The Mazhilis, the
Lower House of the Kazakh Parliament, ratified an intergovernmental investment
agreement with Qatar, securing US$20 billion for nine Kazakh projects. Signed
in Doha this February, the deal focuses on priority sectors such as
telecommunications, energy, gas production and transportation, and finance. Kazakhstan,
in turn, will provide Qatari investors with capital investment protection and
permanent tax regime. The agreement includes constructing three gas processing
plants, which are expected to boost the country’s marketable gas production by
18 percent. The parties also plan to build the KS-14-Kostanai-Aktobe gas
pipeline and a second line of the Beineu-Bozoi-Shymkent pipeline.
«The implementation of the project will ensure the
country’s energy security. It will also increase the capacity of the gas
transportation system, maintain gas exports to China, and facilitate the
transition of the Almaty combined heat and power plant to gas. In general, this
project will make it possible to meet the growing needs of the southern,
central, and northern regions, as well as maintain export volumes,» said Kazakh
Minister of National Economy Nurlan Baibazarov.