The flow of direct investment to Kazakhstan increased by 28% during the first half of 2022. Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Almas Aidarov, said that “last year, we were able to reach the pre-pandemic level of attracting investments. The amount was 23.7 billion U.S. dollars. We now have data for the first half of this year – 14.5 billion US dollars, an increase of 28% compared to last year”.
Media briefing initiated by the CCS
Deputy Minister Aidarov briefed the media on these topics on 26.12.2022, at the Central Communications Service (CCS) in Astana. He noted, that “despite the geopolitical situation, the investors maintain a positive trend toward Kazakhstan”. Aidarov stressed that the task set by the Kazakh President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, is to be implemented. Meaning that in the next 7 years at least 150 billion U.S. dollars to be attracted from abroad.
Which countries invest the most in Kazakhstan? The Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister explained that qualitative investments are extremely important to the world’s 9th largest country. “If we take 2005-2010, the structure of foreign investments was 70% in the oil and gas industry. If we take the last three years, the level of investment in the oil and gas industry is just 45%. Other sectors are growing – trade, information, transportation, communications, and the prioritized manufacturing sector”.
As for the countries that attract investments in the economy of Kazakhstan, the top ten countries traditionally include the Netherlands, USA, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Singapore, China, South Korea, France, and the UK. 90% of the investments originated from 20 developed countries. “All Kazakhstan’s 108 foreign institutions”, Aidarov concluded, “are pursuing a policy of economic diplomacy. This year we processed over 3,000 new foreign companies”.
Sustainable Development Goals for 2023
Meanwhile, a “Sustainable Development Goals for 2023” action plan was approved by Kazakhstan’s government on December 2021. Kazakh Prime Minister, Alikhan Smailov, held a meeting of the Coordinating Council on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the participation of government agencies, the diplomatic corps, and U.N. representatives. The participants reviewed the execution of the Head of State’s instruction to open a U.N. Regional Hub on SDGs for Central Asia and Afghanistan in Almaty, and also approved the action plan for the implementation of SDGs for 2023.
The Prime Minister stressed that the implementation of the principles of the Sustainable Development Goals 2023 is aimed at improving the quality of life of citizens and adopting international standards in all spheres of the economy. “As of today, specific tasks have already been identified, which we need to consistently implement over the next year,” Alikhan Smailov said.
The Prime Minister also recalled that in July this year, at the U.N. headquarters in New York, Kazakhstan successfully presented the second Voluntary National Survey on Sustainable Development by 2030. The document was a comprehensive assessment of Kazakhstan’s progress over the past three-year period. Summing up the meeting, PM Alikhan Smailov instructed the relevant government agencies and organizations to ensure timely and proper implementation, of the action plan on the Sustainable Development Goals for 2023.
