Businesspeople from the Netherlands are ready to invest over 400 million euros in Kazakhstan in the near future. This was announced at the bilateral business forum in Astana. It’s worth noting that the Netherlands is the largest investor in Kazakhstan’s economy. Thus, over the past 17 years, Dutch companies have invested more than US$100 billion in Kazakhstan. While earlier the Dutch business had mainly invested in the energy and oil industries, now it plans to invest in the agricultural sector. It is also focusing on projects in the fields of environmental protection and healthcare. Kazakhstan, in turn, is ready to support them with subsidies.
“Of course, we continue active work between the two countries, and we actively meet with companies. Over the past period, we have met with more than 150 companies, telling them that if there are investments from the Netherlands, there will be preferences from Kazakhstan. And in general, a good business climate has been created here. As a result, we can see that the activity of Dutch companies is quite high,” Askar Zhumagaliyev, Kazakh Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, said.
“We’ve been preparing for this business forum for almost a year here in Kazakhstan. We are setting up an office at this moment in Astana, we are planning to invest about 400 million euros in the next few years. We don`t only invest, we also operate and maintain the treatment plans. So, that means we will be here for a long time, because we want to sign long-term contracts with local governments,” Sander Pielkenrood, CEO of Dutch company, said.
Five agreements on cooperation in various sectors of the economy were signed following the business forum. The participants believe that such events contribute to strengthening trade and investment ties between Kazakhstan and the Netherlands.
