845 investment projects to implement in agriculture
At the Government meeting, Minister of Agriculture Saparkhan Omarov announced the efforts intended by the Ministry to improve the living standards in rural areas, the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan reported.
The Head of the Ministry of Agriculture highlighted that the Ministry is currently drawing up a national project to develop the agro-industrial complex for 2021 - 2025, which includes socio-economic tasks, such as:
- a stable increase in earnings of 1 million rural residents;
- creation of 70,000 family farms;
- providing employment to almost 500,000 people in agriculture;
- creation of 7 ecosystems involving 350,000 farmers and households.
New investment projects will be implemented in the countryside to achieve these goals. They will enable to create permanent jobs and increase the earnings of rural residents.
“The national project implementation will enable a 2.5-time increase in labor productivity within five years, as well as to attract more than KZT4.5 trillion of investments into the industry, which will additionally provide jobs for up to 500,000 people.
In particular, it is intended to implement 845 investment projects in the amount of KZT4.5 trillion over 5 years. They have already been worked out with regional akimats and investors, and the corresponding road maps have been signed. These projects will be implemented in accordance with the instructions of the Head of State to create 7 large ecosystems for production and processing of agricultural products,” Omarov said.
An additional effort to support the countryside, according to the Minister, in the next 5 years, is that to issue 50,000 microcredits amounting to KZT 250 billion under the Enbek Program. In beef cattle breeding until 2025, 2500 farms will receive KZT175 billion within the framework of the concessional lending under the Sybaga Program. In sheep breeding under the Altyn Asyk program, it is planned to provide loans to over 11,000 farms in the amount of KZT117.2 billion. Under the Ken Dala Program, a budget loan worth KZT70 billion is annually allocated for spring sowing and harvesting.
The Head of the Ministry of Agriculture stressed that the development of the agro-industrial complex highly depends on the successful implementation of programs to support rural areas, including social and engineering infrastructure in the countryside. In this direction, the Government is actively taking efforts, including those to develop housing construction in rural areas.
“This year, we intend to introduce a new mechanism for housing construction in the countryside which is designed to subsidize 50% of the employer's costs in case of housing construction for workers of villages, enabling to attract young experts to the countryside. This initiative has been repeatedly raised by agribusiness, so that the Government has supported it,” said Saparkhan Omarov.