Dubai Chamber briefing highlights Kazakhstan’s investment potential

As part of its efforts to explore investment opportunities in promising markets, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with Kazakhstan’s National Agency for Export and Investment (KAZNEX INVEST) and the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the UAE, hosted the Kazakhstan Export Briefing today in Dubai.

The event was attended by H.E. Kairat Lama Sharif, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the UAE, H.E. Sergey Karplyuk, Deputy Mayor of Kazakhstan’s Kostanay Region, and H.E. Askar Arynov, Managing Director, KAZNEX INVEST, who joined the visiting delegation which included top executives from 20 leading Kazakh businesses from a variety of sectors.

Welcoming the delegation, Mr. Atiq Juma Nasib, Senior Vice President of Commercial Services at Dubai Chamber, explained that Kazakhstan is an important trading partner for Dubai, pointing out that bilateral non-oil trade has grown substantially in recent years to reach nearly $188 million in 2015. He explained that this volume accounted for more than half of all trade between the UAE and the Central Asian country.

“We see potential for increased cooperation between Dubai and Kazakhstan in several sectors, including infrastructure and logistics, tourism, real estate, construction, food and agriculture processing. We look forward to exploring some of those new and exciting opportunities,” Mr. Nasib said.

He spoke about Dubai’s position as a gateway for doing business with other GCC countries and key markets across Africa, Asia and other regions. With a vibrant investment environment, modern infrastructural and logistics facilities and access to over 2 billion consumers in the region, the emirate serves as a unique hub which Kazakh companies can benefit from, he added.

In his keynote speech, H.E. Kairat Lama Sharif, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the UAE, stressed his country’s commitment to boosting bilateral trade through continued dialogue.

“We are ready to establish new ties between our two countries and build on a trade relationship that began 25 years ago. We hope these negotiations will lay the foundation for closer relations and collaboration,” said H.E. Sharif.

Giving his special remarks, H.E. Sergey Karplyuk Deputy Mayor of Kazakhstan’s Kostanay Region, highlighted key sectors offering the most potential to foreign investors and UAE businesses, including agriculture, agribusiness and food industries, as they remain the biggest contributors to Kazakhstan’s economy.

“Kazakhstan and the Kostanay region offer many areas for mutual cooperation with UAE companies. Our economy is diversified in agriculture and industry and we are looking for ways to further develop these sectors. This event is a very important step in exploring some of those opportunities with UAE businesses,” H.E. Karplyuk said.

For his part, H.E. Askar Arynov, Managing Director of KAZNEX INVEST, shared his insights on the current investment climate in Kazakhstan and explained some of the special benefits and incentives that are available to foreign companies that operate within the country’s free zones.

“UAE companies that do business within Kazakhstan’s chemical, petrochemical, food industries and other priority sectors can benefit from a 0% corporate tax rate in free zones and other special incentives provided by our government. Foreign investors can also get up to 30% reimbursement from the government on key projects,” H.E. Arynov said.

H.E. Arynov explained that Kazakhstan’s relations with the UAE remain strong, supported by a legal environment conducive to trade and business, adding that he hopes to see more Kazakh products exported to Dubai in the future.

Following the seminar, a number of business-to-business meetings were held between Kazakh businesses and their UAE counterparts operating in the fields of mechanical engineering, construction, pharmaceuticals, food industries, and chemicals. Negotiations between Kazakh business executives and representatives from UAE wholesale purchasing and distribution companies also focused on the supply of Kazakh products and import procedures.

Located in the heart of Eurasia, Kazakhstan enjoys strong trade relations with countries in many regions including Russia, China and European countries. Kazakhstan has become increasingly integrated into the regional and global economy, while it has also laid out plans to diversify its economy away from oil. The country recently placed 35th globally on the World Bank’s Doing Business 2017 rankings, significantly improving its ranking from 51st in the previous year.

Editor’s note

Established in 1965, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry is a non-profit public entity, whose mission is to represent, support and protect the interests of the business community in Dubai by creating a favourable business environment, supporting the development of business, and by promoting Dubai as an international business hub.