The Senate held the Parliamentary hearings on the topic “The pressing problems and prospects of agricultural development”. In preparation for the hearings, deputies of the relevant Committee carried out a series of events, where the problematic issues of the sector were discussed.
When opening the hearings, Chairman of the Senate Maulen Ashimbayev noted that the country pays a lot of attention to the development of the agricultural industry. However, the Senate Speaker stressed that at the moment, there are still problems that must be solved. These include addressing the problem of pasture deficit, development of private farm holdings and agricultural cooperation, improvement of the veterinary and agro-biotechnology sectors, regulation of prices for food products, and others.
“Agriculture is one of the strategic sectors for our country. The Head of State gives special attention to this sphere. In the meantime, this sphere is of great social importance. More than 40% of our citizens live in villages, which means that their income and quality of life are directly related to the development of the agricultural sector. Therefore, this area of work is one of the priorities for the Senate,” Maulen Ashimbayev noted.
In his turn, Deputy of the Senate Mukhtar Zhumagaziyev pointed out the need to work upon existing problems in the field of veterinary security. According to the senator, it is essential to develop processes of digitization, collection, and automation of data, as well as to create a strategy for the training of highly qualified personnel.
“To develop the agro-industrial complex and ensure food security, deputies of the Senate have been working intensively on the adoption of the Laws on quality and further improvement of existing legislation. The laws on the rehabilitation of the veterinary sector, as well as other documents, have been adopted, which will help to increase the business activity of agribusiness and create a favorable investment climate. Meanwhile, this year there is a total ban on the sale and lease of agricultural land to foreigners and stateless persons,” the senator said.
Minister Yerbol Karashukeyev spoke about the current situation in agriculture. He noted that, by order of the Head of State, the National project for the development of agro-industrial complex has been approved and already launched, which will raise productivity in agriculture by 2.5 times, to provide the Kazakhstan people with basic domestic food, as well as to double the export of agribusiness products.
In the course of the hearings, Murat Daribayev, Managing Director of “Baiterek” Holding, also took the floor and told about specialized institutions for the development of AIC, and Yerlan Ramankulov, General Director of the National Center for Biotechnology, made a report on modern biotechnological approaches in agriculture and others.
Summing up the work of the Parliamentary hearings, Ali Bektayev, Chairman of the relevant Committee of the Senate, stressed that all the voiced proposals would be sent in the form of recommendations to the Government and the departments concerned.
(Press Office of the Senate, 74-72-27. Photo by E. Ukibayev)
