In 2020, investments to become the main engine of economic recovery — Ruslan Dalenov

At the press conference in the Government, Minister of National Economy Ruslan Dalenov spoke about the measures taken to implement the instructions of the Head of State given at the extended Government session on Jan. 24, 2020.

The minister said that in 2019, the economy grew by 4.5%. Basic industries performed well. This year the task is to ensure high-quality dynamic growth at the level of 4.7-5%. This year, the main driver of economic recovery is the investment status.

Our task is to bring the level of investment to 20% of GDP. This will be facilitated by an increase in housing construction. In 2020, we plan to introduce 15 million square meters of housing, it is 2 million more than last year. The implementation of the Nurly Zhol program will also contribute to this; more than 2.5 thousand highways of republican significance will be built and reconstructed. According to the industrialization map, 120 projects will be implemented in the amount of over 1 trillion tenge. Within the development of the agro-industrial complex, 94 projects worth 500 billion tenge will be impemented. Also, amendments to the legislation will be prepared separately, which will stimulate investment activity and development of entrepreneurship,” Dalenov informed.

According to him, this year appropriate measures will also be taken to develop exchange trading, which is one of the instruments of competition, which will subsequently affect the creation of a solid foundation for the functioning of the country's healthy economy.

In my opinion, the most standardized goods should become exchange market commodities. These are coal, gas, oil, oil products. To varying degrees, this issue is being worked out. The main thing is not only to ensure the sale of these goods on the stock exchange, but also to ensure wide representation by suppliers. The analysis showed that coal is sold on the exchange, but it refers to a limited number of buyers, a limited number of suppliers, so you need to not only develop exchange trading, but also improve the rules — make the market as diverse as possible,” said the head of the Ministry of National Economy.

As noted by Dalenov, the agency analyzed 20 product markets for the presence of obstacles to the development of competition. Classic reasons or identifying restrictions is a narrow market when there are few suppliers and many buyers. Either making purchases by the same companies, participating in a state stake or over-regulation of the market.

Over the past period, the Antimonopoly Committee issued 193 notifications to market participants about violation of competition. The Committee monitors the market for the presence of a monopoly, if such cases are detected, then we go for checks. In order to level these obstacles, we have developed a special Roadmap in accordance with OECD standards. After analyzing, we identified 70 major obstacles that can be eliminated. The amendments have already been prepared for them within the framework of the 8th package for improving the business environment,” the minister said.

Dalenov also emphasized that, in terms of tax policy, investment activity remains a priority.

We must look at everything that can interfere with investment activity and improve everything that can activate it. Today, questions are being considered on taxation of the agricultural sector, a lot of proposals on agricultural tax. The issue of export promotion is also raised,” said Dalenov.

In addition, the department analyzed tax incentives for their relevance, as some of the incentives are no longer relevant.

Stay updated about the events of the Prime Minister and the Government of Kazakhstan - subscribe to the official Telegram channel

Subscribe