Today at a government hour in the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Minister of Defense and Aerospace Industry B. Atamkulov delivered a report on “Current issues in the development of the defense-industrial complex”.
At present, the defense industrial complex of Kazakhstan includes 40 enterprises employing more than 9,000 people.
Since the establishment in 2016 of the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industries of the Republic of Kazakhstan (MDAI of the RK), the task has been set for it to provide the Armed Forces, other troops and military formations with the necessary weapons and military equipment.
In recent years, a number of joint ventures have been established and are successfully operating with the provision of technology transfer. Among them there is a factory for the production of electronic-optical instruments “Kazakhstan Aselsan Engineering”, an armored vehicles manufacturing enterprise “Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering”, a helicopter maintenance factory “Eurocopter Kazakhstan Engineering”. On the basis of “Semey Engineering”, a cluster is created for the repair, modernization and technical support of armored vehicles (T-72, BMP, BTR).
In general, according to statistics, in 2017, defense industry enterprises showed an increase in production by 14% compared to the level of 2016, exports increased by 2 times.
The leaders in the export of products were LLP “West Kazakhstan Machine Building Company”, JSC ” Engineering plant named after Kirov”, JSC “Tynys”, LLP “Kazakhstan Aselsan Engineering”.
In accordance with the instructions of the Head of the State, technological modernization in 9 enterprises of the defense industry will be held in Kazakhstan in the coming years.
Roadmaps for modernization of each enterprise will be developed with a focus on producing promising products with export potential.
Last year, the Scientific and Technical Council was established in the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which considers and selects the best promising breakthrough projects in the field of defense industry, space and cyber security. For today, 50 prospective projects worth $ 5.9 billion have already been selected.
“National security and defense” is defined as a priority for the development of science.
Over the years, the Ministry’s efforts have focused on creating institutional and systemic conditions for accelerated development of the industry.
In particular, work is underway to form a regulatory and legal framework for the industry, which will effectively implement the tasks of ensuring the country’s defense and security. The draft law “On the defense industry and state defense order” has been submitted to the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which regulates new mechanisms for the formation of the state defense order and provides for measures to support the national defense industry.
Since this year, the budget of the defense order of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic will pass to the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This will make it possible to release power bodies from uncharacteristic functions and ensure the progressive development of defense industry enterprises.
Among the key priorities of the ministry’s work is the management of the full cycle of production of the newest and most promising types of weapons and equipment and the provision of services for the implementation of the tasks in the field of defense and national security of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
It should be noted that computerization, robotization and professionalization of the Armed Forces will be carried out through the production and deployment of high-technology weapons and military equipment in the Armed Forces.
At the end of own speech, Minister B. Atamkulov invited the deputies to attend the opening ceremony of the V International Exhibition of Arms and Military-Technical Property “KADEX-2018”, which will be held on May 23rd in Astana.
The participants of the event and the deputy corps expressed confidence that today’s discussion at this site will give impetus to the development of the national defense industry.