Kazakhstan-Japan Bussines Forum held in Tokyo
The event is organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Japan and discusses the achievements in the field of the two countries' business relations, investment opportunities in Kazakh regions, the country's investment policy and prospects for developing economic relations.
The Kazakh delegation at the forum includes MPs, representatives of the Ministry of Investment and Development, NC Kazakh Invest, regional administrations, as well as Kazakhstani entrepreneurs, and the Japanese side is represented by the country's political and public figures, diplomats, experts, as well as heads of more than 150 large Japanese companies, such as Marubeni Corp, METI, NEC, JOGMEC, Tokyo Rope, NYK Group, JETRO, etc.
In his speech, the head of Kazakh delegation, Deputy Minister of Investment and Development Yerlan Khairov noted that Japan is one of the key strategic partners for Kazakhstan in East Asia, stressing their friendly and trust-based nature.
"There is an intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation, as well as a business council and in 2015 an agreement on promotion and mutual protection of investments entered into force. In Kazakhstan, we have also introduced a visa-free regime for Japanese citizens and created a regulatory and legal framework to connect the Republic of Kazakhstan with the cities of Tokyo and Osaka with direct flights. These measures help to promote business contacts and trade, economic and social ties between our countries. Japan is one of the largest investors in Kazakhstan and over the past 10 years, the inflow of Japanese direct investment amounted to $5.5 billion," he said.
He also added that in total the inflow of foreign investment into the country in this period had amounted to $250 billion due to the purposeful work with regard to improving Kazakhstan's investment climate.
It should be noted that this year Kazakhstan has created the Kazakh Invest national company that provides a full range of services to support investment projects from the initial idea to their implementation in a one-stop shop format and also acts as a single coordination center.
Delivering a presentation on the new approach to attracting foreign investment, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Kazakh Invest Zhandos Nurlanov emphasized that Kazakhstan is interested in cooperation with Japanese companies, attracting investment, and introducing the latest technological achievements into its economy.
Within the framework of the event, members of the Kazakh delegation will hold a number of B2B meetings with companies and organizations such as NH Parking specializing in multi-story parking, one of the largest banks in Japan SMBC, Sojitz trading corporation, Panasonic, Fujifilm, etc.
The Kazakh delegation is also scheduled to visit the facilities of Haneda Pipe Works Co., Mitsubishi Materials, the world's largest telecommunications corporation NEC as well as a number of other companies.
Special attention is paid to the cooperation in the mining and metallurgical complex development. And it is planned to hold a separate forum on this topic, as well as a seminar with the participation of MMC companies in the Japanese National Corporation for Oil, Gas and Metals JOGMEC.
Following the forum, the sides are expected to sign a number of documents on cooperation, including a memorandum of understanding between the Kazakh regional administrations and Tokyo Rope.
It should be noted that from 2005 to early 2016, the gross inflow of Japanese direct investment to Kazakhstan totaled $5.1 billion. And as of October 1, 2016, there were 53 representative offices with Japanese participation in Kazakhstan. In 2015, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $1.4 billion.
