ASTANA (TCA) — Benefits, profitable projects, a good location, and free niches make Kazakhstan’s agro-industrial sector and food industry attractive for foreign investments, says the Managing Director of Kazakhstan’s investment and export promotion agency KAZNEX INVEST Erlan Muratov.
“As for investment opportunities, the focus is primarily on import substitution and on the neighboring markets,” Muratov told a press conference on July 21, the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan reported. “For example, Russia alone imports agricultural products and raw materials for processing in the amount of 26 billion dollars annually, and with this country we have the world’s longest land border, and both the markets and the standards are very similar.”
“While attracting investors, we try to use the situation that has developed. As you know, there is a regime of sanctions between the EU and Russia. Large companies that before 2014 and 2015 exported their products to the Russian market are now experiencing the possession of an excessive number of products; they are looking for an opportunity to resume access to one of the largest markets in the world. Therefore, we offer them all border areas between Kazakhstan and Russia, so that they could realize their projects,” said Muratov.
Kazakhstan also has a great potential for the development of greenhouses and cultivation of vegetables and fruits. Muratov noted the positive effect of the rules allowing investors “not go through a long process of perennial seed certification to grow their products in Kazakhstan”. “Investors can come and start their production in Kazakhstan without a long procedure, the only thing they need is a certificate of origin and recognition of seeds in the country of origin,” he said.
Muratov also said that a large pool of production facilities is left over from the Soviet era in almost every region of Kazakhstan. “There are tens, hundreds of thousands of industrial buildings with complete infrastructure where investors could come, expand production with a minimal loss of time, and start production in the shortest possible time,” he said.
