ASTANA (TCA) — The Ministry of Investment and Development of Kazakhstan expects the level of foreign direct investments in the Kazakh economy recover up to $8 billion-$9 billion by the end of this year, Novosti-Kazakhstan news agency reported with reference to Minister of Investment and Development Zhenis Kasymbek.
“In the first quarter of this year we saw recovering investment rates: the net inflow of foreign direct investments increased and amounted to $2.7 billion, the level of 2013 and 2014. We expect direct investments recover up to the level of $8 billion-$9 billion for the whole year 2016,” Kasymbek said at the Government meeting on August 10.
He said the recent years have seen the trend of investments moving from developing to developed, more protected countries.
“In 2015, investments in developing and a number of developed countries considerably reduced. That also concerned Kazakhstan. In 2015, foreign direct investments fell in the mining industry (by more than 50 percent), crude oil production (60 percent), and trade (47 percent),” the minister said.
At the same time, he said, industries included in Kazakhstan’s state industrialization program “have showed some growth”. For instance, foreign direct investments grew almost 30 percent in petrochemical industry, machine-building, and food industry.
The then Minister of Investment and Development Aset Isekeshev said earlier this year that since 2005, Kazakhstan had attracted direct investments worth more than $200 billion. In recent years, priority has been given to the manufacturing industry, which has attracted more than $20 billion over the past six years.
