Production is the basis of any country’s economy. Export and supply of domestically produced goods ensures the growth of the economy, the development of the regional sector of the country, creating jobs, contributing to the introduction of innovations and diversification of industries.

Almaty region has almost all kinds of natural resources: lead, zinc, copper, tungsten, tin, molybdenum, beryllium, gold and silver; deposits of energy brown coals have been identified.

The share of the region in the GDP of the Republic of Kazakhstan is 5.3%. The GRP (gross regional product) of the region in 2020 amounted to 3,731 billion tenge and ranks 6th among the regions of Kazakhstan. In the structure of GRP, industry makes up 27% and agriculture - 15.2%.

The share of the region in the structure of the country's industry is 4.6%, the share of the manufacturing industry is 8.2%.

In the Almaty region, there is growth in the manufacturing industry, which is the locomotive for the development of the region's economy.

The manufacturing industry is represented by the production of food products 26.5%, beverages - 20.8%, tobacco products - 19.4%, mechanical engineering - 5.3%, plastic and rubber products - 4.7%, pharmaceutical products - 3.2%

The region has a dominant position in the national commodity production of tobacco products, wallpaper, malt, batteries and accumulators, basic pharmaceutical products, gypsum products for construction purposes, and locks.

Against the background of a noticeable decline in the indicators of the industry, as a result of the quarantine limitations, there is a gradual recovery of activity in domestic trade. According to the results of 2020, the trade turnover was 3,025.8 mln. Exports - 14.4%, imports - 85.6%. The region's share in total national exports was 0.9% and in total manufacturing exports was 2.4%.

Commodity exports consist mainly of manufacturing goods (82.6%), which is the highest indicator in the country, of which products of food industry (50.9%) and mechanical engineering (23.6%) prevail.

Тhe main foreign export partners are Russia (25.5%), Kyrgyzstan (20.9%) and Uzbekistan (20.2%). Despite the fact that the CA countries are, to varying degrees, open to international and regional trade, they have great potential for establishing closer cooperative connections and integrative relations among themselves.

Industrial Imports of manufacturing industry consists of engineering products (23.6%), light industry (23.8%) and food industry (14.9%), and are imported from the main partners: China (51.6%), Russia (24.6%), Turkey (5.4%).

A lot of work is being done in the region in the field of investment. Today Almaty region is a new opportunities and huge potential for profitable investment. The amount of investments in basic capital for 2020 is 682.4 billion tenge, the share of which in the total country indicator is 5.6%. The largest share of investments is in industry (28.5%), immovable property operations (20.5%), transport and storage (18.2%).

It should be noted that the investment component of Almaty region's development is ensured for both short-term and long-term perspectives. Successfully realized investment projects of the region are indicators of its economic development and prosperity.

In the framework of the State Program of Industrial and Innovative Development, all 20 planned projects amounting to 128.7 billion tenge were implemented in 2020.  2,818 workplaces were created (oilseed processing plants Zhetysu Mazhiko Agrocomplex, TKMZ, AGRITECH and Zhetysu Soya, NauryzAgro broiler poultry farm, Alatau-Kus" poultry farm and "Salem-Kus" quail egg poultry farm, reconstruction of "OTAN GreenFood" meat poultry farm, "SSA Feed Mills" fodder plant, etc.).

Due to the Map of industrialization, there was developed the production of 20 new types of products, in 2012, a new industry appeared - pharmaceuticals (Construction of a pharmaceutical plant LLP "PFK "ELEAS" and LLP "Sultan"). Compared to the other areas, it has the highest level of the concentration of the share of employees in industry - 7.5% of the total number of employees in industry in the country. It also has a small share of such indicators as the share of basic funds - 2.4% and electricity consumption - 1.8%.

An analysis was carried out to identify cluster initiatives in the region. According to the results of the analysis,  the attractive sectors are: “Beer production”, “Production of plastic plates, sheets, pipes and profiles”, “Production of crackers and biscuits, long-term storage confectionery”, “Milk processing and cheese production”.

As part of the development of cross-border cooperation with the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (PRC), an analysis was conducted based on the market needs of both countries, and a list of goods for industrial cooperation was determined: Aluminum oxide; Other machines and mechanical devices having individual functions; Remote controls, panels, consoles over 1000V; Lumber (including strips and frieze for parquet flooring, not assembled) in the form of profiled mouldings (with combs, grooves, tongue and groove, with chamfered edges, with a semicircular groove joint, shaped, rounded or similar), etc.

The Almaty region can increase the production of food and beverages in the XUAR, as well as the production of the leather industry and yarn, which will increase the export of products by an average of 1 million US dollars.

To identify niche areas in the manufacturing industry, contributing to the deepening of specialization of the region, a group of 10 goods with a competitive advantage and level of technological complexity of production was identified, namely: processing of fish and fish products, dairy products, pasta, and there is also a potential for the development of production of construction materials, electrical engineering products, pipes, etc.

In addition, FEZ Khorgos-Eastern Gate and ICBC Khorgos are considered as sites for the creation of synthetic fabric and titanium dioxide production based on imported raw materials, and in this case the nearness of the Chinese market plays an important role in the availability of necessary components. The realization of these projects will provide the domestic market with new goods, expanding the range of products of the light and chemical industry. The choice of the location of the projects is related to the criticality of two parameters - closeness to suppliers and closeness to consumers.

The results show that the greatest perspective for the economy of the region in terms of growth of economic complexity are the goods of the machine-building industry, food production and metallurgy.