Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The favorable location of Kazakhstan and the presence of rich mineral resources increase the investment attractiveness of this country.

Since 2005, almost $300 million of foreign direct investment has been attracted to the economy of Kazakhstan, said Zhenis Kasymbek, Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, during capital markets forum “Financing Economy through Capital Market Tools,” which is held within the framework of Astana Finance Days on the basis of the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC).

He noted that approximately 75 percent of the total foreign direct investment inflows into Central Asia accounted for Kazakhstan and the country is the absolute leader in the region on these indicators.

Kasymbek mentioned that as part of the New Silk Road project, Kazakhstan, together with Chinese companies, is implementing 55 industrial projects worth almost $28 billion.

“These projects include transport, infrastructure, manufacturing, chemistry, metallurgy, food industry, agriculture,” he stated.

Kasymbek stressed that over the last four years, 12 projects out of 55 have already been implemented, adding that another five will be launched till the end of 2019.

“These projects include production of special types of cement for the oil and gas industry, the processing of agricultural products, and a glass factory,” he informed.

Kairat Kelimbetov, Governor of Astana International Financial Center, also hopes for effective cooperation with China.

“The development of logistics will allow Kazakhstan to diversify the economy, determine new ways of export and enter new stages of industrialization,” he noted.

The speaker further said that the next stage should be the development of digital and financial infrastructure, adding that Kazakhstan plans to restart the capital market.

Kelimbetov considers that the Silk Road Fund can become one of the promising tools for the development of Kazakh economy. “This joint fund of China and Kazakhstan accumulated about $2 billion,” he said.

It is noteworthy that until 2022, gross foreign direct investment should increase by 26 percent compared to 2016 in Kazakhstan, and the ratio of foreign direct investment to GDP should be at the level of 19 percent, whereas at the current time this figure is 16.5 percent.

Considering the investment restructuring and the focus of investment in the service segment of the economy, by 2022 the volume of foreign investment in fixed assets of the non-commodity sector of the economy should increase to 50 percent compared to 2016.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz