Kazakhstan, US signed commercial agreements worth $7 billion during Nazarbayev's visit
Kazakhstan is in an extremely important region of the world, which has great potential for American business," said Thomas Donohue, president and CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce.
Joint projects involving the US capital will cover various areas of Kazakhstan's economy. So, during the event, commercial documents on investment, trade and economic cooperation, as well as technology transfer in the spheres of aviation and space industry, agriculture, transport and others with the leading American companies were signed: Chevron Overseas, W.R. Grace & Co, GE Transportation Parts, Pfizer, John Deere, Amity Technology, Global Beef Investments, and others.
Also, in accordance with the instructions of the Head of State in the Address "New Opportunities for Development in the Conditions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution," documents were signed aimed at digitizing the country's economy.
Among them is an agreement between the Astana International Financial Center, the Autonomous Cluster Fund "Park of Innovative Technologies" (ACF PIT) and IBM on the creation of an incubator for financial technologies on the basis of the Astana Startup HUB IT Technopark, an agreement between ACP PIT and the Global Venture Alliance on the creation of a digitalization fund for industry, as well as a strategic partnership agreement between GE Digital and Samruk-Kazyna SWF on the implementation of digitalization projects in railway transport, energy, oil refining and other sectors of the economy.
One of the most significant events for the further development of the Kazakh-American trade, economic and investment relations, as well as the rapprochement between the business circles of the two countries, was the signing of documents on the financing of joint investment projects and trade operations for $3 billion with the largest financial institutions in the United States.
So, Chairman of the Board of Kazakh Invest, Saparbek Tuyakbaev, and President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Ray Washburn, signed a memorandum on cooperation in financing projects involving US companies on the part of OPIC; and together with the managing director of the American Oppenheimer Foundation, Peter Albano, Memorandum of Understanding was signed on attracting funds from U.S. financial institutions for financing or investing in infrastructure projects in Kazakhstan.
The market of Kazakhstan is attractive for American investors who express their interest in cooperation in the field of IT and engineering, transport and logistics, agriculture, infrastructure development. In turn, Kazakh Invest as a single negotiator with foreign investors on behalf of the Government will accompany investors on the principle of 'Single window' throughout the entire investment cycle — from an idea to its full implementation, as well as provide post-investment support," said Saparbek Tuyakbaev on the results of the event.
For reference: As part of the execution of the instruction of the Head of State, Kazakh Invest jointly with the World Bank developed the National Investment Strategy for 2018-2022. The work is carried out in three directions: improving the investment climate in Kazakhstan; implementation of effective operational measures and development of new approaches to attract investment; privatization and public-private partnership.
In the National Strategy, priority sectors for attracting foreign investment have been identified (agribusiness, machine building, chemistry and petrochemistry, infrastructure, mining and metals, trade) and 11 priority countries, for which 80% of investments in the world is accounted (the USA, Russia, Great Britain, Germany , France, Italy, China, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, the UAE).
By 2022, it is planned to increase gross inflow of FDI by 1.26 times, to bring the ratio of gross FDI to GDP up to 19%, to increase FDI focused on increasing efficiency — by 1.5 times, the volume of investments into the fixed capital of the non-primary sector of the economy — by 1.46 times, the volume of foreign investment in the fixed capital of the non-primary sector of the economy — by 1.5 times.
Photo: money.gazeta.kz
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Kazakhstan turns to high-value added manufacturing with building polyethylene plant it Atyrau region
Images | primeminister.kz
Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov met with the heads of the world's largest oil and gas chemical companies – President of China Petrochemical Corporation (SINOPEC) Zhao Dong and Chairman of the Board of SIBUR LLC Mikhail Karisalovб primeminister.kz reports.
The key issue is the joint construction of the first integrated gas chemical complex for polyethylene production at a cost of about $7.7 billion and a capacity of 1.25 million tonnes per year, which will account for 1% of the world's total capacity.
A tripartite protocol was signed during the meeting, officially finalising SINOPEC's entry into the project. The ownership structure of the plant is as follows: KazMunayGas 40%, SINOPEC 30%, SIBUR 30%.
