Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov met with a Chinese delegation led by Ma Honghan, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Dalian Hesheng Holdings Group, to explore investment opportunities in Kazakhstan’s agro-industrial sector. The discussions covered potential collaboration in wheat processing, coal chemistry, and mechanical engineering.
Dalian Hesheng Holdings, a diversified Chinese company, holds a technological patent in wheat processing and fermentation, utilizing advanced digital technologies. The delegation presented plans for a vertically integrated industrial park dedicated to deep wheat processing in the Akmola region.
The first phase of the project, with an investment of $500-800mn, will have a processing capacity of 1mn tons of wheat annually, with plans to expand to 3 million tons per year in subsequent phases. In total, the project is expected to attract up to $1.8bn in investment and create approximately 2,000 jobs.
The project also includes a coal thermal power plant and a coal chemical complex, which will produce 150-400 thousand tons of liquid ammonia annually through coal processing. The new agricultural initiative is set to drive the modernization of agriculture in Kazakhstan and stimulate growth in related industries such as logistics and trade.
Prime Minister Bektenov highlighted the importance of enhancing wheat processing, particularly in light of the country’s record grain harvests.
“Kazakhstan is a country developed in the agricultural sector. We strive to increase the production of products with high added value. This area is a priority for our country. The government is focused on localizing production and transferring advanced technologies,” Bektenov emphasized.
Ma Honghan expressed strong support for the project, praising Kazakhstan’s favorable business environment and opportunities for collaboration. Construction of the new plant is slated to begin in the second quarter of 2025.
In addition to Ma Honghan, the meeting was attended by Yu Yufei, Chairman of the Board for Agricultural Affairs at Dalian Hesheng Holdings, and Shu Songpo, the company’s senior engineer and developer of the wheat biofermentation technology.
Following the meeting, Prime Minister Bektenov instructed relevant government agencies to accelerate efforts to finalize an investment agreement with the Chinese partners.
