Integration of science and business: how are science projects developed in Kazakhstan?

2020 became a fruitful year for the implementation of knowledge-based industries in Kazakhstan. 100 absolutely new and unique projects were launched in the country due to the support of the know-how of Kazakh developers. Each of them received a special grant from “Science Fund” JSC to commercialize their ideas.

“We have projects in completely different fields, including agriculture, crop and livestock production, metallurgy, ferroalloys, mechanical engineering, metalworking. We have new materials, nanotechnology, biotechnology. We are very proud that the science in Kazakhstan is becoming productive. Products made in Kazakhstan are export-oriented. Of course, prospects for each of our knowledge-based products are to become a serious business entity,” said Aryn Orsariyev, chairperson, Science Fund.

Last year alone, sales revenues of products of scientific projects totaled nearly eight billion tenge (more than US$19 million). The export volume reached 243 million tenge (US$580,024). Most of the projects managed to successfully enter the foreign market and even sign long-term international contracts worth a considerable sum.

“Scientists of Zhantore Abishev Chemical-Metallurgical Institute presented a project of manufacturing ferromanganese. The uniqueness of the project is the use of aluminum – silicomanganese, which makes the cost of smelting cheaper. They have been implementing this project for three years, and finally reached an agreement with a Chinese company. Now they are ready to export their products,” stressed Nurtas Alisherov, director of Project Department, Science Fund.

Almost every scientific project has the opportunity to be in high demand in foreign markets. The main criterion to the development is that it should help solve certain production problems and basically be useful for many fields and areas.

“This device will help not only stimulate the germination of various seeds, but also increase their yield. The project of Kazakh scientist Abdumalik Ashirov became one of the best developments in agricultural sector. This technology is already widely used by domestic farmers. It is planned to be exported in the future,” reports the correspondent Aigerim Akimzhanova.

To date, the number of scientists, who managed to make their scientific solution profitable has reached 450 people. But as people in the Science Fund said, priority is given to quality as opposed to quantity.