# Industrialization in Kazakhstan

Industrialization in Kazakhstan was a process of accelerated expanding the country's industrial capacity from 2010 to 2022, aimed at reducing its economic lag behind developed nations.

## History

The need for diversifying Kazakhstan's economy away from a raw-materials base was first highlighted in the Kazakhstan 2030 development program, presented in 1997 by President Nursultan Nazarbayev. He emphasized the importance of sustainable growth through diversified production:
   Sustainable growth can be achieved by diversifying production. Under fierce competition and a liberal import regime, industries and entire sectors are adapting to the market, but our products, apart from raw materials, remain uncompetitive globally. This is driving us increasingly toward a heavy reliance on raw materials, while the developed and developing world is moving in the opposite direction. The decline in production and its regressive structure is a doubly dangerous factor that can no longer be ignored. A truly free market will create new industries in our country. Our goal is to present Kazakhstan to the world as an attractive place for investment and to actively attract investors in key sectors.
In 2008, Kazakhstan was affected by the Great Recession, which severely weakened its export potential as oil prices fell fourfold and metal prices halved. The national currency, the tenge, depreciated sharply. However, by 2009, Kazakhstan's economy had grown by 1.1%, with industrial growth at 1.7%. During this period, President Nazarbayev directed the government to develop the State Program of Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development (SPIID) and the country's Industrialization Map. The president urged the government to focus on seven priority sectors:
* agriculture and agro-processing,
* construction industry and materials,
* oil refining and oil and gas infrastructure,
* metallurgy and production of finished metal goods,
* accelerated development of the chemical, pharmaceutical, and defense industries,
* energy,
* transportation and telecommunications infrastructure.
The first five-year phase of industrialization under SPIID began in 2010. Through projects on the Industrialization Map, Kazakhstan launched over 500 new types of products. In mechanical engineering, for example, Tulpar-Talgo LLP started manufacturing passenger railroad cars, Locomotive Assembly Plant JSC began locomotive production, Electrovoz Kurastyru Zauyty LLP started producing electric locomotives, Prommashkomplekt LLP produced railway turnouts and solid-rolled wheels, Saryarka AutoProm LLP manufactured SsangYong Nomad, JAC, IVECO, Hyundai, and Chevrolet Niva vehicles through semi-knockdown assembly, Kamaz-Engineering JSC produced KAMAZ trucks and special equipment, Kentau Transformer Plant JSC manufactured electrical transformers, Karlskrona LLP produced pumping equipment, and Maker LLP manufactured mining equipment.
During the first five years of SPIID, the plan was to implement 294 projects worth 8.1 trillion tenge (over 40% of the country's GDP), creating 161,000 permanent jobs and an additional 207,000 during the construction phase.
Business support was provided through tools like concessional loans, leasing, innovation and export grants, and service support. In the second phase of SPIID, efforts focused on attracting multinational corporations to the processing sector to create export goods and bring Kazakhstan onto global markets.
Kazakhstan's industrialization efforts led the country to join the world's 50 largest economies by GDP in 2012. Overall, approximately 1,300 projects—primarily in agriculture, construction, and mechanical engineering—were implemented under the program, totaling around 8 trillion tenge and creating over 120,000 permanent jobs. The contribution of the manufacturing sector to industry increased from 31.8% in 2010 to 36% by the end of 2018, with its share of GDP reaching 11.9%.ref name=mylife/>