As part of the III Forum of Mechanical Engineers of Kazakhstan in Astana, a meeting of the automotive industry section was held under the chairmanship of the Association of Kazakhstan Auto Business (AKAB). The main topic of the section was the development of the Kazakh automobile industry in the context of the new realities of Kazakhstan’s membership in the EAEU and the WTO.
Based on the results of the section, a list of recommendations for the development of the automotive industry was developed, taking into account the current situation.
The section was attended by Vice-Minister for Investment and Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan Albert Rau, President of the Association of Kazakhstan Auto Business Andrey Lavrentyev, Director of consulting services in the automotive industry at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Republic of Kazakhstan Shalkar Nurtleuov, Chairman of the Automobile Manufacturers Committee of the Association of European Businesses in the Russian Federation Jörg Schreiber, Deputy Executive Director of the NP "Association of Automobile Manufacturers of the Russian Federation" Alexey Serezhenkin and President of the National Association of Automotive Component Manufacturers of the Russian Federation Mikhail Blokhin.
The development strategy of the Kazakh automotive industry is based on the collaboration of domestic companies with world industry leaders. As part of the policy of innovative industrialization, it is planned to master the production of automotive components. Today, negotiations are underway with a number of international companies and the search for new potential partners is underway.
Albert Rau, Vice Minister for Investment and Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan:
“The strategy for the further development of the domestic automobile industry is based on cooperation between Kazakh companies and world leaders, such as Renault-Nissan-Avtovaz on the project for the construction of a full-cycle automobile plant and technology park, and Jac on the project for the production of passenger cars, in order to increase production volumes, increase the level of localization, and competitiveness and, accordingly, increasing export potential. These joint projects are currently at the implementation stage.”
The issue of localization is becoming increasingly relevant for automobile manufacturing enterprises, since by July 1, 2018, localization should reach 50%. It is obvious that it is impossible to achieve the given indicators without developing the automotive components industry. In this connection, within the framework of the policy of innovative industrialization, active work is being carried out at automobile production sites in the Republic of Kazakhstan in the direction set by the state.
Mikhail Blokhin, President of the National Association of Automotive Component Manufacturers:
“Today, the growing sales market, as well as local needs, are sufficient for the creation and development of the automotive components industry in the Republic of Kazakhstan. In addition, the legislative and regulatory framework is attractive for investing in production oriented towards the export of goods. In connection with this, during a crisis period it is necessary to direct the main efforts to the subsequent growth and development of the industry.”
The main and more important topic of discussion during the panel discussion were issues related to the prospects for the development of the domestic automobile industry within the framework of the WTO.
According to Deputy Executive Director of the NP “Association of Automobile Manufacturers of the Russian Federation” Alexey Serezhenkin, for the comprehensive and systematic development of the automobile industry in the WTO, state support for the industry is necessary. First of all, the expert recommends taking measures to compensate for the negative effect of a sharp reduction in duties on imported cars of all categories and limiting unfair competition from used imports, as well as introducing a limitation on the service life of automotive equipment that has exhausted its resource.
Alexey Serezhenkin, executive director of the NP “Association of Automobile Manufacturers of the Russian Federation”:
“I believe that support measures such as the introduction of a differentiated environmental tax on automotive equipment, support for the investment activity of automakers, increasing the attractiveness of the investment climate in the automotive industry, preventing the legalization of parallel imports of automotive products, protection against the import of falsified and counterfeit products into the territory of the EAEU, and also preferential car lending and leasing programs are necessary for the development of the industry and strengthening its position, both within the EAEU and the WTO.”
A special role was given to the issues of staffing the industry and the system of certification of the origin of goods for internal circulation. The speakers touched upon the issues of personnel integration and exchange of experience not only among companies belonging to the EAEU countries, but also the transfer of knowledge and experience of international enterprises. At the end of the section, the participants developed measures to increase the competitiveness of automotive products both in the EAEU and the WTO.
As part of the section, the Kostanay plant “SaryarkaAvtoprom” signed a memorandum “On the beginning of relationships in the field of purchasing parts for localizing products within the Customs Union” and a license agreement with a Turkish company on the beginning of cooperation and transfer of rights to assemble semi-trailer equipment in Kazakhstan.
Based on the results of the section, a panel discussion was held on further measures for the development of the automobile industry in the Republic of Kazakhstan; as part of the active discussion, the section participants formed a list of measures for the development of the automobile industry, including government support, taking into account the world experience of industry development in the most successful countries. The list includes measures such as the extension of existing projects to stimulate sales of domestic cars, the creation of technical regulation infrastructure and non-tariff measures to limit parallel imports.
Andrey Lavrentyev, President of the Association of Kazakhstan Auto Business
“Summarizing the results of today’s section, I concluded that the automobile industry in Kazakhstan has reasonable development potential. World experience proves that given the conditions, opportunities, and capacity we have at production sites, with the growing sales market within the EAEU, as well as with support from the state, the domestic auto industry is ready to earn 100% of its capacity. I would like to note that over the past year, the Kazakh auto industry has indeed received significant support from the government. For example, the preferential lending program helped maintain and increase automobile production during a period of unstable economic conditions. For the further development of the automotive industry, we propose to create a technical regulation infrastructure with the construction of a testing center for vehicle certification.”
For your information:
The Association of Kazakhstan Automotive Business is a non-profit organization founded in 2010 as a voluntary association of official dealers, importers, and distributors of the automobile market of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The main goal of the association is to form a transparent automobile market in the Republic of Kazakhstan, help ACAB members obtain information, prepare reports and reviews, and also help members of the Association and government services solve problems that arise in the car market of the Republic.
Additional information, interview requests, comments:
Yulia Andrusenko
@: andrusenko_julia@mail.ru
KZ: +7 (701) 2186358
@pr@akab.kz