SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - Kazakhstan will use its sovereign wealth fund to build hospitals, schools, railways, and power plants across every region by the end of the decade. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called the plan the country's largest infrastructure project.
President Tokayev announced the program, called People's Construction (Halyqtyq Qurylys), in his annual State of the Nation Address on Oct. 28. About 6.5 trillion tenge ($14.22 billion) is to come from the National Fund by the end of 2029 under an Infrastructure Modernization Plan. Of that, 1.5 trillion tenge is to be earmarked between now and the end of February 2027 to start social projects.
"Kazakhstan must turn into one big construction site," President Tokayev said. "We are talking not about individual projects, but about the start of full-scale construction in all regions of the country." He proposed naming 2027 the Year of Nationwide Large-Scale Construction.
The address, titled "Kazakhstan's Current Priorities in a New Historical Cycle," came as the country marks 35 years of independence. It was the first since a new Constitution, approved by voters in a March 15 referendum, took effect on July 1. The Constitution replaced the two-chamber legislature with a single-chamber parliament, the Kurultai. President Tokayev said economic strength, modern infrastructure and technology are conditions for national sovereignty in a period of global uncertainty.
He said the country's historical responsibility to future generations lies "not only in leaving them money in accounts," but in handing over a technologically advanced country with a competitive economy and high living standards.
Citing International Monetary Fund projections, President Tokayev said Kazakhstan's GDP is expected to approach $400 billion this year, with output per person above $19,000. Manufacturing now makes up more than 14 percent of GDP. Gold and foreign exchange reserves and National Fund assets together exceed $130 billion.
The first wave of construction includes about 70 healthcare facilities and around 50 schools, sports centers and cultural venues. It also covers wider access to natural gas and clean drinking water. The government must draw up a region-by-region list of projects by the end of this year, and qualified local small and medium-sized businesses are to take part.
Among the health projects are eight perinatal centers and seven children's hospitals in Atyrau, Aktobe, Almaty, Shymkent, Kaskelen, Semey and Aktau. Two more medical facilities are planned in Astana.
President Tokayev said the program will create jobs for hundreds of thousands of people. Spending will be closely monitored and must produce measurable economic and social returns, he said, and public money should attract private capital rather than replace it. He also set a firm limit on where the money can go.
"Using National Fund money to finance imports is unacceptable," he said. Big projects are instead expected to drive domestic production of construction materials, metal structures and engineering equipment.
President Tokayev ordered the government to raise the monthly minimum wage from 85,000 tenge to 110,000 tenge from Jan. 1, 2027. The increase will reach 1.8 million people, including more than 370,000 public sector employees.
From the same date, pay for primary healthcare specialists will rise by up to 40 percent depending on years of continuous service. More than 77,000 specialists will benefit.
President Tokayev also called for social assistance to be aimed at people who genuinely need it, with new systems tested in pilot programs before a wider rollout. With more than 237,000 children requiring inclusive education, he asked for more facilities, earlier identification of children's needs and more specialists. He also called for teachers to carry less administrative work.
On taxes, he proposed a debate on the wealthiest. "I believe the time has come to discuss introducing a higher rate for owners of large fortunes," President Tokayev said, while affirming that lawfully acquired assets would stay protected. He asked the government to propose targeted amendments to the new Tax Code to remove unclear provisions and excessive burdens on business.
He called for a new Civil Code suited to a technology-driven economy, with adoption by the Kurultai targeted for the end of 2027. A new Law on the Capital Market is also being drafted.
Controlling inflation and raising real incomes were named as central priorities, requiring coordinated action by the government and the National Bank. With bank assets above 75 trillion tenge and deposits at 52 trillion tenge, President Tokayev asked banks, development institutions and international lenders to offer more long-term investment loans. He also called for a single financial market strategy linking the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, the Astana International Financial Centre and Alatau City.
Energy took up a large part of the speech. Kazakhstan generates about 123 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year but still runs short. President Tokayev set a goal of a sustained power surplus by 2029, through new generating capacity, upgraded power plants and transmission lines, cleaner coal generation and renewables, solar power in particular.
The government is to update the national energy balance through 2035 to account for rising demand from industry, artificial intelligence and data centers.
