Turkestan city may get public funds for infrastructure modernization: expert

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ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Sergei Domnin, an expert of the Institute of World Economy and Politics under the Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (IWEP), maintains that due to the creation of two new administrative-territorial units of Kazakhstan, public funds can be used to modernize the urban infrastructure of Turkestan and Shymkent, Kazinform correspondent reports.

According to Sergei Domnin, the Decree signed by the Head of State on the establishment of two new administrative-territorial units in Kazakhstan, the city of national significance of Shymkent and the Turkestan region, is based on the respective provision of the Law on the Administrative-Territorial Division of the Republic of Kazakhstan which clearly defines that the cities with more than 1 million people shall gain the status of cities of national significance.

"The authorities of Shymkent informed on reaching the one-million mark on June 2 this year, so it was not long before the decree was signed. As Shymkent was the administrative center of South Kazakhstan region, simultaneously with the change of the city status, it was necessary to decide on the relocation of the regional center. The event was expectable, so the preparation for that began a long time ago," he underlined.

Alongside this, it should be mentioned that both Shymkent and South Kazakhstan region have their own socio-economic tasks the accomplishment of which would be more comfortable for the local authorities if the city is independent of the region.

"Like most of Kazakhstan's regional centers, Shymkent has turned into a significant point on the economic map of the region, has become a region in the region over the past decades. It produces about 50% of the gross regional product, it accounts for nearly 40% of the investments in the region's fixed assets and over 40% of the industrial output," said the IWEP expert.

The President pointed out that Shymkent will become a new center for attracting investments, technologies and intellectual resources, Sergei Domnin continued. However, this will require additional resources, which, in the context of the current budgetary policy of Kazakhstan, means the allocation of funds from the national budget.

"These funds can be used to modernize the urban infrastructure in both Shymkent and Turkestan. Per capita gross regional domestic product, productivity and living standards in South Kazakhstan remain low in contrast to the national standards. Therefore, it is hoped that the change of Shymkent's status and the renaming of South Kazakhstan region into Turkestan region will draw the center's additional attention to these problems. The country's leadership will continuously monitor the situation, and the problems will be resolved," he stressed.

Regarding the overall picture and the policy on developing Kazakhstan's regions, together with the creation of new administrative-territorial units, the next logical thing would be to increase the self-sufficiency of the regions, at least financially, the expert believes. And, this step has already been made when it was decided to transfer VAT revenues, which were obtained from SMEs, to regional budgets, Sergei Domnin concluded.

 

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