Astana, Kazakhstan, Oct.12
By Daniyar Mukhtarov - Trend:
Kazakhstan will export $100 million worth of railway engineering products in 2014, the country's Minister of Investment and Development Asset Issekeshev said at the forum on engineering.
"Strategic goal in railway engineering is to develop highly profitable industries together with the world's leading manufacturers such as General Electric, Alstom, Siemens, Talgo, Transmashholding, GeneralMotors, Bombardier and others," he said.
The minister said prior to the start of the industrialization program, the engineering production increased from 10 billion tenge to 260 billion tenge, while the product range increased almost by 2.5 times (from 2,185 to 5,120).
"It is planned to localize the production of locomotives to 55 percent, passenger cars - 32 percent and electric locomotives - 35 percent," Issekeshev said.
During the forum, Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov read out the welcome address of the country's President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
"Mechanical engineering should become the driving force of the next round of industrial development of Kazakhstan. Therefore, the government's attention to the problems of this sphere and its support is great as ever," the president's message said.
He said the growth of the engineering sphere have been stable in the country in the last four years. The production volume in this field has more than doubled during the period of implementation of the first five-year plan of industrialization and increased from 376 billion tenge in 2010 to 854 billion tenge in 2013.
"New sectors of engineering, such as railway engineering, production of locomotives and passenger trains, manufacturing of buses, trucks and cars are developing," the head of state said in his welcome address.
Karim Massimov, for his part said that many well-known companies jointly operate in Kazakhstan, adding that other famous companies are also expected to decide to implement new projects in this country.
The official exchange rate on Oct.12 is $1 - 181.8 tenge.