Investment in Kazakhstan’s food industry is gaining momentum: capital investment in the sector increased by 15% year-on-year. At the same time, 57% of total investment fell to three regions—Almaty, Akmola, and Aktobe Regions, according to Kapital.kz.

In Aktobe Region, investment amounted to 1.9 billion tenge, compared to 325.24 million tenge a year earlier (a 5.8-fold increase). From January to April 2020, 20.6 billion tenge was invested nationwide in food production. The annual growth in investment was 19.3%, and the real growth adjusted for inflation was 14.9%. In the same period a year earlier, capital investment in the sector totaled 17.3 billion tenge, according to finprom.kz.

Most of the investment—50.3%, or 10.4 billion tenge—came from companies’ own funds. Another 13.5%, or 2.8 billion tenge, was provided through bank loans, while borrowed funds accounted for 36.2%, or 7.5 billion tenge.

Kazakhstan plans to ensure food security and support the agro-industrial complex and the food industry. According to the Prime Minister’s official resource, the country will guarantee annual purchases of up to 365,000 tons of agricultural products to meet domestic demand for raw materials used in producing certain socially significant food products. A total of 24.5 billion tenge has been allocated from the budget. These funds are planned to be used to purchase four types of products: wheat, barley, sunflower, and buckwheat.