In his recent state-of-the-nation address, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the government to expand the geologically explored land area from 1.5 million to 2.2 million square kilometers by 2026. Experts believe that this initiative will become an additional factor for the growth of the domestic economy. According to them, the Head of State emphasized the importance of geological exploration in the forthcoming work in this direction. Analysts are confident that this sector of the mining industry forms the backbone of Kazakhstan's economy and certainly needs special attention.
“The volume of investment in geological exploration has significantly decreased over the past 5-6 years. While from 2005-2014, annual investments in geological exploration reached $4-5 billion, the current figure stands at $200-300 million. It is very important for Kazakhstan to attract investors for geological exploration, especially in rare earth metals, considered as second oil, which will help in furthering our economic development,” said Yernar Serik, Director of the Trade Policy Development Center of the Economic Research Institute.
President Tokayev proposed introducing a three-year tax exemption for investors who intend to invest in the processing sector, along with emphasizing the necessity of creating flexible regulatory and fiscal conditions in the country. This will enable the industry to realize its full potential and attract large private investors, according to economists.
“We need to ensure stability in our tax system. When investors are considering entering any country’s market, they necessarily study the country’s tax system, and it is very important for them to have confidence in tax policy stability. Thus, investors and the state agree in advance on what to expect in the next 5-10 years since major projects can have implementation periods of 10 years or more. As a result, the stability of tax policy is very important for investors,” said Yerdilda Tautenov, Director of ERI’s Macroeconomic Research and Forecasting Center.
