Projects for the development of "economy of simple things" have been included in the top free niches for business in the Atyrau region. 

Akim of Atyrau region Nurlan Nogayev and the Chairman of the Board of the Atameken NCE Ablay Myrzakhmetov reported on the results of the screening conducted in the region at a meeting.

Chairman of the Atameken Presidium Timur Kulibayev  initiated carrying out an economic study  and drawing up a Regional Development Map  a year ago during his working visit to Atyrau region. According to him, Development Map  should reflect all the nuances of business development, taking into account regional specifics, including the sphere of agriculture, livestock and fish industry.

“Atameken and the region’s executive bodies jointly launched an economic study to identify potential niches for entrepreneurship and determine the needs of households in social and industrial infrastructure facilities. For example, earlier Bastau graduates mainly started agricultural projects. But, thanks to the study, we were able to orient them towards the service sector and services that are not yet fully occupied in the regions. We realized that the economic study is the urgent need for Kazakhstan,” Chairman of the Board of the Atameken NCE Ablay Myrzakhmetov said.

The economic study covered 44,201 entrepreneurs and 10,615 households in the Atyrau region. Respondents answered questions about the material circumstances in their families, the number of unemployed and skills that help to earn a living. Entrepreneurs were asked about potential niches which they would invest in if they had available funds.

Thus, it was revealed that the potential of the Atyrau region for import substitution of goods amounted to 105 billion tenge. If the domestic production is increased to substitute the imports the budget revenues will be increased by 31.5 billion tenge and an additional 8,900 jobs will be created in the region.

“We have identified the commodity positions for starting business. Local enterprises may process food products by 5.8 billion tenge and manufacture non-food goods by 10.5 billion tenge. There are 13 and 24 business niches accordingly. At the first stage of implementation the volume of enterprises’ income will be equal to the volume of imports and it will allow to create 1.3 thousand jobs. The state’s treasury will be replenished by 4.9 billion tenge,” project manager for economic screening Anuar Kerembayev said.

According to Anuar Kerembayev, there is a deficit of fruits and vegetables in the Atyrau region. The volume of imports of meat and meat products (with the exception of poultry and fish) to the region amounted to about 3 million 440 thousand USD, or about 1.2 billion tenge, with a total import volume of 1,378 tons of meat products.

“The capacity of the market, as well as purchasing power, allow us to increase the domestic production of cattle, small cattle and horses by 19 thousand tons of meat products in five districts of the region,” he said.

The Chamber also proposed to create in the region the Center for Agricultural Competences, the scope of work will be increasing the yield of profitable crops by 30 per cent and the number of organized farms using international dietary standards up to 50 per cent.

The economic study has identified 670 new entrepreneurial niches such as the production of food and processed goods, bakeries, workshops in the region. If local businesses embrace these niches, they will boost the “economy of simple things”. Each of these niches will satisfy the need of 83,000 residents of the region.

As for human capital, the economic screening revealed about 8,000 vacancies in 1,179 specialties, which is three times higher than the official data shows. This enables the unemployed population to find a job suitable for their skills.

According to Anuar Kerembayev, 41 per cent of 2018 graduates of the local universities and vocational schools are unemployed. At the same time, almost 560 graduates prepared beyond the needs of enterprises. On the contrary the enterprises manufacturing oil and gas and chemical production suffer a shortage of personnel, i.e. they need  534 specialists.

“Atameken jointly with the local authorities and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan will initiate modifying the educational programs to meet the requirements of the labor market,” Anuar Kerembayev said.

The Atameken’s branch in the Atyrau region has appealed to the local akimat with a proposal to create a cluster for agrarian zones, simplify land distribution for enterprises and develop local state support programs to implement the import substitution program.

Akim of the Atyrau region Nurlan Nogayev supported the Atameken’s initiative, noting the positive effect of screening.