BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 17. Kazakhstan allocated 1.1 trillion tenge ($2.24 billion) to support the agricultural sector in 2025, up by 172 billion tenge ($350.9 million) year-on-year, Minister of Finance Madi Takiyev said during a plenary session of the Mazhilis, the Kazakh government says.
He noted that the financing supported the spring sowing campaign, contributed to strong harvest results, and continued the development of water infrastructure.
"Forward purchasing covered 346,200 hectares of sown areas. As a result, 25.9 million tons of grain were harvested, including 19.3 million tons of wheat," Takiyev said.
He added that in total, 4.9 million tons of oilseeds, 3.6 million tons of barley, 1 million tons of corn, 525,900 tons of rice, about 1 million tons of legumes, and more than 76,700 tons of buckwheat were harvested. Sunflower cultivation expanded 1.5 times to 1.7 million hectares, enabling a 17.5% increase in sunflower oil production to 752,100 tons and a 24% rise in exports to 219,300 tons.
The minister added that 1,840 km of irrigation canals were cleaned, 680 km of irrigation networks were reconstructed, and 375 hydraulic structures were repaired in 2025.
He emphasized that budget performance is assessed not only by spending levels but also by tangible results for citizens, businesses, and regions.
Furthermore, Takiyev said that Kazakhstan continued its industrial and technological development agenda in 2025, focusing on manufacturing, transport, energy, digitalization, and deep processing. Key projects included the launch of two major automotive plants — the KIA plant in Kostanay region and the multi-brand Astana Motors plant in Almaty — with a combined annual capacity of 160,000 vehicles.
The minister pointed out that in the digital and AI sector, the Alem.AI International Center was launched, aimed at training 1,000 artificial intelligence specialists and supporting hundreds of startups and research projects annually. AI education programs have also started in 20 universities, while the Bolashak scholarship program introduced a dedicated AI track. The Astana Hub technology park now hosts more than 2,200 IT companies, including over 500 with foreign participation.
Currency conversions are based on the official exchange rate of the National Bank of Kazakhstan as of June 10, 2026, fixed at 1 USD = 490.21 KZT.
