Kazakhstan's recently announced goal to become a regional arms producer is bearing fruit, with Kazakhstan defense manufacturer Tehnoexport setting up a joint venture in Kyrgyzstan to repair and upgrade Kyrgyzstan's military equipment, EurasiaNet reported referring to local media.
"The plant will be located in an unused area of a military unit in the town of Balykchy [northeastern Issyk-Kul Region]. We are creating 300 jobs through the project. For the purposes of supporting small towns, we plan to employ local people mainly retired military servicemen with a technical education. Pay will be good between 10,000 and 15,000 soms", director-general of the Kyrgyz Kural state enterprise at the Kyrgyz Defence Ministry Jyrgalbek Sagynbayev explained, KyrTAG reported.
"Talks are in progress with China, Russia and Turkey on setting up similar joint enterprises. They are ready for cooperation", Sagynbayev added.
Another source, Central Asia Online, says that it is Kyrgyzstan's tanks that are the focus of the repair effort. Seems like a strange priority for a poor country that isn't facing an obvious conventional military threat. But then, presumably some of Kyrgyzstan's tanks were likely damaged after being used in clashes in Osh last year.