Investment in Astana reached $2.4bn in 2016
"Favorable location in the center of the Eurasian continent has transformed Astana into a convenient transport and logistics center, the transit bridge between Europe and Asia. This made it possible to turn the city into one of the major business centers of Kazakhstan, where the culture of entrepreneurship is rapidly developing. Since it gained the capital status, the investment amount has increased by 30 times, whereas the regional gross product has grown by 60 times. The share of Astana in the country's economy exceeds 10 percent and has reached KZT4.5 trillion," Akhmetov says.
According to him, last year the volume of investment in Astana was KZT 780bn. In 1997-2016, the investment in the capital's fixed assets equaled KZT 7.4tn.
The deputy recalled that during a meeting on Astana development in 2013 the Head of State set a mission to consider the possibility that Astana would have joined the world's top 50 smart cities by 2017. In this regard, the following priority areas of work are underway: support for start-ups and creation of business incubators; implementation of 16 innovative projects within the framework of the technological business incubation project; implementation of the innovative smart program in the capital.
Mr. Akhmetov also noted that, owing to Expo 2017 Internatinal Specialized Exhibition in Astana, Kazakhstan had the opportunity to attract new technologies that would contribute to the green economy development.