Kazakh Invest to cooperate with Association of European Businesses

Economy • 04 March, 2020

Kazakh Invest to cooperate with Association of European Businesses

More than 30 representatives of European business participated in the Roundtable dedicated to interaction with the European business community. The representatives of large international companies implementing investment projects in Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union, experts on attracting investments, the representatives of investment companies, financial institutions, and credit organizations met at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kazakh Invest reports.

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Erlan Khairov, the Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the representatives of the Association of European Businesses as well as the heads of state bodies made the presentations during the event.

An important part of the Roundtable program was the session “The Roadshow of the Regions: Opportunities of Kazakhstan and Special Economic Zones”, where the investment opportunities of Kazakhstan's regions were presented. The representatives of KAZAKH INVEST, Samruk-Kazyna Invest, Kazakhstan Investment Development Fund (KIDF) Management Company, QazIndustry - Kazakhstan Industry and Export Centre and others also spoke about their activities.

During the event, the participants conducted a series of B2B meetings with the large investors, heads of transnational companies of the Association of European Businesses, the largest representative office of foreign investors in the EAEU. The parties discussed further steps for developing mutually beneficial cooperation and expanding business ties between Kazakhstan and European business.

The AEB delegation included the heads of large European companies, including BASF, BNP Paribas, CMS, Coleman Services UK, Creon Capital, Deloitte & Touche CIS, Kesarev, Merck, Messe Frankfurt Rus, Mitsubishi Electric, Schneider Electric, Siemens Russia and others.

At the end of the event, a bilateral Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between KAZAKH INVEST and the Association of European Businesses, confirming the intention of the parties to strengthen cooperation in order to improve the competitiveness of business in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan.

“Since independence, Kazakhstan attracted about $ 340 billion of investments. Moreover, more than 40% of all investments are from the countries of the European Union. Today, we are actively working on attracting investments from Europe to the priority sectors of our economy. We are particularly interested in technology-intensive production with high added value. We are open to comprehensive cooperation with the representatives of European business and ready to fully support implementation of investment projects,” - said Galym Uzbekov, the Deputy CEO of KAZAKH INVEST.

According to the CEO of the Association of European Businesses, the President of Schneider Electric in Russia and the CIS, Johan Vanderplaetse, the main purpose of the delegation’s visit was to get acquainted with the investment potential of Kazakhstan:

“Our business mission is a logical continuation of the presentation of Kazakhstan's investment potential organised with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Trade Mission of Kazakhstan in Russia in June last year. The members of the Association of European Businesses have become seriously interested in business and investment opportunities that Kazakhstan has to offer. These include, first of all, the Astana International Financial Center and Special Economic Zones. For European businesses, other important factors are the country's political and economic stability as well as Kazakhstan's dynamic development within the EAEU unified customs space.We sincerely hope that the business mission will lay a solid foundation for further development of business of our members in the region, bring additional investments into the economy of Kazakhstan and help establish new business contacts,” - said Johan Vanderplaetse.

The event was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Investment Committee, KAZAKH INVEST and the Association of European Businesses.

The Association of European Businesses (AEB) is the main representative office of foreign investors in Russia. Established in 1995, the AEB is an independent non-profit organization uniting more than 500 companies operating in the Russian Federation. The AEB includes both large international corporations and small medium-sized enterprises from the countries of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association and other regions of the world.

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