The article examines the issues of increasing the industrial development of the national economy on the basis of the engineering. Engineering has positive trends in the growth of production of new products and exports for Kazakhstan, however, the dynamics and structure of costs for virtually all types of resources, and therefore the price of these shifts, is determined by the costs of implementing government measures and the introduction ofindustrial policy mechanisms. It is noted that a promising direction for the structural development of machine building is the creation of new competitive advantages due to the organization of its own base of general engineering designation, primarily the creation of machine tool, tool and foundry capacities. One of the main arguments in substantiating this priority can be the modern structure of machine building in Kazakhstan, where enterprises with the type of activity “repair and installation of machinery and equipment” are the dominant positions, the technology of which is based on extensive use of machines for repair and production of spare parts and various tools. Prospects for the development of this industry are not in doubt, therefore it is strategically expedient to ensure the growth and renewal of its material and technical base on the basis of domestic products.