Astana - financial center and the pearl of Eurasia

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ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Today, the capital of Kazakhstan - Astana is a modern city attractive both for tourists and investors and, even more importantly, is comfortable to live in for residents and guests. The city is called the pearl of Eurasia in its own right, Kazinform reports. 

Today, Astana plays a host to events of a global scale. Despite the fact that it is the youngest capital of the world, the city already boasts a rich history. Events, the venue for which Astana has become and will continue to be, can undoubtedly be called historically important not only for our republic, but for the whole world.

One of such events the International Specialized Exhibition EXPO-2017 put Astana and Kazakhstan on the investment maps of many countries.
"The successful holding of the exhibition EXPO-2017 was the result of the synergy of efforts of Astana and all regions of the country. It had a positive multiplicative effect and gave momentum to further development of the country's economy" said President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in one of his speeches.

EXPO-2017 was themed "The Future Energy". The expositions were mainly focused on "green" energy projects and not only projects. Many of the technologies showcased at the exhibition had already been put into practice. For example, windmills which generate wind energy or the layout of an airplane, where lithium-ion batteries are used instead of kerosene. It is believed to be a promising model. The power of the battery is enough only for a one-hour flight, but the plane is already flying.

In general, the exhibition was visited by almost 4 million people.

115 countries and 22 international organizations took part in the exhibition.

The exposition was open for visitors for three months. Firefighters, rescuers and medical brigades from different regions of the country ensured security during the three-month exhibition.

"Astana Expo-2017" was a good campaign, which has created and continues to strengthen the brand of Kazakhstan abroad. Representatives of over 150 countries were here. Attending the exhibition were the top-level government delegations and representatives of business elite. I believe that the great success of EXPO is that Kazakhstan was put on the strategic map of many investment plans and many tourist plans," noted Kairat Kelimbetov, governor of the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC), which was created on the territory of the exhibition.

Heritage of the EXPO event will not remain unused, the main pavilion Nur-Alem will open its doors as a museum of the future energy.

The Astana International Financial Center is headquartered on the territory of the exhibition. It is expected that AIFC will become a financial hub for the countries of Central Asia, the Transcaucasian republics, the EAEU, the countries of the Middle East, the territory of Western China, Mongolia and Europe. In its work AIFC will use state-of-the-art infrastructure and advanced technologies.

It is expected that AIFC will be guided by the principles of English law, with a preferential tax regime and an independent financial court.
"Again, this ecosystem implies that work should be done based on the international principles and the world's best practices. And all these investments that will come to Kazakhstan or to other countries of the region will be protected by international law," Kairat Kelimbetov explained.
He also talked about creating a preferential tax regime.

"For corporate, individual, income taxes, we have privileges. We have studied the experience of other countries in detail. In order to be more competitive than other financial centers, we have studied experience of Dubai, Singapore, Abu Dhabi and found out that, as a rule, tax incentives there are long-term. We will also have them for 50 years," Kairat Kelimbetov concluded.

According to plans, AIFC will work in the following areas: development of the capital market, asset management, private banking for wealthy individuals, Islamic finance, new financial technologies.

International financial institutions have already expressed great interest in AIFC, and a number of them have already become its partners. For example, NASDAQ has become a strategic partner and shareholder of Astana International Exchange (AIX), AIFC exchange.

As a result of tripartite negotiations, NASDAQ along with SSE became a strategic partner and shareholder of the AIX. During the meetings, a number of documents were signed that define the interaction of SSE, NASDAQ with AIFC and AIX within the framework of development of the capital market of Kazakhstan and the region.

It should be noted that SSE is one of the most important financial centers in the region and an influential player in the capital market. As the main shareholder and strategic partner of AIX, SSE will help AIFC in the field of strategic and technological consulting, business planning, product development and market expansion. This cooperation will give momentum for the implementation of The Economic Belt of the Silk Road initiative.

NASDAQ intends to introduce advanced technologies at AIX, consistent with the best international practices, to provide easier access for investors to attractive financial instruments.

This year the capital of Kazakhstan celebrates its 20th anniversary. Over these years, the city has made a lot of significant breakthroughs and has transformed, becoming the pearl of Eurasia.

Addressing the forum "Astana - 20 years of development and innovations", mayor of the city Asset Issekeshev highlighted the growth rates of the country's main city. According to him, 1.6 trillion tenge has been invested into housing construction in Astana over the past two decades.

"Today, more than a million people live in Astana. In comparison with 1997, the population has increased more than threefold. At that time the city had a population of about 300,000 people. Over the past 20 years, the gross regional product has grown 190 times, hitting the mark of 5 trillion tenge. The industry has grown 30 times. The volume of output of small and medium-sized businesses has amounted to more than 4 trillion tenge," Asset Issekeshev said.

Also, mayor of the city stressed that the capital proved itself as an economically effective project. Incomes to the state budget from Astana grew 80 times - from 13 billion tenge in 1997 to 1 trillion tenge in 2017.

The annual volume of investments into fixed assets has increased 44 times since 1997 and for almost 20 years amounted to almost 47 billion dollars.

According to Asset Issekeshev, thanks to the "EXPO-2017" held in Astana last year, the volume of industrial production grew by 7% to 550 billion tenge. The economy of the capital attracted 3% more investment (945 billion tenge). During 2017, a record number of housing was also put into operation - 2,36 million square meters.

In 2017, more than 12 thousand new entrepreneurs appeared in the SME sector, 15 thousand new jobs were created. In total, SMEs employ 316,000 people, or 62% of the total able-bodied population of Astana. Thanks to the support programs, the share of small and medium-sized businesses in the city's economy stands at 57.4%, according to this index the capital ranks first in the republic.

It should be stressed that Astana today has become not only one of the most beautiful and comfortable cities in the region, but also an attractive area for investors.

 

 

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