EBRD President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan

Sir Suma Chakrabarti EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti will discuss a new initiative to raise investment in Kazakhstan and drive forward reform in the investment climate when he visits the country from 9-13 June 2014, ebrd.com reports.

During his stay, Sir Suma will also co-chair a meeting of the Kazakhstan Foreign Investors’ Council with President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The Foreign Investors’ Council will meet in Borovoe, a resort north of Astana, on 12 June.

In addition, the EBRD President will visit Almaty on 9 and 10 June – where he will sign a deal to finance energy efficient street lighting with the Akim of Almaty – and Kyzylorda on 11 June where he will meet the Minister of Regional Development and the Akim of the region. He will also meet with EBRD clients and partners during the visit.

In May, the Kazakh authorities and the EBRD signed an agreement that will funnel US$ 2.7 billion of government funds into the economy via international financial institutions.

The new Partnership will be high on the agenda of Sir Suma’s discussions with President Nazarbayev and other senior officials including Prime Minister Karim Massimov and members of his cabinet, as well as the Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

Under the new “Partnership for Re-Energising the Reform Process in Kazakhstan”, the EBRD will increase its own investments in Kazakhstan significantly and play a greater role in dialogue with the government to help develop and roll out reforms that will further improve the business climate.

The EBRD’s participation in the Partnership gives it a key role in the implementation of Kazakhstan’s national industrialisation strategy. The strategy aims to reduce the country’s dependence on natural resources and boost the role of other sectors such as manufacturing. The Partnership will allow the EBRD to increase its own investment in Kazakhstan, which in 2013 totaled around US$ 450 million.

Sir Suma will underscore the role of the EBRD in this economic diversification in his speech to the Foreign Investors’ Council, during which he will emphasise the Bank’s support for the development of the private corporate sector, including small and medium-sized enterprises.

He will also outline plans to increase the EBRD’s local currency lending following an agreement with the Kazakh central bank that will free up US$ 1 billion in tenge for lending to financial institutions, municipalities and corporate borrowers.

Since the beginning of its operations in Kazakhstan, the EBRD has invested close to US$ 6.5 billion in the country’s economy, with more than half of the Bank’s projects supporting the private sector.