Nurkent | |
|---|---|
  Nurkent | |
| Coordinates: 44°12′49″N 80°13′53″E / 44.21361°N 80.23139°E |
Nurkent (Kazakh: Нұркент, Nūrkent) is a town under construction in the Panfilov District of the Almaty Region of south-eastern Kazakhstan, set to be built by 2035 and the projected population of 100,000.[1] The town is located near one of Kazakhstan's two railway crossings on the border with China, at the Chinese city of Khorgos.
In autumn 2016, after a go-ahead from president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan's minister of national Economy Kuandyk Bishimbayev announced that Kazakhstan intended to allocate 11.3 billion tenge towards building infrastructure of a new town of Nurkent; it was reported that the construction of the town was seen as instrumental in resettlement of workers of the free economic zone "Khorgos — Eastern Gate", the largest transportation and logistics hub on the New Silk Road.[2][3] A dry port, a component of the Khorgos — Eastern Gate free economic zone, began to operate in January 2015.[4][5][6]
In the summer of 2017, the Chinese state-owned shipping and logistics services supplier company COSCO became the 49 percent owner the land on which the town was being built from scratch.[1]
At the end of 2017, the town was reported to have about 1,200 residents.[1]