Aktobe region is located in the western part of Kazakhstan. The region is bordered in the north by the Orenburg Region of Russia, in the northeast by the Kostanay region, in the southeast by the Karaganda and Kyzylorda regions, in the south by the Republic of Karakalpakstan of Uzbekistan, in the southwest by the Mangystau region, in the west by the Atyrau region, in the northwest by West Kazakhstan region.

Aktobe region is of great economic and strategic importance for Kazakhstan. The region is a world leader in chromium reserves, its volumes exceed 400 million tons. 40% of the national reserves of titanium and 55% of nickel have been explored in the subsurface. 30% of the projected hydrocarbon reserves are concentrated on the territory of the region, the industrial oil reserves of the region are in third place in the republic.

There are large deposits of gold, silver, copper, zinc, cobalt, kaolin, phosphorites, petroleum bitumen rocks, raw materials for the production of building materials.

The volume of the gross regional product of the region in January-December 2021 amounted to 3,583.4 billion tenge, and over the past 5 years has grown 1.5 times (Figure 1). The share of the manufacturing industry in the total volume is 12.7% or 455.2 billion tenge.

Figure 1. Gross regional product, billion tenge

As of August 1, 2022, there are 14,987 operating legal entities in the Aktobe region, including 16,631 small (97.6%), 262 medium-sized (1.7%) and 94 large enterprises (0.6%). Out of the total number of operating enterprises, 728 belong to the manufacturing industry (695 small, 24 medium and 9 large enterprises), which is 4.9% of the total number of enterprises.

The volume of industrial production in the region in 2021 amounted to 2,247.4 billion tenge, including 840.3 billion tenge – manufacturing industry, whose share in total industrial production reached 37.4% (Figure 2).

Figure 2. The share of the manufacturing industry, in %

In 2010-2021, within the framework of the Industrialization Map and the Entrepreneurship Support Map, 105 projects worth 702.6 billion tenge were commissioned in the Aktobe region, 9.1 thousand permanent jobs were created, including:

Table 1. Projects on administrative-territorial division

The largest number of commissioned projects is located in the city of Aktobe – 66 projects or 63%, in terms of investments – 284.3 billion tenge or 40.5%.

Out of the commissioned projects, 66 projects (63%) totaling 281.7 billion tenge (40%) belong to the manufacturing industry, 5,864 (64%) permanent jobs have been created.

At the same time, the largest number of projects were introduced in the production of other non–metallic mineral products – 21 projects or 32%, metallurgical production is the leader in terms of investments - 203.5 billion tenge or 72%.

In the future, the region plans to implement 47 investment projects worth 1.3 trillion tenge, with the creation of more than 7.9 thousand permanent jobs, including in 2022 it is planned to launch 12 projects worth 23.2 billion tenge, with the creation of more than 540 permanent jobs

The main areas of projects being introduced in 2022 are food, mechanical engineering, construction industry, chemical industry, pharmaceutical and oil refining. Thus, the enterprises plan to establish the production of mobile oil drilling rigs, biodegradable plastic bags, food, medicines, petrochemical reagents for drilling, as well as reinforced concrete products.