Economy, Manufacturing

Manufacturing is also an important industrial branch in Kazakhstan, providing 18 percent of GDP in 2000. Much of the country’s manufacturing is centered on refining ores, creating petrochemicals, and processing agricultural products. Other sectors include heavy engineering works, which produce machinery and machine tools, and light manufacturing such as the production of textiles. The republic is home to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the leading space center in the former USSR. However, during the Soviet period the complex was operated almost exclusively by residents of Russia and created very little benefit for the Kazakh economy. Following independence, the facility was leased to Russia.