President Tokayev said construction of the Balkhash nuclear power plant could begin as early as next year. He also called for a comprehensive cooperation agreement to start building a second plant, at Moyynkum, as soon as possible. Kazakhstan is the world's largest uranium producer but has no nuclear power plant in operation. He said foreign partners should provide technology transfer, support high-tech industries and train Kazakh specialists.
He proposed considering a state strategic uranium reserve large enough to fuel the country's nuclear plants for the next century.
On transport, President Tokayev pressed for Kazakhstan to do more than move other countries' goods across its territory. "We need to move now to the position of a full-fledged organizer of international freight flows," he said. That means stronger domestic freight operators, consolidation and distribution centers, and manufacturing and trading hubs at transport junctions.
The Bakhty-Ayagoz railway is due to open in 2027, adding 20 million metric tons of freight capacity between Kazakhstan and China. Work on the Aral-Caspian corridor began in August. It is designed to shorten the Trans-Caspian route, which links China and Europe through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Georgia, by about 1,000 kilometers and cut delivery times by up to three days.
All road border crossings are to be rebuilt in 2027. The government, through the Ministry of Transport, will be responsible for the quality of both national and local roads. Construction of a new airport in Astana is set to begin in 2027. Arkalyk Airport has been restored, and airports at Zaysan, Katon-Karagay and Kenderli are expected to open soon. President Tokayev also called for better ground-handling and cargo infrastructure to make Kazakhstan an international air freight hub, and for full digitalization of freight routes and documents.
Under the Digital Qazaqstan strategy, two supercomputers are already running and a third is planned before the end of this year. A fiber-optic cable across the Caspian seabed has been completed, and new data centers are under construction.
President Tokayev urged a move from scattered automation projects to an economy built on AI, including commercial use of blockchain and asset tokenization, which converts ownership of assets into digital tokens. He said tokenization could let companies raise capital directly and let more people own a share of assets.
A simplified legal framework for digital employment is to be in place by the end of this year. In 2027, the government and businesses will pilot projects to help rural producers sell through digital platforms, with related financial and logistics services. AI is to be used across public administration to cut red tape and find wasteful spending, and the government and local authorities are to build digital twins, virtual models of urban infrastructure.
Small and medium-sized businesses now produce 40 percent of GDP and account for almost 70 percent of investment in fixed capital. President Tokayev asked the government to prepare a plan for medium-sized firms covering long-term finance, technology upgrades and closer ties with large companies, and raised the idea of reserving some public procurement for them.
He proposed discussing a new three-year moratorium on inspections of micro and small businesses from Jan. 1, 2027, drawing on lessons from the 2020 to 2023 moratorium. He also called for further decriminalization of economic offenses, fairer competition and action against unlawful obstacles to business.
To bring order to investment promotion, President Tokayev suggested that Baiterek Holding, the state development holding company, take a more active role alongside the economy and foreign ministries. Alatau City, a planned city operating under its own special legal regime, is to set up an Investment Court based on English common law to hear commercial cases, with a separate Civil Court for other matters. The government must send the necessary amendments to the Kurultai by the end of January 2027.
On mining, President Tokayev called for a technological overhaul of geological exploration, open access to geological data and more private investment in finding deposits. The government is to propose a national system for managing critical mineral reserves by the end of this year, including long-term project financing and offtake agreements with domestic companies. He also raised the idea of a reserve of nonferrous and rare-earth metals, and urged partnerships with developed countries to bring Kazakhstan into global production chains.
Agriculture grew about 6 percent in 2025, with agro-industrial output reaching 15 trillion tenge. Baiterek has identified food-industry projects worth more than 500 billion tenge that need affordable financing. President Tokayev listed domestic production of advanced farm machinery, deeper food processing and better storage among the priorities. He endorsed faster use of AI in farming following a visit to Astana this month by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang.
He called water scarcity an urgent problem. He ordered cuts in network losses, tighter monitoring of consumption, completion of water tariff reform and quick completion of the National Water Resources Information System.
The Presidential Administration must submit a full plan to reform public administration by June 1, 2027, covering every level from central government to rural administrations, with simpler procedures, wider use of AI and new ethics standards for civil servants. The administration, the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms and research institutes have one year to draft a long-term vision for the country's development.
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