 Akhmetov served for a time as Deputy Governor of Astana before being appointed to the Government of Kazakhstan as Minister of Transportation on 25 September 2006.He has also served as Chairman of the Board of the Atameken National Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers of Kazakhstan since 2005.President Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed Akhmetov as Prime Minister following the resignation of Karim Massimov on 24 September 2012.