(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) ASTANA, Kazakhstan, December 5. Kazakhstan's GDP is expected to exceed $300 billion for the first time this year, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said during an awards ceremony honoring entrepreneurs, Trend reports via the press service of the Kazakh president.

Tokayev emphasized that Kazakhstan's economic growth is projected to surpass 6% in 2024, marking the country's strongest performance in the past decade.

“We prioritize infrastructure development and economic diversification. Therefore, the government must intensify efforts to increase exports of finished products. We have already achieved notable progress in this area,” he stated.

According to the president, Kazakhstan's manufacturing sector has expanded significantly: over the past five years, gross value added in manufacturing has increased by more than 25%, outpacing growth in the mining sector. During the same period, investment in fixed assets rose by 70%, while labor productivity in the real sector grew by 40%.

Non-commodity exports nearly doubled, resulting in a threefold increase in the number of exporters and expanding the geography of Kazakh products to 140 countries, he added.

The president also highlighted the rapid development of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Their share in the national economy has reached 40%. Over the past five years, the number of SME entities has grown 1.5 times, while their output has increased 2.5 times, he noted.

In 2023, the country's GDP grew by 5.1 percent, and in 2024, by 4.8 percent.

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