ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakh Invest, the national agency for attracting investments in Kazakhstan, is taking part, for the first time, in the X Eurasian Economic Forum in Verona (Italy) on October 19-20.

The organizers of this annual business event are the Conoscere Eurasia Association, the Roscongress Foundation, and the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The main theme for discussion this year is ‘Greater Eurasia as a driving force in the current international geopolitical and economic context’. The event’s agenda focuses on key problems concerning economic development in Greater Eurasia, including such themes as EU–EEU cooperation, the development of the energy, financial, transport, and infrastructure sectors, inter-regional cooperation, and information and digital technologies.

Acting Chairman of the Board of Kazakh Invest Birzhan Kaneshev spoke about the prospects of investing in the economy of Kazakhstan, as well as the work of the national company to attract foreign investment and support investors, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.

“Kazakhstan is the link between the largest markets of Eurasia. Kazakhstan’s membership in the EEU (Eurasian Economic Union) provides additional opportunities for investors to enter the market with more than 180 million consumers,” Kaneshev said.

Kaneshev highlighted the possibilities of ten Special Economic Zones (SEZ) of Kazakhstan, which have already become a center for attracting international investment in the country. SEZs provide unique privileges for investors, such as central and regional support, special tax and customs regimes, ready infrastructure and simplified rules for hiring foreign employees.

The Forum is attended by Mayor of Verona Federico Sboarina, President of the Foundation for Worldwide Cooperation Romano Prodi (Prime Minister of Italy 1996–1998, 2006–2008; President of the European Commission 1999–2004); Chairman of the Board of Directors at Rosneft Gerhard Schröder (German Federal Chancellor 1998-2005); State Secretary of the Union State of Russia and Belarus Grigory Rapota; Glencore International CEO Ivan Glasenberg (Switzerland); Chairman of the Board at Eni, President of BusinessEurope, and Chairman and CEO of Marcegaglia Holding Emma Marcegaglia; Pirelli Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera; Banca IMI President Gaetano Miccichè; Leonardo CEO Alessandro Profumo; and Swan Insights Managing Director and Executive Director of the Big Data Analytics Lab at Bisnode Marcus Hartman, among others.

“The Verona Forum is ten years old. It began as a purely Russian–Italian event, which addressed such issues as the development of bilateral trade and economic relations. A decade later, the Forum has turned into a major European platform, where big business discusses key issues related to economic cooperation in Greater Eurasia, from Lisbon to Vladivostok. I would venture to say that there is simply no other event like it in the Old World,” Conoscere Eurasia Association President Antonio Fallico said.

ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan’s national wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna said it presented the investment opportunities in Kazakhstan and the investment case of the Fund’s portfolio companies at Kazakhstan Investor Day in Hong Kong on October 16. The event participants included Timur Suleimenov, Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan; Shakhrat Nuryshev, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to China; and Nurlan Kussainov, CEO of Astana International Financial Centre.

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DUSHANBE (TCA) — A U.S.-based human rights group has called on U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to publicly raise concerns about the fate of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Tajikistan, where the authorities say they have drawn up a registry of gay and lesbian citizens, RFE/RL reports.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — The newly elected president of Kyrgyzstan is facing many challenges: from restoring good neighborly relations with Kazakhstan to building better relations with EEU partners on an equal footing to, most importantly, completing economic reforms in his country. We are republishing this article by Farkhad Sharip on the issue, originally published by The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor:

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ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry today announced the date for the next round of multilateral Syrian peace talks which are set to take place in the country’s capital, Astana, Sputnik news agency reported.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on October 18 said its Board of Directors has approved a US $500 million regional project that will help finance the delivery of crucial energy supplies from the Caspian Sea to Europe along the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC).

Potentially, Turkmenistan may join the project by transporting its natural gas across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan.

The EBRD said its financing will fund the completion of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) that passes through Turkey. TANAP is a key part of the SGC which will strengthen Europe’s energy security, promote interconnectivity and open gas markets. It will also help provide a better energy supply mix for consumers in the Balkans and south-eastern Europe as well as achieve significant CO2 reductions through the substitution of obsolete coal-fired power plants.

The Bank’s engagement in the project will ensure adherence to the highest environmental standards and allow continuing extensive dialogue with all stakeholders of SGC.

The Southern Gas Corridor includes gas infrastructure investments into a 3,500-kilometre pipeline running through six countries with a total cost of US $40 billion.
The key components are the Shah Deniz offshore gas field in Azerbaijan, the Southern Caucasus Pipeline in Azerbaijan and Georgia, TANAP in Turkey and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) through Greece, Albania and Italy. The initial annual throughput capacity will be up to 16 billion cubic metres, which is equivalent to the annual energy consumption of more than 10 million households in the region.