Image by Faik Nagiyev from Pixabay
Astana: Kazakhstan has introduced a new mechanism, an investment agreement that can be directly concluded with the government. It provides a wide range of incentives and stability of legislation for a period of 25 years.
The government is constantly working to improve the domestic investment climate to align with the best international standards, a commitment confirmed by various international rankings.
The country has established an appropriate legislative base and has signed 49 bilateral and multilateral investment treaties to guarantee investors’ rights.
Kazakhstan has developed multiple platforms for effective communication and resolution of arising issues. For example, the Foreign Investors’ Council, chaired by the President, focuses on strategic investor issues, while the Council on Improvement of the Investment Climate and the Investment Council under the Prime Minister address systematic and current investor concerns.
Since 1993, Kazakhstan has attracted a total of $441bn in foreign direct investments (FDI). The top 10 investors since 2005 are the Netherlands, the USA, Switzerland, China, Russia, France, the UK, Belgium, the Republic of Korea, and Japan.
Besides, the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) plays a crucial role in establishing Kazakhstan as a regional business hub. In 2024, more than 3,000 companies from 82 countries registered at the AIFC.
Since 2018, more than $12bn of investments has been raised through the AIFC platform.
The AIFC Court and the International Arbitration Centre provide a common law court system for the resolution of civil and commercial disputes.
The government of Kazakhstan provides comprehensive support for investment projects, which includes fiscal incentives such as various subsidies, exemption from Corporate Income Tax, VAT, Land Tax, and Property Tax as well as non-fiscal incentives such as free plot of land and infrastructure.
Kazakhstan has been ranked 35th among 67 nations in the 2024 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, climbing eight positions from 2022. This ranking evaluates factors such as economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.
The country took sixth place in terms of the dynamics of attracting foreign direct investment in the FDI Intelligence ranking of the best markets for investment in the emerging markets in 2024.
Kazakhstan’s economy is the largest in Central Asia and larger than those of all the other states in the region combined. This is largely due to the country’s vast natural resources, including an abundance of natural minerals, hydrocarbons and rare earth metals, and vast foreign investment in these industries.
Kazakhstan ranks 18th in gold reserves globally. In 2023, the country produced 132.8 tonnes of unprocessed and semi-processed precious metals, a 2.3% increase from the previous year, while the gold refining remained stable at73 tonnes.
The production of all types of ores, except for iron and lead-zinc ores, showed an increase. Notably, manganese ore production reached 907,900 tonnes, a 2.6-fold increase; aluminium ores production hit 4.6 million tonnes, an increase of over 9.2% and chrome ores production recorded 6.1 million tonnes, an increase of over 6.8%.
The country is rich in various solid minerals, including iron, copper, uranium, zinc, molybdenum, tungsten, manganese, gold, and aluminium. Kazakhstan holds significant shares of the world’s reserves in tungsten (63%), chromium (48%), uranium (14%), silver (6%), and copper (over 4%).
Kazakhstan is the world’s largest producer and exporter of natural uranium, accounting for over 45% of global production and exports. It has 15 rare earth metal deposits across three regions: Turkestan, Mangistau and Kostanai.
