ASTANA (TCA) — At the Government meeting on November 14, Minister of Investment and Development of Kazakhstan Zhenis Kasymbek reported on the increase of foreign direct investments (FDIs) into Kazakhstan’s economy, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
Kasymbek said that gross inflows of foreign direct investment increased by 25.8 percent and totaled $9.3 billion in the first half of this year (compared to $7.4 billion in the same period last year). Moreover, almost 60 percent of the investments were made in mining and exploration, 15 percent in the manufacturing industry, 9 percent in trade, and 5 percent in construction.
According to the latest Doing Business report, Kazakhstan has significantly improved its position, moving up from 41st to 35th place. There is a serious improvement in a number of indicators, particularly in terms of “protection of minority investors” Kazakhstan has moved from 25th up to 3rd place in the ranking. In addition, Kazakhstan is among the 10 top countries that have made the greatest advances in the improvement of legislation in business sphere.
Minister Kasymbek also informed about plans to further improve the investment climate in Kazakhstan.
In his words, this year the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Investment Committee has decided to recommend the OECD Council to invite Kazakhstan as a member of the OECD Investment Committee, which is a sign of great confidence in Kazakhstan and an indication that the investment climate in the country complies with international standards, as well as an indicator of high level of the business environment, competition and investor protection.
To consolidate its position in the OECD, Kazakhstan will continue to work on implementing a detailed plan to improve the investment climate, the key areas of which are simplification of migration and visa issues for investors, improvement of tax and customs administration, and further improvement of systemic tools to attract investors, the minister said.
