Kazakhstan will repair military equipment and export them abroad. These measures are proposed to eliminate the shadow turnover of weapons inside the republic. For this purpose, the Defense Ministry put forward a bill "On the defense industry and state defense order". The new bill regulates the specifics of the sale of such property; the weapons will be repaired in Kazakhstan and exported abroad.

BEIBUT ATAMKULOV, KAZAKH MINISTER OF DEFENSE AND AEROSPACE INDUSTRY:
- Thanks to the Ministry, exports have doubled up, we export 100% of military equipment. Industrial production grew by 14%. This is due to the fact that defense-industrial complex attracts many private investors. The new bill proposes to fix the features of the sale of unused weapons and military equipment, according to which arms sales will be carried out with the terms of its export.

According to the new bill, Kazakh scientists will be given the opportunity to work on state defense procurement. It is planned to create a scientific and technical commission, which will deal with research containing secret data.

BEIBUT ATAMKULOV, KAZAKH MINISTER OF DEFENSE AND AEROSPACE INDUSTRY:
- At present, the procedures for conducting scientific research are regulated by Kazakhstan’s Law "On Science". They do not allow conducting research involving state secrets. As part of the law, it is proposed to form a defense scientific and technical commission under the Government, similar to the scientific-technical commission, which will consider priority areas for scientific research and recommend the financing of scientific projects.

Another proposal of the Defense Ministry is to create a Defense Industry Development Fund. Such step is necessary for financial support of scientific and technical developments and modernization of organizations of the defense-industrial complex of Kazakhstan.

BAKHYTZHAN YERTAYEV, MEMBER OF MAZHILIS, LOWER HOUSE OF KAZAKH PARLIAMENT:
- At present, our defense industry has developed to certain extent. The country produces weapons and other types of military equipment to arm the armed forces and law enforcement agencies. This is not an easy question, and the working group I am a member of, I think, will work on this.

Kazakhstan exports military equipment and weapons abroad. For example, the armored vehicles "Barys" and "Arlan" produced at the plant in Astana are sent to the countries of the Middle East, the CIS and the African continent. Kazakhstani cars are exported to Jordan. Negotiations are currently underway with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and a number of other states. As experts noted, Kazakhstani weapons attract foreign countries with high combat characteristics and a competitive price. The CIS countries purchase electronic and optical instruments of night and day vision, and thermal imagers. The Defense Ministry is planning to expand the geography of supplies, in particular to Central Asia, Russia and Turkey.