Geopolitical tensions, food shortages and global inflation are the main topics discussed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Economic institutions offer various ways to improve the world economy, including diversification of industries and increased trade. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also addressed the forum participants with a video message. The Head of State personally presented Kazakhstan’s investment program and, in general, announced a new vector for the country’s development.
“We aim to shift the country from a super-presidential state to a normative presidential government. The various branches of government therefore require further reform. Parliament’s powers will be enhanced. As the country embarks on further decentralization, corruption and nepotism will not be tolerated. The accumulation of political power or wealth in the hands of the few must be reversed, so that many more can prosper. These changes require some 33 amendments to Kazakhstan’s constitution,” the president said.
Such high guarantees emphasize the importance of attracting money to the Kazakh economy. Potential investors are invited to embrace special conditions created at the Astana International Financial Center, where investment protection is provided at the international level.
“Those guarantees that the Head of State gives, those plans for economic reforms that have been announced, meaning the reforms of the new economic policy for the construction of New Kazakhstan - this is what investors want to participate in and this is what is of great interest to them,” added Kairat Kelimbetov, Governor of the Astana International Financial Center.
Political reforms will become the basis for the recovery of the Kazakh economy, which is also striving to reach a new level. This is not only about the extraction of raw materials, but the production of finished, processed products, profitable for both the producing country and for the investor who has put his money into the project.
“I think Kazakhstan has done a fantastic job marketing itself. There’s of course a lot more work to do in other regions, in Africa, in Latin America, more than just Europe. I think Kazakhstan will start to become a country where the global market will be comfortable coming and investing. It’s a hub. It’s a very central, it’s a very, I think, well-positioned country. So I think as Kazakhstan continues to market itself, you going to start to see more people coming and doing business there,” noted Richard Griffiths, Advisor to the State of Qatar.
“But what I’m very happy to see is that there is actually reforms for investors to come in and, you know, in YPO we believe in business as a force of good. And we are very open and looking to see what will happen in Kazakhstan and bring more business into Kazakhstan,” said Anastasios Economou, YPO Global Chairman.
In 2021, the Kazakh economy attracted about US$24 billion. This figure exceeded the pre-pandemic ones. The 2022 crisis is expected to hit much harder than the global pandemic, but it also has the potential to open up new opportunities for development. Kazakhstan has every chance to become a regional hub for attracting international capital.
Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova
Editing by Galiya Khassenkhanova
