Tokayev calls on mass media to cover Kazakhstan's economic achievements as much as possibleKazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has urged the mass media workers to better inform the citizens about the republic’s economic achievements in view of fierce competition for investment in the world."Another important mission of the mass media is to inform citizens about economic development as broadly and exhaustively as possible. There are very many topics that can be covered by mass media. There is fierce competition in the world for investment, and it is very difficult to support sustainable economic growth without investment. Kazakhstan has been increasing its investment attractiveness over the past years owing to consistent efforts taken by the government,” Tokayev said at a mass media workers awarding ceremony on Thursday.Hundreds of capital-intensive projects, which are aimed at diversification of the economy and creation of new jobs, are being implemented in the country with the participation of foreign investors."Over the past few years, a lot of new enterprises have been opened, many new roads and bridges built, utility infrastructure modernized in all regions of the country. However, very often these achievements pass unnoticed. I reckon that mass media outlets, especially state-owned ones, should pay more attention to positive moments of our development process,” the president said.He mentioned a number of large industrial projects that will be implemented in the coming years. For example, PepsiCo will have built its plant in the Almaty region by 2026 and this plant will be the company’s largest in Central Asia. In addition, a large greenhouse will be built this year in Shymkent in cooperation with Turkish partners. Also, an agreement was reached with China on the construction of a $1.5 billion copper smelter in the Abay region with a capacity of 300,000 tonnes of copper a year. Finally, a gas chemical complex will be built in the Atyrau region to produce polyethylene.Tokayev said that the government is developing a package of urgent measures to support social and economic development of the western regions of Kazakhstan.This year will see the commissioning of a number of highways: Astana-Almaty, Almaty-Ust-Kamenogorsk, Aktobe-Kandyagash, Atyrau-Astrakhan. Furthermore, the designing and engineering will start this year for future construction of a highway that will link Zhezkazgan and Karaganda. “These are just a few large projects, ongoing and future, to mention,” the president said. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX