Almaty robotics plant worth $440 million takes shape with Chinese partner

Kazakhstan-based NERO Group is set to establish AI-powered robot production in the special economic zone in Almaty jointly with China’s UBTECH Robotics. The companies plan to invest $440 million in the project.

At the Kazakhstan-China Investment Forum, NERO Group CEO Yerlan Nabiyev spoke about a project to localize robotics engineering in Kazakhstan at the Park of Innovative Technologies Special Economic Zone. In July, the company signed an agreement with UBTECH Robotics, one of China’s leading robotics manufacturers. The project’s investment is estimated at $440 million, of which $340 million is the technology transfer fee for UBTECH’s humanoid robot manufacturing technology and the remaining $100 million will be NERO Group’s own investment.

«First of all, this is the localization of not only the production side. This includes R&D, programming, significant job creation, as well as, of course, production facilities. I would also like to note that we are already building a large center for these needs, with an area of 25,000 square meters, at the PIT SEZ,» Nabiyev said.

He noted that the focus is not on entertainment, but on using robots in education, services, production, logistics and social support.

NERO Group plans to place a strong emphasis on introducing robotics in education. Nabiyev noted that students should be able to assemble robots, program them and create original Kazakhstani robots. The company will provide schools with the necessary robotics equipment through public procurement.

According to Nabiyev, the company plans to equip around 60 schools in Almaty with robots by the end of this year, at the request of the city’s mayor’s office. By 2028, the company plans to provide the remaining 200-plus schools with robots. The company has announced plans to produce 50,000 educational robotics kits. As for service and humanoid robots, localization is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2027, with a planned production capacity of 1,000 robots per year.

Previously, Kursiv.media reported that a factory producing humanoid and educational robots will be built in Almaty, becoming the first overseas manufacturing facility for Chinese robotics company UBTECH Robotics.