Rendering of Alatau City. Photo: alatau.city
Kazakhstan is counting on close cooperation with Chinese companies in the construction of a new city near Almaty—Alatau City. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced this at the eighth meeting of the Kazakh-Chinese Business Council in Beijing, according to Akorda.
“We fully support today’s agreement between Kazakhstan and China State Construction Engineering Corporation. I believe it is necessary to begin construction without delay. In the near future, Alatau City will receive special status as an independent ecosystem,” the president said. He did not provide details of the signed agreement.
China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) is China’s largest construction company and one of the biggest construction and investment firms in the world. Kazakhstan’s leadership invited it to take part in the Alatau City project last year.
Tokayev signed a decree to establish the new city on the site of the village of Zhetygen in Almaty Region in January last year. According to the concept, Alatau City will consist of four thematic districts: a business and financial center, an education and healthcare hub, an innovation-industrial and trade-logistics zone, and a tourism cluster. Each zone will include residential areas. Authorities estimate the city’s population at about 2 million people.
The plan calls for Alatau City (Alatau) to become an international business hub. Its development is modeled on cities such as Dubai, Singapore, and Tianjin. The new settlement is expected to boost trade and investment ties with China and other Central Asian countries, as well as launch a number of new industrial and commercial projects. To this end, conditions and incentives will be provided to attract investment and support business, including tax and customs preferences.
The authorities are also considering the introduction of a special legal regime in the city, including the application of Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) law.
According to local media, Kazakh officials have been working on the idea of a new satellite city for Almaty for several decades, hoping it would ease overcrowding in the metropolis and reduce housing costs. The master plan has been revised and amended several times, and the start of construction has been announced on multiple occasions.
