Shymkentcement/Italcementi signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the local government of Shymkent, capital of the South Kazakhstan Region, involving the Italian firm’s commitment to maintain current employment levels for the next 2 years. The plant is working on modernising, with an overall investment of 100 million euro, for the transition of 4 production lines dating back to the 1960s to a new “dry” line that will allow for the same levels of production and employment while reducing emissions, costs and the use of water and energy.
Shymkent has the country’s third largest population and highest demographic growth rate, and offers many opportunities as a result of being an intersection along the new Silk Road. The city has also made a bid to become an air-cargo transport hub between Europe and China with the construction of a new airport. The region also hopes to seize the opportunities offered by the Eurasian Union to increase agricultural exports toward Russia and Belarus, thereby resulting a promising market for agricultural technologies and machinery.
