New Europe, February 05, 2012 The government of Kazakhstan recently announced that it will continue development of special economic zones this year. Upon instruction of the President, industrial zones are planned to be established in all regions of the country, Gazeta.kz reported. Currently six special economic zones are operating in the country namely “Astana – new city” special economic zone, Park of Information Technologies, “Ontustik”, National Industrial Petrochemical Park, “Burabai” and two industrial zones in Astana and Karaganda. It was recalled that President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed the Law “On special economic zones of Kazakhstan” on July 21, 2011. This Law aims to improve efficiency of management and functioning of special economic zones. The new Law promotes attraction of professional management companies to the special economic zones. Besides, the legislation provides for a number of tax preferences. The government said in a statement that development of special economic zones in Kazakhstan will help to attract additional investments to the economy of regions and ensure high level of profits on production in these zones. 277 facilities are functioning in the territory of “Astana – new city” special economic zone. In late 2011 three new special economic zones were established in the. “Saryarka” special economic zone for development of metallurgy and metal processing sector was established in Karaganda region, “Khorgos – East Gates” special economic zone for transport and logistics potential development in Almaty region and “Pavlodar” special economic zone for chemical and petrochemical industries development in Pavlodar region.