New Delhi [India], May 31 (ANI): Kazakhstan is among the most attention-grabbing international locations within the post-Soviet house by way of geopolitics and financial attractiveness.
While persevering with to be a element of the “arc of instability”, Kazakhstan, however, has been attracting elevated consideration from companies and traders in developed international locations since final 12 months. On the one hand, they’re tempted by the chance, de jure observing sanctions in opposition to the Russian Federation, to de facto proceed doing enterprise within the massive Eurasian market, on the opposite – Kazakhstan right this moment is essentially the most economically worthwhile nation within the post-Soviet house. And this is why.
The trade of mutual sanctions between Russia and quite a lot of Western international locations has led to logistical failures which can be very painful for the whole Eurasian area. And by all technique of transport and right here the hall, which till not too long ago was perceived by Europe as a sort of backup, however not a really engaging manner, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, was very helpful. European companies started to actively discuss the necessity to activate this path in the summertime of 2021. And already in 2022, the expansion of transportation by TMM elevated 2.5 occasions, amounting to 1.5 million tons. At the identical time, the majority fell on transit between Europe and China, in addition to export-import provides from the international locations of the area and the EU.
The geopolitical location within the “centre of Eurasia” concurrently turned Kazakhstan into a rustic “with which it is profitable to be friends.” Firstly, logistics by way of the Caucasus is protected each from the political facet (there aren’t any dangers of products falling below the sanctions of the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus) and from the financial facet.
Through the territory of Kazakhstan, the international locations acquire entry to the regional market of greater than 500 million shoppers, together with the EAEU market with greater than 180 million shoppers, the markets of Central Asia (50 million), Western China (300 million) and the Caspian Sea international locations (150 million).
And on the similar time, logistics providers in Kazakhstan are at a really excessive degree – the nation has been working for a few years to rework itself into a contemporary transit hub within the coronary heart of the Eurasian continent.
In addition, greater than 3,000 km of the ten,000 km of Beijing’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative passes by way of the territory of Kazakhstan, which makes it an essential part of the principle West-East land hall.
In addition, the activation of the North-South hall by way of the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran in 2022 supplies fast entry to the japanese areas of India. Which can’t however look engaging for European enterprise. In truth, it is a new transit route for the supply of products from the EU to India (a lot sooner than the ocean route).
At the identical time, Kazakhstan performs a key position in enterprise relocation, together with manufacturing amenities.
During 2022, greater than 60 firms moved their places of work to Kazakhstan from Russia and Belarus, together with the American producer of management methods Honeywell, the worldwide service within the driver, the Australian mining firm Fortescue and the Japanese buying and selling firm Marubeni, TikTok, Knauff, and so forth.
Among the manufacturing amenities in Kazakhstan, for instance, the manufacturing of professional quality bikes was transferred to the Ural Motorcycles plant (Russia/USA) and the manufacturing centre for the meeting and restoration of pumping tools, hydro cyclones, shut-off valves of Weir Minerals (Great Britain), the PKV Group of Companies (Lithuania) transferred the manufacturing of liquid crystal televisions from Russia to Kazakhstan, Koppert (Netherlands) is relocating the manufacturing of biofertilizers and plant safety merchandise to Kazakhstan.
The Kazakh authorities are negotiating with greater than 300 firms which have left or are planning to go away the territories of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.
However, we’re speaking not solely concerning the relocation of firms but in addition about overseas direct investments of quite a lot of international locations in new initiatives in Kazakhstan.
In simply 9 months of 2022, the quantity of overseas direct funding exceeded USD 22.1 billion, which is eighteen% greater than a 12 months earlier. During the 12 months, 46 new initiatives with overseas participation had been launched in mechanical engineering, renewable vitality, metallurgy and agriculture. At the identical time, the principle investor international locations had been the United States, European international locations (primarily the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Great Britain), in addition to South Korea, Turkey and China. That is the principle a part of the international locations which have entered right into a political and sanctions confrontation with Russia.
And that is although the identical United States expressed nice concern within the spring and summer season of final 12 months concerning the chance of Moscow circumventing commerce sanctions by way of the territory of Kazakhstan.
