OREANDA-NEWS. February 25, 2011. The Kazakh Government held a sitting to tally 2010 results.

According to Minister of Economy Development and Trade Ms. Zhanar Aitzhanova, industrial production output grew by 10% y-o-y. The share of industrial production in the national GDP made up 11.5%, 1.9% up against 2009. Growth in processing industries made up 18.4%.

Minister of Finance Mr. Bolat Zhamishev announced that in March the Government would define a list of companies to float shares domestically as part of an “IPOs for the general public” program.

In his turn, the nation’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov instructed the Finance Minister to come up with a plan to raise general public’s awareness of finance basics. “If the general public is not aware of advantages of investing, the program fail to produce anticipated results”, he said.

Chairman of the National Bank (Kazakhstan’s Central Bank) Mr. Grigory Marchenko announced that the international gold and currency assets of Kazakhstan had exceeded USD 64 billion. “Gold and currency assets of the National Bank stand at USD 32 billion, with assets of the National Oil Fund making up the other USD 32 billion”, he said. “As of today, foreign debt of the banking sector makes up roughly USD 17 billion; throughout 2010 the figure was slashed by USD 10 billion, including through successful debt restructuring at BTA, Alliance and Temir banks”, he elaborated.

According to Vice Minister of Industry and New Technology Mr. Duisenbai Turganov, direct foreign investments injected into the non-extraction sectors in 2010 alone totaled USD 1.7 billion.

He reminded that as part of a program to promote Kazakhstan’s investment opportunities the Ministry hosted in 2010 28 presentations resulting in signing of 150 contracts worth USD 9.6 billion.

In the H1 2011 13 projects are to be launched within the State Program of Accelerated Innovation-driven Industrial Development. In 2010, 152 projects worth KZT 800 billion were launched within the said program, creating 23.5 thousand jobs.

Prime Minister Karim Massimov instructed Minister of Communications Mr. Askar Zhumagaliyev to bring the Internet speed in Kazakhstan up to 16 Mb/s. “I am setting this goal. We need to get prepared … and make provisions in the 2012 state budget to bring the Internet speed in Kazakhstan up to that in South Korea”.

According to the Prime Minister, high-speed broadband Internet is of paramount importance to ensure Kazakhstan’s competitive edge. “No less important than housing construction and potable water… We need to catch up with South Korea in terms of broadband”.