According to the decree of the president on changes in the administrative-territorial structure of the Almaty region, the village of Zhetigen was separated from the Ili district. It was assigned the status of a city of regional significance. The village was renamed the city of Alatau.

As reported by the Ministry of National Economy, the creation of a new city will allow modernizing road networks, engineering and social infrastructure facilities, creating new jobs, attracting investments, technologies, additional financial flows, promoting entrepreneurial activity, increasing tax revenues, which, in turn, will contribute to improving the investment attractiveness and economic stability of the region.

At the same time, the government approved a decision to expand the territory of the SEZ from 30,000 to 96,500 hectares and rename the G4 City SEZ to Alatau SEZ. Thus, the entire territory of the city of Alatau and part of the city of Konaev is included in the SEZ area.