NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) President Suma Chakrabarti praised Kazakhstan as a “prime investment destination” in a speech at the Annual Kazakhstan Forum in London on October 23.
“Kazakhstan offers some very significant opportunities. (…) As the country makes more progress in its plans to accelerate privatisation, there will be more and more opportunities,” he said, as quoted by the EBRD’s press service.
The EBRD President underlined Kazakhstan’s strong potential in many sectors and aspects. In addition to its geographical location at the crossroads of transcontinental trade routes connecting Europe and Asia and being a key component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the country also offers an attractive investment climate, abundant resources in renewable energy and “high quality human capital,” the EBRD president said.
He emphasised the EBRD’s long-term commitment as the country’s largest foreign direct investor outside the oil sector. Since the start of operations in the country the Bank has invested more than €8 billion in the economy of Kazakhstan, two thirds in the private sector where the EBRD has a leading role in supporting local small businesses.
The Bank’s commitment is also demonstrated by its strong local presence, the EBRD president said: “We have more than 50 offices away from our HQ here in London. But the single country where we have most offices of all, seven in fact, is Kazakhstan.”
This year the EBRD is again on course to deliver a strong result in Kazakhstan: “The amount we have invested in the first three quarters of this year already has almost overtaken what we did over the whole 12 months of 2018,” President Chakrabarti said.
