Turkey is interested in the development of joint business in the South-Kazakhstan region

This was stated by the high Turkish officials and businessmen in Shymkent at the Kazakh-Turkish business forum. The result of the first day - the signing of a memorandum of cooperation on business development between entrepreneurs of SKR and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Turkish province of Sakarya.

 The delegation of visitors from 200 businessmen is led by Deputy Secretary General of the Turkic Council Ömer Kocaman and adviser to the Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Turkey Tarık Sonmez.

 The forum was attended by representatives of government agencies, business leaders, chambers of commerce, associations, investment companies, development institutions, experts of the two countries and the domestic and international media.

The main objective of the investment forum - introduce Turkish investors to the economy of the region, investment climate, to present public programs associated with attraction of investments, the strengthening of trade and economic relations between the business circles of the two countries. Meetings in the B2B format are scheduled.

On the first day of the event, which was held in the hotel “RixosKhadishaShymkent”, the region's leadership has expressed gratitude to the Turkish investors, stressing that this forum will enable to implement the tasks set by the President in his Address. Turkey today – is one of the closest and reliable partners of Kazakhstan, according to economic indicators included in the 20 developed countries of the world. This republic has rich experience in the development and promotion of industrial zones. In recent years, the country leads in industries, such as pharmaceuticals, medicine, agro-processing, construction. It offers it own rate of development to Kazakhstan, including the South-Kazakhstan region.

Today in South Kazakhstan there are 30 Turkish firms and companies. This demonstrates the high level of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. In addition, in the past three years, the Turkish partners in SKR implemented 4 projects worth 33.7 million US dollars. In addition, currently 18 projects worth 2.7 billion tenge are being carried out, six of which - with the participation of Turkish investors. 5 of them were put into operation with the involvement of 27 million US dollars. Accordingly, about 400 new jobs were opened. The Kazakh - Turkish industrial zone began to develop, where 8 projects worth more than 13.4 billion tenge will be implemented, of them 1 project will be implemented in 2017, 4 projects in 2018, 3 - in 2019.

In turn, the investment potential of the region was presented to the guests, whose economy is diversified. SKR is not dependent on the sale of raw materials, more than 60% - is the manufacturing industry.

"Now all directions become technological. And this happens in many ways. Technology is embedded very deeply in all areas of the world. This also applies to industry and agriculture, and security and cyber security, and everything else. Those who understand it and can use it as a competitive advantage. And this is one of the main directions of our cooperation ", - was noted at the meeting.

Director of the Chamber of entrepreneurs Askar Abubakirov presented to Turkish guest the map for regional development, which is, in fact, a guide (navigator) for investors, which will greatly facilitate the conduct of business in the future in our region. Any domestic or foreign entrepreneur who has expressed intention to invest in the economy of Kazakhstan will receive a comprehensive visual information on a particular region.

"It is important for entrepreneurs to know where it is expedient to invest and what direction to develop in a particular region, the main indicators of the region, revealing its potential, infrastructure, human capital, access to financing, marketing and other markets. All this information is in the map", - said the director of the Chamber.

In general, within the framework of the Kazakh-Turkish forum, which runs from 1 to 3 February, in addition to a conference on "Investment potential of the South-Kazakhstan region", it is planned to hold the exhibition of investment projects, manufacturers, tourism projects and development institutions, information on tourist routes of SKR.

In particular, on 2^nd of February at the Exhibition Center "Korme", entrepreneurs are invited to take part in the exhibition with the participation of about 80 domestic manufacturers, development institutions, at which will be presented investment projects. Meetings in the B2B format will be held in the field of tourism. On 3^rd of February the Turkish delegation will visit historical sites along the route "Shymkent-Otyrar-Turkestan".