Kazakhstan, one of the largest countries in the world blessed with natural resources and now tech innovative investments. Kazakhstan has enormous national wealth, about 85% of which falls on the natural resource potential. This country with oddly beautiful people is among the top 15 countries in the world when it comes to essential oil reserves, having 3% of the world’s total oil reserves. 62% of the country is occupied by oil and gas areas, and there are 172 oil fields. According to the forecasts of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, oil and condensate production in 2017 will be 81 million tons and will gradually grow to 88 million of tons in 2020.
So now you know that this country is undoubtedly rich in oil and gas reserves but what about investments?
Let’s look at it from a perspective of potential foreign investors that can take advantage of the overwhelming amount of natural resources as well as progressing IT startup development, there are advantages and attractive incentives in bringing foreign investments to Kazakhstan.
These are:
- Liberal Government Policy
- Free currency exchange
- WTO Membership
- Low import duty – less than 10%
- Free repatriation in foreign currency for profit, dividend, other forms of income
- Private ownership of land
- Protection of property rights
- Equal treatment policy for foreign investors
- Protection from expropriation
- Offshore zone with AIFC (Astana International Financial Center
Kazakhstan’s government is investing large amount of funds for innovative and IT development, it has created organizations like Tech Garden KZ, Astana Hub and many more to help local startups scale and disrupt the market. For instance, Tech Garden invested $20,000 in 50 startups this year and there are more than 70 startups created every year.
Private Incubators
Nfanctional Business Incubator (www.n17r.com), Most ( www.most.com.kz), Techgarden (www.techgarden.kz), Astana Hub (www.astanahub.kz),Impact Hub (www.impachub.kz), Smart.Point. These incubators are actively investing their resources into startups focused on green energy, logistics, supply chain and fintech.
Investment Funds
Loyal Capital Group, GreenApple, Verny Capital, Venture Fund Areket, 12BF Global Ventures, Startup Network KZ, Almaty Venture Club, Investment Group Innova, Asabel Partners, Investment Financial House RESMI and more.
These options above are suitable for local and foreign startups for the return of equity, shares and dividends.
One of the directions that Kazakhstan business gravitating towards is logistic solutions and supply chain management, there are already more than 10 logistic startups byDar Labgroup that is focused on perfecting the logistic process and enabling easy and fast cross borders between Central Asian countries, Russia and Belorussia.
Due to Kazakhstan`s strategic location, logistic market is accelerating in a rocket speed with Uzbekistan being the second-best strategic location.
According to National Bank KZ research, in November 2018, the total amount investments in fixed capital of Kazakhstan in compared with November 2017 increased by 18.3%. In terms of industries, high investment activity is noted in the industrial sector, including in the extraction of crude oil (in total investments – 35.9%), also in operations with real estate (13%) and services transport and storage (12.4%). The numbers will grow even higher in the next upcoming years.
If you are interested in investing or expanding in Kazakhstan, you may contact me.
About the Author
Numi Musalieva, is an author at The Asian Entrepreneur and the Co-Founder of Atom People Consulting. She previously worked for venture capital and big data companies and currently mentors startups at the largest accelerator program TechGarden KZ in Central Asia located in Kazakhstan. See more.
