New measures to provide food safety and create workplaces – Timur Kulibayev
Atameken developed measures to reduce food imports. They were presented at a meeting of the Food Industry Committee of Atameken with the participation of the Chairman of the Presidium Timur Kulibayev.
According to chairman of the Committee Erik Balapanov, Kazakhstan continues to maintain its dependence on imported products. There are 50% of imported poultry, 40% of imported sausages, 52% of cottage cheese and cheese on the shelves of stores, and more than 90% of sugar is imported. In total, according to the Food Industry Committee, over the past ten years, $ 10 billion worth of products have been imported into the country - these are products that can be produced in the country.
It is possible to provide one hundred percent of the domestic market demand for products by comprehensive measures to support domestic producers. Atameken has developed a detailed import substitution plan for each industry.
“We made detailed calculations to completely eliminate the sugar shortage - and this is 400 thousand tons annually. It is necessary to irrigate about 150 thousand hectares and build three new sugar beet processing plants in Kazakhstan. At the first stage, state support may consist in creating an infrastructure for irrigation, as well as in subsidizing the purchase of specialized equipment. It is possible There are three regions to locate sugar factories - Turkestan, Zhambyl and Almaty regions,” Yerik Balapanov said.
Озвученные меры «Атамекен» намерен презентовать Правительству. Их реализация позволит не просто обеспечить продовольственную безопасность Казахстана, но и создать тысячи новых рабочих мест.
Yerik Balapanov noted that construction of 100 large and 500 medium-sized dairy farms will help to reduce imports of dairy products, the amount of annual import substitution will exceed $ 250 million. In turn, the creation of only three large poultry farms (about 120 billion tenge of investments) will completely eliminate the shortage of poultry meat.
Atameken intends to present to the Government these measures. Their implementation will allow to ensure the food security of Kazakhstan and create thousands of new jobs.
At the same time, chairman of the Atameken Presidium Timur Kulibayev noted, it the necessity to simultaneously develop industry cooperation.
“It is necessary to understand that the construction of a modern dairy farm is a resource-intensive process, even if the state provides soft loans. It is necessary to further stimulate business to industry cooperation. Small agricultural producers can unite around a large processor and provide it with raw materials. There are successful examples in the Karaganda region, when a large dairy plant created the conditions for a local supply chain and now receives high-quality raw materials. Let's study and replicate this experience,” Timur Kulibayev said.
The head of the National Chamber is confident that, Kazakhstan may meet the domestic market demand for food and increase exports.
“We annually produce about 20 million tons of wheat, half of which is exported. Let's be honest, we sell cheap wheat abroad, because the lion's share of the cost is transportation costs. Moreover, now we are actively competing with Russia in grain exports. If we develop deep wheat processing, the profit will increase several times. Why do we export cheap wheat, if we can produce high value-added products? Having adjusted processing, we will meet the domestic demand and increase exports, that is, we will feed ourselves and our neighbors. We need to focus business to work in this direction and focus state support measures specifically on the processing sector,” Timur Kulibayev said.
As a result of the meeting, Timur Kulibayev noted the importance of developing specific proposals on measures of non-tariff regulation and protection of the domestic market.
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