September 1, 2023 “Economic Course of a Fair Kazakhstan”, in particular the differentiation of state support by the level of technological complexity of production and business categories. We see with our own eyes how the regional akim and his entire team are actively working to develop small and medium-sized businesses, attract investment, and increase the region’s exports,” said Raimbek Batalov.
Also, the head of the National Chamber, which unites and represents the interests of the business community, voiced proposals for further economic growth of the region.
The program documents define a list of priority sectors, uniform for the entire country. Meanwhile, the regional economy differs significantly from region to region. According to the National Chamber, state policy should include regional differentiation of support measures, implying priority provision of measures to SMEs that correspond to the development strategies of the region.
“This year, together with akimats, we have updated 3-5 priority activities in each region, down to the districts. Based on the updated priorities, the National Chamber created Industry Councils, which included leaders from medium and small businesses. There are currently 133 Councils operating throughout the country. We initiate changes to the regulatory legal acts and propose to create Industry Master Plans for each of the priorities. These master plans will be developed directly by akimats with the active participation of the created Councils. As a result, the industry master plan will be a kind of “guideline”, in other words, instructions for the development of a certain priority in the region,” said Raimbek Batalov.
What needs to be done and what investment projects are needed for this, and also what does the state, represented by the akimat and line ministries, need to do for this? The head of the National Chamber offered answers to these questions.
For example, tourism in Turkestan and the Turkestan region. There are certain measurable indicators for increasing tourists in the region. And the bed capacity is perhaps one of the key ones. We will not be able to attract more tourists without the appropriate infrastructure, incl. hotels and other accommodation places. At the same time, you need to understand your target audience, your pros and cons. This is precisely the task of sectoral master plans. Understand what, where and how to do so that it all works well.
“As a result, thanks to this synergy between the state and business, everyone has a clear vision and goals for each of the priorities. Where to invest your funds? What investment project and where to implement it? What financial and infrastructural support measures are needed for this? Thus, I am convinced that this will give a qualitative breakthrough in the development of our business and will allow us to form new clusters,” the speaker noted.
The National Chamber is working in this direction. Now, together with the Government, a package solution is being prepared, including, incl. necessary changes to documents of the state planning system and other legislative acts.
At the same time, according to R. Batalov, the current system of attracting external investments and monitoring the implementation of investment projects requires improvement.
For example, in priority countries for Kazakhstan, the work of embassies needs to be strengthened by a team of professional investment bankers who can increase the lack of competencies.
Regarding control over the implementation of investment projects, now work with incoming investors, monitoring of investment projects initiated for implementation is carried out separately, manually, without maintaining a digital trace. Therefore, it is proposed to develop a unified procedure with very clear tools, such as the Interactive Map and the Register maintained by the Chamber