PAVLODAR, Kazakhstan -- Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev during a meeting in Pavlodar Province called for investment to develop the provincial economy, Kazinform reported Tuesday (July 17).
"The overarching priority is the attraction of investment," Nazarbayev said at a meeting on provincial development held in Pavlodar city.
"One pressing issue is the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs]," Nazarbayev said.
"As of now, the share of SMEs in the province's development structure is 17%," he said, adding that the average for the country is 27%.
"[One can] observe an upward trend in the socio-economic development of the province," he said.
Industry comprises almost 50% of the province's economy, he said.
