Karlygash Aralbekova: "Zhambyl region is attractive for investors"

We are interesting due to the large reserves of mineral resources, said the director of the regional Chamber of Entrepreneurs

Director of the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Zhambyl region Karlygash Aralbekova participated in the international round table "The docking of the Economic Belt of the Silk Road and the Nurly Zhol: its current state and development potential", organized by the Almaty Institute of World Economics and Politics (IMAP) at the Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Leader of the Nation together with the Consulate General of China in Almaty. The event was dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and China. We asked her to share his opinion about the last event and answer relevant questions about investments, co-operation with China and other.

- Karlygash Amirovna, for a start, please tell us about the last international round table: what was it devoted to, who participated in it and what important topics were discussed?

- Probably, the main aim of the round table was not so much the conclusion of any agreements and memorandums as exchange of views and discussion of topical issues of the Kazakh-Chinese relations in the cultural, educational, economic fields, as well as security. Representatives of expert, cultural, educational and business communities of Kazakhstan and China, in addition to me, representing the Zhambyl region, were the guests of the South Kazakhstan, Almaty and East Kazakhstan regions. We discussed the possibility of mutually beneficial economic cooperation of Kazakhstan and Chinese companies, attracting Chinese investment in small and medium business in the regions of Kazakhstan, problems and solutions. In the end, the participants agreed that the pairing of the two infrastructure projects - the Economic Belt of the Silk Road and the Nurly Zhol, may become a new impetus to the constructive cooperation of Kazakhstan and China. In anticipation of the EXPO-2017, the holding of which in Kazakhstan was supported by China,  as well as considering the fact that the ancient city of Central Asia - Taraz city - is located on the Great Silk Road and is a sister city with the city Chandzi - of course, meeting with General Chinese consul in Almaty - Mr. Zhang Wei was important. I had the opportunity to talk about the investment potential of Zhambyl region, the projects of regional development maps, share contacts with a very right people at the embassy. I am sure that our cooperation will bring positive results for the Zhambyl region and entrepreneurs.

- How would you describe the state of our economic cooperation with China?

- Today Kazakhstan in the Eurasian region is the second largest partner of China, as well as the main country of direct investment. Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the People's Republic of China were established in January 1992. At that time, the parties have designated the pursuit of building good-neighbourly relations based on mutual respect, territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs. This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of co-operation, and therefore 2017 is declared the year of China in Kazakhstan. China is one of the largest foreign trade partners of Kazakhstan. Our countries cooperate in areas such as energy, mining, ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, chemical industry, production of fertilizers.

- Is our region attractive to the Chinese side?

- Of course! We are interesting due to the large reserves of mineral resources. This interest is reinforced by the fact that the region is well developed these types of industry, such as mining, chemical, food, metallurgical, gas processing. Production of building materials is picking up speed, there is also the potential for the development of tourism industry in the region. According to the rating of "Business Climate - 2016" Zhambyl region is on the ninth place among the regions, and to attract investments for the year 2016, according to the Investment Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Development of the RK, we went into the top five and are on fourth place. So, for the first nine months of 2016 the volume of investments in fixed assets amounted to 153.5 billion tenge. Because of the conditions for foreign investors, the volume of foreign investments increases. In the first nine months of 2016 the share of foreign investments in fixed assets amounted to 37%, which is 128.8% compared to the same period of 2015. In general, we are working on the issues of realization of 14 investment projects. The total project cost is about 5.1 billion US dollars, including projects involving China: draft “MingYangGroup” for the construction of a wind power plant, valued at 135 million USD;.. project “KCRF finans international B.V.” to build a plant for the production of dry building mixes, valued at  17 million USD..; project “Tenir Logistik” for the construction of mining and processing plant, worth 300 million USD.

- How the Chamber of entrepreneurs works on attraction of investment?

- Outsourcing of foreign investment is one of the areas of our work, given the low level of possible domestic funding through banks of the second level and the internal capacity of the private investment projects in our small region. Therefore, we are always looking for external contacts with different countries of the world. With the assistance of the Chamber of entrepreneurs, investors have already visited many countries in the region, and some expressed their willingness to cooperate, for example, investors from Saudi Arabia, are considering the possibility of purchasing large batches of sheep from farms in the region, we are working with them on this issue.

Today the Chamber included in the map of regional development 10 projects worth 12.4 billion tenge in the tourism sector - four projects worth 2.1 billion tenge, in the sphere of agro-industrial complex - four projects worth 9.2 billion tenge, in the provision of services - the construction of roadside service - two projects totaling 1.1 billion tenge. We are working on finding potential investors, including the attraction of investments through financial institutions and funds. It should be noted that one of the projects - the construction of recreational areas in Merke district, is already being implemented: the first tranche of 20 million tenge has already been used.