SEZ activities were discussed in the Government
Under the chairmanship of the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov, a meeting of the Working Group on improving the efficiency of the activities of special economic zones (SEZ) was held.
Let us remind you that on January 26 the current year at an expanded meeting of the Government, the Head of State noted that budget money should not be spent on ineffective SEZs and they should be eliminated. A special working group has been created in the Government, which includes representatives of the Accounts Committee, the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms, the Astana International Financial Center and other interested government agencies and organizations.
At the meeting of the Working Group, questions were raised regarding approaches to improving the efficiency of the SEZ, including in the part:
– definition of specific and clear criteria (high technology, import substitution, high added value, high value added, innovation, export orientation, etc.) for the provision of benefits and preferences with the establishment of the validity period of the SEZ;
– establishing the responsibility of investors for failure to fulfill their obligations by improving the current legislation; – expediency of further functioning of individual FEZs, including at the ICBC “Khorgos”, “Khimpark Taraz”, “Astana – a new city”; As a result, measures of an operational and systemic nature were proposed, which will be aimed at stepping up work on the implementation of projects in the SEZ, improving the activities of management companies, as well as ensuring equal competition for the development of domestic producers. A. Smailov instructed in a week to finalize the proposed approaches to improve the activities of the SEZ and submit the corresponding project for consideration.
For reference: Today there are 13 SEZs in the Republic of Kazakhstan. 303 projects have been implemented in the operating SEZ. More than 20 thousand jobs have been created. 136 types of products are produced on the territories of the SEZ, of which more than 30 new types of products appeared due to the implementation of the industrialization program (helicopters, optical sights for rifles, night vision devices, armored personnel carriers, locomotives, electric locomotives, passenger cars, premium pipes, cotton cellulose, polypropylene threads and others), as well as more than 50 unique IT solutions and services.