OREANDA-NEWS. July 05, 2013. Kazakh Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov has taken part in the launching ceremony of the project on construction of the road "Astana-Temirtau."

Transport and Communications Minister A. Zhumagaliyev reported on the implementation of priority projects in the road sector and noted that the construction of the 178-km road "Astana-Temirtau" would be completed in 2016. Later, it is planned to construct the road from Karaganda to Almaty. Works will be completed in 2019.

The Prime Minister called the transport sector one of the drivers of economic growth. "The transport potential of our country is very high, so the Government attaches great importance to the development of transport infrastructure," Akhmetov told a briefing.

"Funding for the construction of railways and roads grows every year. This year it is planned to repair more than 2 thousand kilometers of local roads, complete the reconstruction of the international highway "Astana-Kostanay-Chelyabinsk". The megaproject "Western Europe - Western China" is underway,"Akhmetov said.

He also stated that on the instruction of the Head of State regarding the development of roads "Center-South", "Center-East", "Center-West" it was planned to start construction of three more projects. They are "Astana-Temirtau", "Astana-Pavlodar", "Astana-West". This year Kazakhstan will also begin the implementation of the major project "Almaty-Kapshagay".

According to Akhmetov, new roads should not only connect the capital to the centers of Kazakhstan's agglomerations, but also become the "locomotive" of development of the tourism cluster, strengthen economic ties between the cities.