Photo: Aibek Skakov / Pexels
Kazakhstan plans to merge the national company Kazakh Invest with the Baiterek holding. The holding will handle projects inside the country and invest alongside foreign partners, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said (lsm.kz).
What happened
The merger is part of an overhaul of how the country attracts investment. Right now the Ministry of National Economy is in charge of investment policy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs brings in foreign companies and works on projects they take part in.
Kazakh Invest has had a limit: it supported investors and helped launch projects, but it couldn’t put money into them alongside partners. That job is planned for Baiterek.
What it means
The plan reshuffles the tasks. Baiterek is expected to take over work on domestic projects and co-financing. The Foreign Ministry will keep looking for potential investors, negotiating with them and bringing them to Kazakhstan.
Signing contracts with foreign companies will also stay with the Foreign Ministry. Here’s the key detail: the ministry keeps negotiating with investors, while joint investment is planned to go to Baiterek.
Kazakhstan also expects to get technology, know-how (practical expertise) and management experience from foreign partners. The Foreign Ministry said it plans to direct more than $14 billion from the National Fund to projects in various industries.
