May 18, 2025
In January 2024, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree
establishing the city of Alatau. In May 2024, the Government of Kazakhstan
approved the city's General Plan. How is Alatau developing today?
Establishing the
City’s Institutional Foundation
At the heart of this large-scale project is not just construction, but an
ecosystem — the rules, institutions, and mechanisms that are essential for
creating a full-fledged and sustainable urban environment. In the first year,
the primary focus was on building this institutional foundation — from planning
mechanisms to the management structure.
Alatau has been granted the status of a city of regional significance.
Its General Plan has been approved. The city’s boundaries now encompass the
lands of the village of Zhetygen, parts of Qonaev, as well as Ili and Talgar
districts — covering 88,000 hectares north of Almaty.
A special economic zone (SEZ) “Alatau” has been established, with
a total area of 97.9 thousand hectares. Investors are offered tax, customs, and
other institutional incentives to stimulate the inflow of capital.
Wong Heang Fine — Chairman of Asia Infrastructure Solutions Singapore —
has been invited as the chief advisor for the design and construction of the
city. He is an international expert in urban planning with extensive experience
in delivering major development projects in Singapore and globally in China,
Indonesia, Vietnam, Rwanda etc.
A Project Office for Alatau’s development has been established under the
Government, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev.
And these efforts are already showing initial results: over the past
year, 39.4 billion tenge in investments have been attracted to Alatau, and 7
projects have been launched.