Over 5,000 jobs will be created in Almaty

Over 5,000 new jobs will be created in Almaty before 2014, Almaty Akim (Mayor) Akhmetzhan Yessimov said at Made in Almaty Fair on June 30. "Almaty is the country's leader in implementation of the programs developed and approved by our government, in particular, the Industrialization Map. Projects totally worth 228 billion tenge ($1.6 billion) have been implemented in our city since 2010. Another 8 projects worth 303 billion tenge ($2.1 billion) will be implemented before 2014. Over 5,000 jobs will be created in this period," he said. The Akim noted that creation of an Industrial Zone at the area of 490 hectares in Alatau region near Almaty would boost industrial development of the city. State-run programs Business Roadmap-2020 and Efficiency-2020 also had a good impact on the city's companies. Measures taken by the government to increase local content (participation of local professionals and locally-made goods) in state procurement and contracts of Kazakhstan's national companies provided a real support to the city's industry, he said. According to the Almaty administration website, there are currently around 3,700 different companies in the city. Last year their number increased by 20 percent. The companies growth made 15 percent in the last 5 months.