ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan’s national agricultural holding KazAgro until the end of 2016 will set up an Agricultural Investment Fund aimed at intensifying the attraction of direct investments in the country’s agro-industrial sector.
“The new fund is being created entirely by KazAgro,” the Managing Financial Director of KazAgro Banu Ergalieva told a press conference on July 21, the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan reported.
According to Ergalieva, the initial capitalization of the fund will be $50 million, and is expected to finally reach $300 million. “It will be a mix of funds, we expect to use both public funds and borrowed funds,” she said.
Ergalieva said that currently, KazAgro is considering around 20 projects, adding that by the experience of the Kazakh-Hungarian investment fund, a pilot project of KazAgro, its management company within six months considered 100 projects, of which three projects are at the selection stage.
The aim of the new Agricultural Investment Fund will be developing existing agro-industrial projects which are currently experiencing a shortage of resources, as well as funding new projects in the spheres of animal husbandry, poultry farming, fish farming, and dairy production. Projects will include primary production, processing, logistics, storage, supply of equipment, and trade.
Ergalieva also spoke about the risks in Kazakhstan’s agricultural sector, such as underdeveloped marketing and logistics infrastructure and underdeveloped instruments for hedging the sector’s risks.
However, she said that the potential of the Kazakh agro-industrial sector is high, and the conditions created for agribusiness cover the risks.
