Delegation from Kazakhstan participated in PDAC-2017

A delegation from Kazakhstan headed by Mr. Timur Toktabayev, Vice-Minister of Investments and Development visited Toronto and Ottawa on March 6-10, 2017. Among the delegates were Director of  the  Subsoil  Use  Department  Mr.  Ruslan  Baimishev,  deputy  CEO  of  KazGeology  National Company Mr. Eldar Tagash and others. In  Toronto,  the  delegation  participated  in  the  annual  Prospectors  &  Developers  Association  of Canada (PDAC) International Convention, Trade Show & Investors Exchange, which includes over 900 exhibitors and 22,000 attendees from 125 countries.

As in previous year, a national booth of Kazakhstan was organized in order to provide the visitors and guests with the latest information on the country’s mining sector and its potential, reforms in the area of subsoil use and mining industry.  On the  margins  of  the  Convention,  the  delegates  held  a  series  of  meetings,  including  with  Mr.  Al MacDonald,  Mayor  of  North  Bay  and  Mr.  George  Burton,  president  of  Invest  North  Bay Development Corporation, representatives of Quebec’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Ontario’s  Ministry  of  Northern  Development  and  Mines,  Laurentian  University,  and  many companies,  including  Cameco  Corporation,  RioTinto,  Kinross  Gold  Corp., GeoTech,  Phoenix Geophysics and others. The delegation also participated in the Eurasia Mining Conference organized by the Canada Eurasia Russia  Business  Association  (CERBA),  which  takes  the  role  of  a  secretariat  of  a  Kazakhstan  – Canada  Business  Council  (KCBC).  One  of  the  main  topics  of  the  KCBC  Mining  and  Natural Resources Working Group was discussion of the current preparations to the Kazakhstan – Canada Business Council’s 2nd meeting that will be organized in Astana in June on the margins of EXPO-2017.

In Ottawa, Kazakhstan’s delegates met with Ms. Stefania Trombetti, Director General, Policy and Economics  Branch,  Lands  and  Minerals  Sector,  Natural  Resources  Canada  and  held  the  detailed exchange of information with Canadian colleagues regarding Canada’s regulatory environment for mining, tax incentives for exploration, and research & development and other issues.  

In  general,  the  visit  of  Kazakhstan’s  delegation  to  Canada  allowed  to  establish  new  business connections  and  expand  the  existing partnerships,  as  well  as  to  introduce  the  Canadian  and international business community with the main aspects of Kazakhstan’s new Subsoil Code, which is currently being developed in accordance with the Third Modernization Program aimed at ensuring the global competitiveness of the country.

Government to launch additional 410 agricultural cooperatives to assist small farms

Astana Times, 13 March 2017 

Four-hundred-and-ten  agricultural  cooperatives  will  be  established  in  2017  to  support  small  and medium-sized farms. The cooperatives will help farms buy equipment, store and transport products, provide veterinary services, organize the supply of fodder and agrochemical products and help with lending. Vice Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan Kairat Aituganov said the program was launched last year  and  157  cooperatives  are  already  cooperating  with  15,000  farms.  The  cooperatives  created more than 100 milk collecting centres and 7,000 forage bases. In general, the indicative plans are executed in all regions, according to Kazinform.

Aituganov reported that as of March 9, all tasks have been achieved in all regions of the country. The  Ministry  of  Agriculture  developed  approaches  to  involve  small  and  medium-sized  farms  in agricultural  cooperation  under the State Program for the Development of the  Agricultural  and Industrial Complex for 2017-2021, an initiative of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. 

The  vice  minister  reported  that  financing  of  the  cooperatives  by  the  fund  of  financial  support became the top priority of the fund. He emphasized that the initial payment is made at the expense of investment subsidies. The fund implemented new directions of subsidizing farmers: milk production cheapening, fattening of  bulls  and  lambs,  cheapening  of  the  cost  of  equipment  and  machinery  up  to  50  percent  and subsidies to cooperatives for reimbursement of VAT. Tripartite  plans  have  been  concluded  between  the  ministries  of  agriculture,  labour  and  social protection  of  the  population  and  city  and  regional administrations.  A  single  call  centre  for consultations on cooperation and a website have been created. A group of experts has been trained on the basis  of Atameken scientific and production enterprise to  implement  the new program. Special information materials, including booklets and videos for training in the regions are used as well. 

According to the vice minister, training seminars were organised in all 165 districts and cities of the state from Feb. 1 to 22 this year. As of March 9, 75 farms have purchased equipment using the state program. The  ministry  plans  to  allocate  50  billion  tenge  ($157.9  million)  this  year  to  support  small  and medium-sized farms.

Industry experts optimistic about introduction of autonomous vehicles in Kazakhstan 

Astana Times, 13 March 2017 

Iveco representative in Kazakhstan Lorenzo Bernardeli said he was optimistic about the future of autonomous vehicles in Kazakhstan during an international forum in Astana, according to the press services of Agromashholding and SaryarkaAvtoProm. Its partner in Kazakhstan will most likely be the AllurGroup assembly plant in Kostanai. “During the forum, the representative of Iveco, Lorenzo Bernardeli, presented futuristic concepts of the  cars  with  innovative  solutions.  Iveco  is  part  of  the  CNH  Industrial  Corporation  and  is demonstrating  an  active  introduction  of  cutting-edge  technologies  in  the  commercial  technology sector. The speaker noted that the producer adheres to the policy of switching to the unmanned cars and expressed hope that Kazakh colleagues will be able to follow suit,” the press release read. Bernardeli also said the range of Iveco cars manufactured in Kostanai was adapted for Kazakhstan to meet the needs of customers in this market, including climatic conditions and road conditions of the southern and central regions of the country.

 “We are seeing a rapid development of production in Kazakhstan and the desire of our innovative partner  AllurGroup to  test  and implement  innovations  and technologies; we think that models of futuristic cars will be available to the Kazakhstan market in the future,” he said. Kostanai’s  plant  was  the  first  plant  to  switch  to  the  full-cycle  production  of  cars  and  became a springboard for the formation in the country of adjacent production of auto components and spare parts,  such  as  batteries,  tires,  glasses,  electrical  engineering,  among  other  technological  products while the plant is also developing commercial transport. The production site is working on the localisation of processes and today, in addition to assembling, is carrying out welding and painting of parts in some models of commercial vehicles. Commercial vehicles meet all European standards and regulations of the Euro 5 type of fuel, and they also have a number of improved technical qualities. The share of localisation of technology is some 33 percent and in specialised assemblies is up to 50 percent. With the use of new technologies, it was possible to reduce the operational cost of equipment by 4 percent. To ensure the maximum productivity Iveco has done considerable work to create the best braking system for all types of car parts. These innovative solutions are also applied in models that are being assembled in Kostanai today.