Alatau IT City

Three and a half years ago, on Habré, there was a news that a technopark had opened in Kazakhstan . Technopark actually opened and is now working. I would like to talk about what is currently the Kazakh Silicon Valley.


')
The opening of the technopark was received with enthusiasm by the IT community of Kazakhstan. Plans were ambitious. The state did not spare the time and money to create the park. It was not just a place where all the companies involved in information technology were going to "evict". Especially for this zone, the tax code stipulated the conditions for the fastest growth of all enterprises operating in this zone.

The main message was the creation of greenhouse economic conditions for developers and vendors. Companies operating in the Free Economic Zone "Park of Information Technologies" (FEZ PIT) were exempted from CIT, VAT (in the park), property taxes and generally paid only withholding taxes (personal income tax and social tax). It would seem that all companies should have rushed into this free economic zone, but, as practice has shown, hopes didn’t meet our expectations.

I personally am an IT entrepreneur and will describe some of the disadvantages and advantages that currently exist in Alatau IT City.

Pros:

1. Tax preferences. The tax haven that promises the government is a reality. There are almost no taxes, but there are no people who can competently keep accounts in such conditions. That is, it is difficult to find an accountant who can work in the conditions of the FEZ, since so far people have little such experience. In addition, there are no restrictions on the participation of foreign capital in the campaign in the FEZ; this provides an excellent basis for foreign investors to invest in Kazakhstani startups.

2. Infrastructure. On the territory of the FEZ there is almost everything that is needed for work: low-cost premises, a dining room (also inexpensive and tasty by the way), the Internet (I want to cry here) and much more down to parking places and fresh air.

3. Clean ecology. Probably, if you check everything with the instruments, it will turn out to be not so clean, but after a gassed, cork-infested Almaty, it’s just a resort. The foothills of the Alatau complement the picture of a quiet and comfortable place to work.

Minuses:

1. Internet. I, as a web developer, are most interested in access to the Internet, since practically all the work of a webmaster is connected with this. The cost of Internet access is just extortionate. For $ 100 you get a couple of gigabytes of traffic at a speed of 256 kb / s. Where where. let alone in the Information Technology Park, I would like to have megabits with anlim for such money.

2. Distance from the city. It would be a definite plus, if there was a place in the FEZ. As we know, many cities in Silicon Valley are small, quiet towns. Alatau IT City would ideally fit this description if it were a city. Actually it's just a park. And to go from Almaty along the Kuldzhinsk highway every morning for an hour and a half and to return in the evening through traffic jams somehow does not pull. It would be good to build hotels or hostels in the park, which would have attracted many specialists from other cities of the country, who are deterred by the cost of housing in Almaty.

It seems to be few cons. But people still don't go there. In fact, all because very few people know about this most free economic zone. And most likely it is the fault of the leadership of Alatau IT City - they are cut off from the realities of the Kazakhstan IT market.

A couple of years ago, the government asked a strange idea to make a popular computer, which would cost very cheaply (around $ 300) and at the same time be assembled completely in Kazakhstan. I understand that social computers are needed. But since there are no opportunities for production and assembly in Kazakhstan, is it not better to entrust this to Uncle Liao? Time has shown that this is unrealistic and the plan was abandoned. Although some computers were released. And in general, the Park management and the government, not very knowledgeable in IT, believe that information technology is only the assembly of computers, the stamping of boards, and the laying of cables, paying little attention to software and the Internet. Although in fact the richest people are people involved in software (Hi Bill!).

I think the park should urgently start attracting software developers to itself instead of continuing to try to do impossible things for them, like a folk computer.

And finally, a few photos.



Now he is.



After the completion of construction work, as planned, it will be like this.