ALMATY (TCA) — A delegation from Switzerland headed by the Minister of Economy and Security of the Canton of Geneva Pierre Mode visited Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty to discuss large-scale investment projects with potential Kazakh partners, the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan reported on its website on October 19.
The Swiss delegation consisted of 28 large investment firms in the sectors of finance, construction, transport, logistics, chemical industry, medicine, tourism and hotel industry, consulting services, and agriculture.
The Director of the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Almaty Yuri Tleumuratov told the Swiss guests that Almaty is an ideal city for investment. He said that over 25 years of independence, Kazakhstan has created a favorable business climate for investors. The country is one of the leaders in the world in terms of protection of investors. Among 189 countries in the rating “Doing Business”, Kazakhstan took 25th place in protection of minority shareholders and 25th place in protection of investors among 140 countries, according to the “Report on Global Competitiveness 2015-2016”.
“The main investment incentives include: exemption from taxes (CIT for 10 years, the land tax for 10 years, the property tax for 8 years), investment grants (reimbursement of up to 30% of the actual costs of construction and installation works and purchase of equipment), customs privileges (exemption from customs duties on import of technological equipment and component parts for up to 5 years, with imports of spare parts for production equipment, raw materials and (or) materials for up to 5 years depending on the investment in fixed assets),” said Tleumuratov.
To create favorable conditions for attracting investments in Almaty, the city defined points of economic growth, such as the establishment of the Industrial Zone in Alatau district of Almaty, with the priority on developing the food, light, pharmaceutical, chemical, engineering, construction, and furniture industries.
Since 2003, the special economic zone “Park of innovative technologies” has operated in Almaty. SEZ “PIT” is positioning itself as an integrated innovative hub, research, education, design and production cluster. Currently, 145 companies are registered in the free economic zone.
The Deputy Director of the Chamber of Commerce of the Canton of Geneva Syubiliya Vincent said that the main difference between the economies of Switzerland and Kazakhstan is that Switzerland virtually has no natural resources. “Our main wealth is ‘wit’, and we are ready to provide you with all our knowledge, experience and skills in the field of medicine, finance, and construction. I would also like to note that the Swiss Chamber of Commerce includes 2.5 thousand companies, and we provide them with every support. We hope that today’s meeting will help to establish long-term partnership between our countries,” said Syubiliya Vincent.
According to the Statistics Agency of Kazakhstan, Switzerland ranks fifth among the largest trading partners of Kazakhstan, following Russia, China, Italy, the Netherlands, and France.
From January to July 2016, bilateral trade amounted to 2.1 billion USD. Kazakhstan exports to Switzerland mainly energy, precious stones and metals. Swiss exports to Kazakhstan include precision instruments and optics, watches, chemical and pharmaceutical products.
