ALMATY (TCA) — Representatives of 20 large South Korean companies came to Almaty to take part in a Kazakh-Korean business forum to discuss the possibilities of opening production facilities in Kazakhstan, the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan reported on April 25.
According to the Consul General of South Korea in Almaty John Seung Ming, businessmen from his country are interested in almost all markets in Kazakhstan.
“Over the past 25 years, trade turnover between Korea and Kazakhstan has increased 10 times and amounted to 670 million dollars a year. We are glad to cooperate in the field of agriculture, in particular, in the construction of greenhouses. Kazakhstan is 27 times larger than South Korea. And the population does not exceed 18 million people. You have every opportunity to activate the country’s economy, but you need to improve demographic indicators. We could cooperate more in the field of education. Now about 800 Kazakhstanis study in South Korea and about 200 students from Korea study in Almaty,” said John Seung Ming.
The deputy chairperson of the Council of Businesswomen at the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Almaty Akerkyn Yeraliyeva told about the opportunities for business development in Almaty.
“The Businesswomen’s Council is actively working to support small and medium-sized businesses. The Council includes the best business people of our city. All initiatives are supported on a voluntary basis,” she said.
Today there are more than 400 Kazakhstani-Korean enterprises in Kazakhstan. The Kazakh government provides a full package of support for foreign businesses, such as exemption from taxes for up to 10 years and investment subsidies (return of 30% of the costs carried out by an enterprise during the construction of production facilities).
Since 1 March 2017, VAT exemption for the import of industrial and technological equipment has been introduced. Priority industries are metallurgy, chemistry, petro-chemistry, food industry, mining, oil and gas engineering.
