The Astana
International Financial Centre (AIFC) is hosting the annual Astana Finance Days
(AFD) conference, one of the main financial conferences of the Eurasian region.
A total of 3,000 participants from over 70 countries are discussing current
market issues, including FinTech innovations and investment opportunities. Experts
highlight Kazakhstan's significant potential in these areas. For instance, the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has invested over 10
billion euros in Kazakhstan's economy over the years of cooperation, enabling
the implementation of more than 300 infrastructure projects. It bears noting that much work is planned ahead.
«Kazakhstan with BBB minus rating is an
investment grade country. The needs for overall infrastructure investments are
vast, and that’s across many different subsectors. The current program looks
into very ambitious, almost 80 billion big infrastructure investments. And
there needs to be a very concerted and orchestrated approach so that these
projects can be taken, can be commercialized and private partners can also be
involved in the financing of these projects,» said Huseyin Ozhan, Acting
Managing Director, Central Asia, at the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development.
Notably, investors are
focusing on green financing. Kazakhstan needs innovative approaches to
transition to a sustainable, low-carbon future. Among these is the
implementation of a system of renewable energy certificates in the country,
experts say.
«Organizations producing renewable energy, such
as hydroelectric, wind, and solar plants, need these certificates to attract
additional capital for further investment and expansion of green energy. So, it is necessary to create a well-organized market
where they can sell their certificates. This is particularly important for
large industrial companies, including steel manufacturers, that contribute to
CO2 emissions. Thus, a market is required to set a price for these
certificates, and we are launching such a project on our exchange,» said the AIFC
Governor Renat Bekturov.
