As it is known, this year as the previous two years are devoted to the development of regions within the framework of the initiatives announced by President Sooronbay Jeenbekov on regional development, digitalization and support for children.
Last December, Prime Minister Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev and Chinese Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic Du Dewen laid a capsule for the construction of the At-Bashi Kyrgyz-Chinese Free Trade Logistics Complex in At-Bashy region of Naryn Oblast.
The logistics center complex will be located on 200 hectares with the possibility of expansion to 400 hectares. The free commercial and industrial zone will include a hotel and a residential complex, a customs complex, a duty-free complex, a sports and fitness complex, a school, a hospital, a mosque, industrial, warehouse and other infrastructure facilities. The investments in the construction of the center for the project is about USD 280 million, which is already available from a private Chinese investor.
“It will be a kind of town. It is important for us to support our investors, since this object will contribute to the economic growth not only of Naryn Oblast, but also of Kyrgyzstan as a whole. Similar logistics centers were built in Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan. We have long wanted to build it - since the development of trade relations with China, but for various reasons we have not succeeded, and now, finally, this center will be built,” Abylgaziev said at the opening.
By the way, such logistics centers are in almost all Central Asian countries, and even in Belarus and Russia.
Kyrgyz investor Emil Abdykadyrov spoke about the need to build a logistics center.
“This center is very important for Kyrgyzstan. In other countries of Central Asia, logistics centers have been operating for several years. And we are only going to build. Large investments are needed for the construction of this center, in Kyrgyzstan there is no such money. Therefore, we are looking for and finding investors for the implementation of this project,” said Abdykadyrov.
USD 280 million from a Chinese investor has already been allocated for the construction of a logistics center. It is worth recalling that these investments were agreed upon during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Kyrgyz Republic. Within the framework of the visit, a meeting was held with President Sooronbay Jeenbekov and the Kyrgyz-Chinese business forum was held at which agreements on attracting investments were signed between businessmen.
“We are attracting USD 280 million to At-Bashy region of Naryn Oblast for the construction of the infrastructure of an industrial and logistics center. The agreement has already been signed. For us it is a lot of money. All of these USD 280 million will be used to build infrastructure. First, a 50-megawatt substation will be built to provide electricity, we must conduct water, build roads, sewage treatment plants, hotels, offices, banks and more, in addition, we will allocate 80 hectares of 200 for the construction of an industrial zone, where about 10 plants will be located and factories,” explained Abdykadyrov.
The businessman said that this Kyrgyz-Chinese logistics center will differ from the facilities of neighboring countries, this center is supposed to host facilities for the production of export-oriented high-tech products.
“In addition to these USD 280 million, if we build 10 plants, if each plant invests 100 million, this is about a billion dollars of investment in our economy. Now we are negotiating with different countries and businessmen for the construction of high-tech plants and factories that will produce export-oriented high-tech products," the businessman said.
Despite the positive side of the project, there have been discussions in some social networks that the land is being transferred to China. In fact, as Abdykadyrov explained, there could be no talk of land transfer.
“These are direct, private investments, there are no state guarantees. All risks associated with the construction and operation of the center are borne by the investor. As a joint venture registered in Kyrgyzstan, we leased land for 49 years from the free economic zone according to our laws. That is, it is Kyrgyz land and it remains so. The second issue that is distorted is what will be the influx of Chinese migration. This is not true. According to the law on migration, any joint venture or foreign enterprise has only a 20% quota. That is, 20% of foreign workers and 80% of the local population. When I told the investor about this, he agreed, and said that 3% would be enough, not 20%. But we understand that specialists, adjusters will be needed, and I added 2% in this way, there will be only 5% of foreign workers. These are specialists, designers, engineers of high-tech production, the remaining 95% will be from the local population. And even Naryn Oblast will not be able to cover all the needs for workers, so we will, if necessary, attract workers from all over Kyrgyzstan,” Abdykadyrov explained.
He noted that the local population is ready to begin work on the construction of a logistics center. The start of work is already scheduled for April this year, when the snow melts.
“Today there are already lists of local people who would like to work in the construction of this center. In Central Asia, only we have no a logical center. In other countries, they have been working for about 8 years. And we are just starting to build. We plan to start work in the spring when the snow melts. We have already discussed these issues with the local population,” the businessman added.
According to the feasibility study, about 10-15 thousand people will work in this logistics center, this is the work that the local population can do. This will significantly reduce external migration and contribute to GDP growth.
The businessman also told that if we do not produce high-tech equipment and goods, we will not be able to compete with other countries in the region. “Now we are negotiating with investors on the production of displays for smartphones, this company employs 80 thousand people in 4 branches around the world, they have new technology, we are currently negotiating to open one production branch in our logistics center. In addition, negotiations are underway on the production of electric vehicles with four plants, this is a hot topic for our region. In addition, the Turkish company wants to build a textile factory, Belarusians also want to build, because we have a close border with China, two Russian companies are interested, the paper product factory showed the interest, we are also negotiating with Kazakh companies,” Abdykadyrov said.
It is worth noting that foreign investment is a necessary measure of economic development. Since if the state does not have the ability to develop industry and production itself, as well as for not having domestic investors, the only way to develop this is through foreign investments.
If there is economic potential, but there are no available funds, attracting investors willing to invest their money in the development of production is a well-developed way to develop the economy. This scheme works all over the world, even in the USA and China, where by the way, despite the rapid economic growth in recent years, they are still kind to investors and take care of the investment climate.
If we take our Central Asian region, it has great potential for economic growth. But, it does not have the means to realize this potential. And in this situation it is extremely important to create an attractive investment climate.
Kabar News Agency