The management of the Atameken NCE RK met with the heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Kazakhstan.

The meeting is held annually and the interest to it is always high. This year was attended by the heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Agency for Counteraction of Corruption, State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan.

During the meeting, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Atameken NCE RK noted the work to address systemic issues of business, liberalization, and humanization of legislation, reducing control and oversight functions, permits (licenses) jointly with the Government, the deputy corps and law enforcement agencies.

First Deputy Chairman of the Anticorruption Service Olzhas Bektenov reported on the activities of the Agency:

"We work in three areas: anti-corruption education, prevention, and criminal law measures. A law was signed that establishes the personal responsibility of managers for the corruption crimes of their subordinates. The institution of anti-corruption expertise of legal acts has been restored. Anticorruption support has already been provided to over 400 business projects, one-third of which are with foreign participation".

Timur Kulibayev emphasized the importance of eradicating corruption and establishing a legal framework in Kazakhstan based on international principles and standards.

"We want to use the experience of advanced OECD countries, Eastern Europe, the Baltic States, and Georgia. Therefore, I ask you to help us study positive experience to adopt and implement it in Kazakhstan," he said.

The heads of diplomatic missions of Latvia - Yuriy Pogrebnyaks, Georgia - Zurab Abashidze expressed readiness to provide support, noting that this "...requires the will of the state and government. Kazakhstan has it all". The representative of the European Union also supported his colleagues.

"The proposals that have been voiced here on taxation, eradication of corruption, the rule of law are very important issues, we are working on them intensively. I want to confirm the readiness of the EU to share its experience in this matter, especially since the Agreement on Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation of the European Union with the Republic of Kazakhstan will come into force in March," Sven-Olov Karlsson, EU Ambassador, said.

Representatives of the diplomatic missions noted the practice of pre-trial settlement of tax and customs disputes in Kazakhstan, which helps save time and money of entrepreneurs. There are specific positive examples: dozens of problems of the domestic and foreign companies and entrepreneurs in Kazakhstan have been solved. In particular, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Kazakhstan Tatsuhiko Kasai said that according to Japanese companies, the level of pressure on business in Kazakhstan is significantly reduced. At the same time, he expressed the fears of Japanese businessmen to reduce the quota for hiring foreign workers by 40%.

Timur Kulibayev, answering that question, cited Tengizchevroil as an example of a successful Nationalisation Programme.

"Companies should, first of all, hire local personnel. If there are no local specialists of necessary qualification in the labor market, companies should train and retrain their personnel, systematically approach this issue in accordance with contractual obligations. For example, in Tengizchevroil, the growth of Kazakhstani personnel at all levels is evident. Our specialists have grown professionally over the years, and have undergone internships abroad at various TCO fields. They now hold managerial, executive and key engineering positions, replacing foreign workers. As of today, six of the first nine TCO managers are citizens of Kazakhstan. I believe this is a very good experience that should be disseminated widely. I think that in a few years, the company will be headed by our specialist. The nationalisation of personnel is a state policy; Atameken fully supports this course; we will work together on this," Timur Kulibayev said.

The participants of the meeting also discussed the process of reforming tax legislation and creating tax appeals commissions. Businesses and foreign investors have a question about the return of the value-added tax.

Marat Sultangaziyev, Chairman of the State Revenue Committee, commented:

"The amount of VAT refund from the budget is calculated at the expense of the risk management system. If VAT was not paid at some stage of the supplier chain, the amount is not refundable. For large taxpayers who are on the monitoring, there is a simplified procedure, when without verification we return 70% of the amount to the refund. To support producers-exporters that are not part of large enterprises, on behalf of the President, a norm of refund of 50% of the amount of VAT without verification and another 50% after verification has been developed. The norm is at the approval stage".

In conclusion, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Atameken NCE RK thanked the participants of the meeting for a constructive dialogue that promotes mutually beneficial economic partnership.