ASTANA, Kazakhstan, May 24. Last year, the share of imported raw materials and components in Kazakhstan's manufacturing sector exceeded 50 percent, said Maulen Ashimbayev, Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, speaking at parliamentary hearings, Trend reports.
He noted that the industry remains dependent on imports, affecting both technological products and raw materials, making Kazakhstan vulnerable to global market conditions.
In addition, Ashimbayev highlighted that the manufacturing sector currently employs around 613,000 people, accounting for 6.7 percent of total employment in the country. However, over the past decade, the workforce in the sector has only increased by 10 percent. There is also a shortage of qualified specialists in many areas.
He emphasized that certain steps are already being taken by relevant authorities in this regard, but efforts need to be intensified.
Furthermore, he added that from the beginning of 2022 to April of the current year, the share of business lending in the total volume of bank lending has decreased from 51 percent to 43 percent, while lending to the manufacturing industry has decreased from 14 percent to 12 percent.
Meanwhile, the volume of industrial production in Kazakhstan amounted to 15.5 trillion tenge (about $35 billion) from January through April 2024, according to the country's Bureau of National Statistics.
In the mining industry, production amounted to 7.16 trillion tenge, or about $16.1 billion (46.1 percent of the total), and in the manufacturing industry, it was 7.06 trillion tenge, or about $15.9 billion (45.4 percent).