ASTANA (TCA) — To achieve the goal of becoming one of the world’s 30 most developed countries, favorable conditions for attracting investments have been created in Kazakhstan, Minister for Investments and Development, Zhenis Kassymbek, said at the forum “France-Kazakhstan: 10 years of strategic partnership” held last week in Astana, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
Last year, the Government of Kazakhstan jointly with the World Bank developed the National Investment Strategy for 2018-2022.
The main objective of this Strategy is to increase the inflow of foreign direct investment. The Strategy focuses not only on attracting new investors, but also on retaining existing investors and promoting reinvestment.
Also, taking into account economic opportunities, 36 potential countries for investment attraction were identified, of which 11, including France, are the top priorities.
These countries are donors of investments and new technologies around the world. To work with each of these priority countries, an individual approach and a concrete action plan will be developed jointly with the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For investors, special preferences are offered, such as exemption from customs duties, tax incentives, and tax holidays.
In Kazakhstan, there are 11 special economic zones and 22 industrial zones. Participants of the SEZ are also provided with a package of benefits and services on the principle of “one window.” For the participants of industrial zones, the state provides all necessary infrastructure.
The Minister also spoke about the advantageous geographical position of Kazakhstan, which is located in the heart of Eurasia, between Europe and China. More than 500 million people live in the territory within a radius of 2 thousand km from Kazakhstan. In addition, Kazakhstan’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union opens the common market of the Union with over 180 million consumers.
“More than 70% of investments in Central Asia fall on Kazakhstan’s share, which indicates the significant attractiveness of our country for foreign investors. We are ready to continue working in the same spirit,” Kassymbek summed up, inviting French partners to invest in the growing economy of Kazakhstan.
