Idrisov, M., Zhumabekova, S., Usmanov, N. (2018)

The Head of State has set the benchmarks for the country's economic, social and technological development in his latest Address "New Development Opportunities in the Fourth Industrial Revolution" of 10 January 2018. The Address proposes a new model for the revolutionary development of the Republic of Kazakhstan that takes into account the global megatrend, the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Economic growth in Kazakhstan in the near future will be ensured through the active application of elements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Industry is the key driver of the fundamental growth of the economy, which provides the material part of other sectors. Industrial development is not without its challenges as compared to other sectors of the economy and requires special attention. Progressive development of industry, especially in sectors such as chemicals, engineering and electricity, is the basis for accelerating scientific and technological progress.

Given that the mining sector is subject to high volatility due to the volatility of world prices for its products, countries rich in mineral resources are rapidly developing other sectors of the economy - agriculture, services, and manufacturing. The latter is the top priority of Kazakhstan's economic policy and, in addition to boosting prosperity, it also addresses sustainable diversification issues, as reflected in the country's five-year industrialization programmes.

In recent years, the global manufacturing sector has been increasingly influential in shaping the middle class. For example, according to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (US), one job in manufacturing creates two to five additional jobs in other sectors; technology development leads to increased knowledge and skills among workers; manufacturing wages in the US are on average 9% higher than in other sectors; manufacturing is the most innovative sector in the economy - it accounts for 70% of R&D in the US; the health of manufacturing and services are interdependent (e.g. ICT-based services depend heavily on manufacturing goods).

Industrial development is practically impossible without the development of markets, and consequently without economic integration not only within the Eurasian Economic Union but also with other countries.

In order to study Kazakhstan's cooperation with other countries in the field of industrial cooperation, the authors analyzed the effectiveness of cooperation with the following countries: Belarus, Great Britain, Vietnam, Germany, Italy, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, USA, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, South Korea and Japan. Among them, China, Germany, Italy and Uzbekistan are of particular interest for cooperation within the framework of the PK Intergovernmental Commission's agreements in 2017.

Authoritative international rankings and databases are used as tools in analytical research to identify the potential for cooperation in practice: Doing Business, Global Competitiveness Index World Economic Forum, OOH Statistics on Trade in Goods (UN Comtrade) and others. These rankings are compiled annually based on the analysis of statistical indicators of countries and surveys of experts.

The Doing Business ranking analysis is a tool for identifying weaknesses in industrial cooperation capacity of enterprises in the countries under study. It is an annual global survey by the World Bank Group that assesses ease of doing business in 189 countries based on 11 indicators, ranking countries according to their favourable business environment. In doing so, the report covers the assessment of regulations governing small and medium-sized enterprises throughout their life cycle and how they are applied in practice (enforcement).

According to the Doing Business Report published in 2017, among the surveyed countries in terms of ease of doing business, Germany leads with 20, followed by Kazakhstan with 36, Italy with 46, Uzbekistan with 74 and last place China with 78 [3].

Kazakhstan has strong positions in such rating indicators as protection of minority investors (1st place) and enforcement of contracts (6th place), which reflect the country's compliance with obligations to foreign investors.

Germany is strong in resolving insolvency (4th), energy connectivity (5th) and construction permits (24th), driven by its simple bankruptcy procedure for businesses and advanced energy infrastructure.

Italy leads in international trade, China is strong in securing contracts (5th) and Uzbekistan ranks 11th in business registration (see Table 1).

To look at industrial cooperation, it is necessary to analyze the international trade indicator, where Italy is the leader, and time spent on customs and border control and export/import clearance is less than one hour, while the cost of the procedures is free of charge.

In Germany, which ranks 39th on this indicator, border and customs clearance for exports is estimated at twice the OECD average of $345 per transaction. However, this amount is lower than in China ($533) and Kazakhstan ($574), but higher than in Uzbekistan ($278).

The world leader in exports is China, but international trade ranks 97th, with imports taking 72 hours, and border and customs clearance costs and time at $790 - more expensive and more complicated than exports, which amount to $533. The cost and time required for importing and importing goods, which is dictated by domestic market protection, are greater than for exporting, which is $533 and 23 hours, respectively. At the same time, procedures for entering foreign markets by domestic producers are straightforward, which facilitates the prioritization of exports.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are ranked 123rd and 168th in this indicator respectively. While in Uzbekistan the document clearance procedure and cost of border and customs control for exports (112 hours and $278 USD) and imports are almost identical (111 hours and $278 USD), in Kazakhstan more difficulties arise in exporting products, i.e. clearance procedures and costs (133 hours and $574 USD) are much higher than for importing products (2 hours and free), creating a paradoxical situation that runs counter to the export development priority stated in the National Export Strategy of Kazakhstan for 2018-2022. This demonstrates the need to create favourable conditions for the promotion of exports, which will subsequently improve the country's position in this ranking (Table 2).