On June 19, 2018, by the edict of President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, the South Kazakhstan region was renamed the Turkistan region and its administrative center was moved to the city of Turkistan. Shymkent received the status of a city of national significance. Other changes in the administrative-territorial structure of the region included the separation of the Zhetisai and Keles districts from the Maktaaral and Saryagash districts, respectively. At the same time, the state now actively develops a large number of programs and plans to improve the socio-economic situation in the region. Particularly, the comprehensive plan for the socio-economic development of the Turkistan region until 2024 has a special place. The plan consists of 116 organizational and implementation measures.