ASTANA (TCA) — The IV Congress of Special Economic Zone Participants of Kazakhstan was held in Astana on July 20, at which over 100 entrepreneurs, representatives of government bodies, members of the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs discussed current issues and prospects for the development of the special economic zones in Kazakhstan, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
At the Congress, President of FEMOZA World Free & Special Economic Zones Federation Juan Torrents presented the project Digital Parks of the New Silk Road, where Kazakhstan is given the role of a strategic center in the development of electronic commerce. A Memorandum of Cooperation with FEMOZA was signed by the management companies of the Aktau Sea Port, Pavlodar, Saryarka, and Astana Technopolis zones.
Torrents believes that Kazakhstan has good prospects for the development of special economic zones.
“Kazakhstan is in a favorable geographical position. This is one of the main advantages of special economic zones of your country. It is necessary to use it more actively and, of course, it is necessary to work actively in the electronic commerce zone, blockchain and other new technologies,” Torrents said.
Head of SEZ Department of the Investment Committee of the Kazakh Ministry for Investments and Development Arsen Mendygaziev reported on positive results in the work of the special economic zones. According to him, about 170 projects have been launched in 11 special economic zones of Kazakhstan.
“This suggests that there is a positive impact from special economic zones. We hope that it will grow in the future,” Mendygaziev said.
Deputy Chairman of Atameken NCE Kuanysh Bishimov noted that the economic zones are not only drivers of the economy, but also locomotives for the development of entrepreneurship.
“The main task of the economic zones was to become the best examples of new technologies and factories. The state provided a lot of support for this. Today we have 11 economic zones in the country; about 14.5 thousand jobs were created [in these zones]. A large number of representatives of small and medium-sized businesses are concentrated near the special economic zones,” Bishimov said.