First of all, we’re speaking concerning the so-called “parallel import”. However, each then and in the course of the latest assembly in Astana between Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, the Kazakh facet expressed a agency place that the nation wouldn’t be a device to avoid US and EU sanctions in opposition to Russia.
Kazakhstan has repeatedly assured its buying and selling companions from Western international locations that it’ll strictly management sanctioned items and investments from an individual or group below sanctions. At the identical time, Astana doesn’t intend to retreat from commerce relations with Russia and Belarus. The same place was expressed by Tokayev at conferences each in European capitals throughout state visits to quite a lot of EU international locations and in Moscow.
The indisputable fact that Kazakhstan adheres to the chosen technique clearly demonstrates Washington’s “financial” confidence: 86% of all US commerce with the Central Asian area final 12 months got here from Kazakhstan. Only within the third quarter of final 12 months, the quantity of direct investments from the United States exceeded USD 5 billion, virtually 40% greater than within the first 9 months of 2021.
Confidence in Kazakhstan as a dependable and risk-free accomplice can be evidenced by the actual fact of elevated curiosity in rising funding and commerce turnover with Kazakhstan from quite a lot of different international locations. For instance, the United Arab Emirates has introduced its intention to extend its investments within the nation’s economic system by greater than 5.5 billion US {dollars} in the course of the present 12 months, although the whole quantity of investments in Kazakhstan by the UAE over the previous 30 years doesn’t exceed 1 billion {dollars}.
However, Kazakhstan’s cheap coverage of balancing between political partnership and financial cooperation not solely efficiently harmonizes with the nation’s geopolitical attractiveness and potential entry by way of its territory to the huge markets of the EAEU and Central Asia, however can be stimulated by very engaging enterprise circumstances.
Investors are supplied with a full vary of assist providers in accordance with the “one window” precept — from the seek for an concept to the commissioning of a undertaking, and monitoring can be carried out within the post-investment interval, which lets you work with every investor and undertaking point-by-point, in any respect ranges.
Such a mechanism lets you broadcast initiatives from the areas on to overseas establishments to seek for potential traders and vice versa.
At the identical time, a snug “soft infrastructure” has been constructed for traders: from work on explaining Kazakhstan’s laws and procedures for interplay with authorities companies to transparency in decision-making and decreasing the executive burden.
The state ensures traders the steadiness of the concluded contracts, supplies tender circumstances for the visa regime and the potential for attracting overseas consultants to work. In addition, Kazakhstan has developed and carried out new approaches to investor-state interplay, which embrace the event of funding proposals, investor assist, identification and elimination of opposed components.
In order to extend the effectivity of labor on attracting investments into the nation’s economic system, an info and monitoring CRM system is being launched, which incorporates all agreements, roadmaps being developed for his or her implementation, duties are assigned to all individuals within the course of – central state and native govt our bodies.
Foreign traders are given the chance to operate throughout the framework of English legislation – on the location of the Astana International Financial Center. Companies registering as AIFC individuals obtain not solely a assure of safety of their rights primarily based on case legislation, but in addition mechanically obtain extra preferences: tax advantages as much as 50 years, simplified foreign money, visa and labour regimes. The Center is a monetary hub for firms and traders from Central Asia, the republics of Transcaucasia, the EAEU, the Middle East, Western China, Mongolia and Europe.
In addition to “technical” assist, interplay with traders is performed in different vectors. Kazakhstan’s growth technique till 2050 supplies for the diversification of assorted industries, aiming, amongst different issues, to supply the nation’s funding discipline with high-quality human capital, technological infrastructure and circumstances for the event of science, digital applied sciences and improvements. Relevant requests from companies are shaped on the dialogue platforms of assorted associations and advisory councils. In explicit, throughout the framework of the Council of Foreign Investors chaired by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Council for Improving the Investment Climate below the Prime Minister, created collectively with the American Chamber of Commerce “AmCham”.
Kazakhstan, declaring the inviolability of its multi-vector overseas coverage, rigidly adheres to the logic of financial advantages and adapts very successfully to the present conjuncture, making certain mutually useful relations with any overseas investor. (ANI)