On February 18, 2013, the Government of Kazakhstan approved a new 7-year plan for the development of agriculture in the country. The “Agricultural Development Program for 2013-2020” (or Agrobusiness-2020) replaced the previous “Agricultural Program for 2010-2014”. The creation of the Customs Union, WTO accession negotiations, and other factors created the impetus for the development of the new program. The total funding envisioned for the life of the program is 3.1 trillion tenge (approximately $20.5 billion). The goal of the Program is to increase the competitiveness of agricultural producers’ through financial assistance, and improving access and marketing of agricultural products, services to farmers, improving government regulation in agriculture and government services in agriculture.
