Microfinancing is aimed at revitalization of the activity of budding businessmen in the villages. On 13^th of July, the Agreement on cooperation between the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Atameken" and JSC "Fund for Financial Support of Agriculture" was signed within the framework of the project "Bastau Business" the second direction of the Program for the Development of Productive Employment and Mass Entrepreneurship during 2017-2021.

The agreement signed by the Deputy Chairman of the Board of NCE RK "Atameken" Eldar Zhumagaziev and the Chairman of the Board of JSC "Fund for Financial Support for Agriculture" Zhandar Omarov under the auspices of the five-year Program is aimed at creating favorable conditions for crediting the participants of the Program - self-employed and unemployed from 80 regions of Kazakhstan.

"Atameken" within the framework of the Program undertook an ambitious task - to launch 3000 business projects. At least one in five participants based on the results of practical training (their participants only 15 thousand) must open or expand their business project. The interest in business among the villagers is very high, about 80 percent of all participants of the training at the time of the start of the monthly course had a business idea. We have a specific mechanism for interaction at both the central and regional levels with the Fund for Financial Support of Agriculture. At the same time, the activity and involvement of the branches of JSC "FFSA" are different", - Baurzhan Orazgaliyev, director of the Business Communications Development Department in the state language of the National Chamber has stated.

Financing has provided for people to run effectively a business and expand number of workplaces.

NCE has established close cooperation with the "Fund for Financial Support of Agriculture". Atameken informs them about the graduates, in turn, the fund will report on the progress of financing.

The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the financial operator of the program. It finances these projects through JSC "NUKH" KazAgro". It has two subsidiaries - JSC "Agrarian Credit Corporation" and JSC "Fund for Financial Support of Agriculture".

Out of 27 billion tenge, which are aimed at financing business projects, 16 billion KZT will be allocated through the JSC "Fund for Financial Support of Agriculture", and 11 billion tenge through JSC the “Agrarian Credit Corporation”.

Major part, 60% are financed through the JSC "Fund for Financial Support of Agriculture". Their branch network is very convenient for the project participants to obtain microcredits. The maximum amount of microcredit is 18 billion tenge for 6 years with a unique interest rate of 6% per annum.

It is worth noting that for the first time in Kazakhstan a program has been developed that provides integrated support to rural entrepreneurship through both training and funding. Offices of financial support, training organizations are located in regional centers and big cities, people from remote villages were not covered. This year, for the first time, money was allocated for concessional lending with a focus on the rural area.

Within the framework of the Bastau Business project, cooperation between Atameken and the Fund is being systematized. Cooperation will be carried out in the following areas:

• provision of conditions for effective lending, removal of possible barriers in lending for Bastau Business participants, formation of a Register of problems in lending;
• joint monitoring in accordance with the established procedure and development of recommendations for improving the crediting of participants of the Bastau Business project;
• exchange of information of mutual interest in the established manner, the transfer of which does not contradict the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
• joining forces to ensure maximum transparency of all stages of the Bastau Business project (training, lending and support).

"Under the Program for the Development of Productive Employment and Mass Entrepreneurship, microcrediting for a total of 16 billion KZT is planned this year through the Fund for Financial Support of Agriculture. The priority direction of financing is the development of meat and dairy cattle breeding. Currently, within the framework of cooperation the Fund for Financial Support of Agriculture received 374 applications for financing for the amount of 1.2 bilion KZT. They were submitted by potential borrowers who passed training courses within Bastau Business project. Of these, 153 applications for 500 million KZT have been credited", - said Gerard Baal, director of the lending department of JSC Fund for Financial Support for Agriculture.

Both sides noted the importance of working together to increase the availability of preferential credit resources to unemployed and self-employed rural residents.

Representatives of the Fund, in addition to lending, spend a lot of work on advisory support of projects and their subsequent monitoring. Atameken hopes for enhanced cooperation aimed at specific support of business initiatives in the village on the basis of the signed agreement.