Head of the Government emphasised the importance of the project due to its focus on the production of high value-added products.
A gas separation complex (GSC) will be built at the Tengiz field to supply the "Polyethylene" project with feedstock (ethane). The capacity of the GSC is 9.1 billion m3 of dry gas processing per year, of which 1.6 million tonnes of ethane is expected to be produced.
Ethane will be sent through the main pipeline from Tengiz to the Karabatan site (territory of FEZ NINT, Atyrau region), where the polyethylene plant will operate.
It is planned to produce about 22 grades of polyethylene using American licence technologies of Chevron Phillips and Univation, 40% of which will be premium grade. A wide range of applications for both industrial and household purposes makes polyethylene the most popular polymer in the world.
Polyethylene is used in the fields of medicine, prosthetics, defence, food industry, construction, space industry and others. This polymer is used in the production of a wide range of goods: from plastic wear-resistant pipes, construction materials, medicines, syringes, prostheses to bulletproof vests, clothing for astronauts and car parts. Target markets include Kazakhstan, CIS countries, China, Turkey and European countries. At the same time, for domestic consumption, the realisation price will be lower than the import price.
The Head of State has identified deep processing of hydrocarbons as one of the key areas of development of the oil and gas sector. The priority for our economy is high conversion production producing products with a rapid increase in added value in the technological chain with an export orientation. The added value between the initial feedstock ethane and the third conversion product polyethylene increases 20 times, from $80-90 to $1600-1800 per tonne. The Polyethylene project will certainly give a serious impetus to the development of both the manufacturing industry and the country's economy as a whole. According to experts' calculations, the contribution to the country's GDP by 2030 from the implementation of the project is estimated at approximately 1.2%," Olzhas Bektenov said.
The construction of the plant is planned to be completed by 2029. During the construction period more than 8 thousand jobs will be created, during the operation period about 850 jobs will be created.
It was noted that the project is realised with the support of the Government. The plant will be built on the territory of a special economic zone with the provision of appropriate infrastructure and special tax regime. In this regard, Prime Minister emphasised the attention of the project participants to the need to maximise the use of local potential.
We on the part of the state provide comprehensive support in the implementation of projects important for the country's economy. At the same time, we expect you to increase the share of local content. For this purpose, it is necessary to determine the list of goods and equipment that will be mandatorily purchased from domestic producers. Special attention should be paid to training of Kazakhstani specialists and transfer of competences. It is important for us to maximise the attraction of local personnel, including for management positions in the project. We count on a similar approach in the implementation of other joint projects," Prime Minister emphasised.
Thus, in addition to the plant "Polyethylene" it is planned to build a gas separation complex and a trunk pipeline.
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Olzhas Bektenov and Head of the Sakha Republic Aysen Nikolayev discuss issues of trade and economic cooperation
Images | primeminister.kz
Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov met with the Head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Aysen Nikolayev, who arrived on a visit to Astana to participate in the opening ceremony of the Days of the Republic of Sakha in Kazakhstan, primeminister.kz reports.
The Republic of Sakha contributes to the development of Kazakhstan-Russia trade relations. The implementation of agreements reached at the level of the presidents of Kazakhstan and Russia on further expansion of bilateral trade and economic cooperation was reviewed.
Over the year, trade turnover between the regions of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Sakha has grown almost 2-fold, exceeding $160 million, with over 99% of exports of Kazakhstani goods. During the discussion a wide potential of mutual trade was noted and the parties' readiness to increase turnover in agricultural, industrial and IT spheres was outlined.
The parties confirmed their intention to intensify joint work on expanding the range of supplied goods and services, establishing direct contacts between business circles. It is expected that a new impetus to trade and economic relations will also be given by the launch of five major cross-border trade centres in Kazakhstan, including the Eurasia Cross-Border Trade Centre on the border with Russia.
Special attention was paid to the exchange of experience and technologies in the field of creative industries and digitalisation, as well as interaction between research institutes and educational institutions of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Sakha.
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