Economic growth and modernization in the country are emphasized by Tokayev, focusing on broadening economic sectors and transitioning infrastructure.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has outlined a comprehensive plan to drive economic diversification and infrastructure development in Kazakhstan, aiming to transform the country's economy from resource-dependence to a more industrial and diversified structure.
In January 2024, Tokayev unveiled a series of priorities that include boosting sectors such as oil refining, metallurgy, electricity generation, agriculture, petrochemicals, automotive manufacturing, railway engineering, and fertilizer production. The President also emphasized the importance of developing rare earth metals and emerging industries to reduce reliance on traditional resource extraction.
One of the key components of Tokayev's plan is the implementation of a National Infrastructure Plan. This plan aims to create growth points through improved industrial and transport connectivity. To this end, the government is rolling out numerous industrial projects with substantial investment. For instance, the Baiterek holding has attracted around $15 billion in new investments, leading to the launch of about 190 industrial projects worth approximately $2.8 billion.
Supporting infrastructure upgrades is another crucial aspect of the plan. Priority projects include the expansion of the Shymkent Oil Refinery and the construction of new automotive and chemical manufacturing facilities. Tokayev also highlighted the need for energy infrastructure upgrades, with projects like new gas pipelines (Taldykorgan–Usharal, Beineu–Bozoy–Shymkent) and a $1.35 billion urea plant developed in partnership with foreign investors.
To strengthen Kazakhstan’s role as a regional energy hub, Tokayev emphasized the need to increase gas transit capacity and upgrade major pipelines to improve reliability.
In addition to these economic priorities, Tokayev also placed a strong focus on enhancing multimodal transport hubs to integrate various transport modes. He tasked the Antimonopoly Agency and the government to resolve issues related to high aviation fuel cost and cargo handling procedures in the first half of the year.
Tokayev also called for investments and technologies to bolster extraction and processing in the rare and rare-earth metals sector, particularly lithium. He underlined the urgency of establishing an international air hub in Kazakhstan, simplifying cargo handling procedures, and addressing the high cost of aviation fuel.
The President also emphasized the importance of creating a holistic ecosystem to strengthen the search for, support of, and protection of investors at all levels. He called for continued reforms in subsoil use rights and legislative support for a unified platform to streamline subsoil use rights processes.
Tokayev also highlighted the need for special control over major investment projects with China, Russia, the United States, EU countries, the Middle East, Asia, and others. He instructed the government to finalize a work plan to support promising medium-sized enterprises by June.
These priorities aim to help double Kazakhstan’s GDP to $450 billion by 2029, backed by large-scale industrialization, infrastructure investment, and strategic diversification away from a purely resource-based economy.
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Investing in sectors such as oil refining, metallurgy, electricity generation, agriculture, petrochemicals, automotive manufacturing, railway engineering, fertilizer production, and developing rare earth metals and emerging industries is a crucial part of President Tokayev's plan to drive economic diversification in Kazakhstan. The President also seeks to strengthen Kazakhstan’s role as a regional energy hub through infrastructure upgrades, including the expansion of the Shymkent Oil Refinery and the construction of new automotive and chemical manufacturing facilities.
The government's focus on establishing a holistic ecosystem to strengthen the search for, support of, and protection of investors at all levels, along with continued reforms in subsoil use rights and legislative support for a unified platform to streamline subsoil use rights processes, will help attract significant finance to these industries, thereby boosting business growth.
