7 Investment Documents Totaling More Than 2.7 Trillion Tenge Were Signed at Aktobe Investment-2022
On December 06, 2022, Astana hosted the 7th Investment Forum "Aktobe-Investment 2022", which was held outside the region for the first time. The purpose of the event is to highlight the region's ability to act as a crossroads of European and Asian business interests in an era of global change.
The event was attended by diplomatic missions of about 30 countries, members of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Kazakhstan, heads of national companies, financial institutions, transnational companies, large foreign and domestic investors.
Aktobe region is an industrially developed region of Kazakhstan and the largest region of the country. The region is characterized by a high population and growth rate, as well as the annual growth of economic sectors. Thus, over the past 5 years, more than 3 trillion tenge of investments have been attracted to the Aktobe region.
This year, more than 700 billion tenge of investments have been attracted to the region's economy. The inflow of these investments is ensured through geological exploration, technological renewal of enterprises and the implementation of large investment projects in such priority sectors of the economy as oil and gas chemistry, metallurgy, construction industry, food industry, agribusiness and energy. In addition, the pool of ongoing projects in the Aktobe region consists of 95 investment projects worth more than 4.6 trillion tenge until 2027.
It should be noted that 25% of the investments attracted to the region are external. The main investor countries today are Italy, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the Russian Federation, and the People's Republic of China.
Opening the round table, Akim of Aktobe region Yeraly Tugzhanov spoke about the investment, transport, logistics and industrial potential of the region, priority areas of development, expressing the hope that this event will lead to the expansion of investment ties. At the end of his speech, Akim assured that he takes to personal control over all the agreements reached within the framework of the forum, as well as the implementation of the signed memorandums and the implementation of investment projects.
In addition, Akim emphasized that the region is an important transport and logistics hub of the country, which allows using all types of logistics opportunities, such as air, rail and road transport, to the full extent. In addition, the seaport of Aktau with access to the Caspian basin is located in close proximity.
In turn, Ardak Zebeshev, Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, said that during the years of Independence, Kazakhstan managed to attract over $400 billion in foreign direct investment. According to him, in the first half of 2022, there is an increase in gross inflow of FDI in Kazakhstan by 28% compared to the first half of 2021. The inflow of foreign direct investment in the Aktobe region for the first half of 2022 amounted to $862.5 million, which is twice as much as for the first half of 2021.
Chairman of the Board of “NC “KAZAKH INVEST” JSC Meirzhan Yussupov in his speech spoke about the activities of the National Company, measures of state support, as well as the investment attractiveness of Kazakhstan and individual regions. According to him, the system of state support for investors is multi-level and, in addition to investment preferences, includes various industry benefits. Since last year, investors in Kazakhstan have been able to directly enter into an investment agreement with the Government for the implementation of large investment projects worth about $50 million.
Also speakers of the plenary session were Vice Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan Iran Sharkhan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Italy to the Republic of Kazakhstan Marco Alberti, Ernst & Young Managing Partner in the Caucasus and Central Asia Yerlan Dossymbekov, Vice President for CIS countries Yildirim Holding Metin Oktay, Managing Director of ENI Alex Stillavato and shareholder of the Transnational Kazakhstan-Singapore company ICIMC Nurzhan Shakirov.
In the second part of the event, the Forum participants discussed the topic: "Key drivers for increasing the competitiveness of the Aktobe region."
Within the framework of the forum, an exhibition of investment opportunities of the Aktobe region was also held in 5 blocks: Chemical industry, metallurgy and engineering, construction and industry, food industry and agro-industrial complex and light industry.
At the event, 7 investment documents were signed for a total amount of more than 2.7 trillion tenge.
