INVEST TO KAZAKHSTAN
Foreign Investors’ Council
On the eve of the Foreign Investors’ Council (FIC) in Astana, the
Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Ministry for Investment
and Development of RoK, Mr Erlan Khairov, answered our questions
about the mission and working principle of FIC.
Erlan Khairov,
the Chairman of the
Investment Committee
of the Ministry for
the Investments and
Development of RoK
Erlan Kartayevich, good day! Thank you
for agreeing to be interviewed about the
Foreign Investors’ Council and sharing
your time with us. This is clear how
busy your schedule is. Can you describe
FIC? When was it founded? What is its
mission?
Greetings! The Foreign Investor’s Council is
first and foremost a unique platform that
gives a chance for acting foreign investors
to approach the Head of the State directly
and provide their recommendations openly.
Its mission is in establishing direct dialogue
between the RoK government and foreign
investors. None of the investors were intended
to leave throughout the 20 years of its
existence. The Council was founded in 1998. If
we think back on those years, the times were
difficult for our country. Oil prices receded,
was changing market conjuncture. In those
conditions our president decided to create
such a council to become a field for exchanging
feedbacks with foreign representatives.
It means then that such a platform exists
to exchange opinions with experts from
all over the world?
Yes, we can put it this way. This is about
exchanging
opinions
and
providing
recommendations of the Council members
that is being accomplished at the annual
Gliding session of the Council under the
chairmanship of the president of RoK.
Why is this Council so important?
The main aspect that attracts the invest ors is
the Head of the State’s personal involvement
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world monitor
into the Council’s work. The president
personally cares about the investors, shows
the openness of the republic’s authority by
his own example. I would like to stress the
president’s personal involvement. Thanks to
him we have accomplished many investment
projects. It is known that our Head of the
State devotes significant time to attracing
investments. There are many investment
events that are held annually. Meetings
with investment leaders happen in various
formats: business forums and round tables.
The work is primarily focused on state and
foreign visits for the Head of the State
where economic cooperation is the main
goal. Our Head of the State understands that
investment is not only finance, but the advent
of new technologies, new competences. We
can basically develop a new industry.
Can you share who are members of the
Council and what are the conditions to
enter?
Criteria to become a member of the Foreign
Investors’ Council are clearly defined in the
president’s Decree. Shortly, if the investor is
from the field of minerals, he should invest
a minimum of 500 million USD, if he is from
the manufacturing sector – 125 million
USD. The Council members can become
the representatives of international and
other organizations, banks that are active
in shaping favorable investment climate and
revitalization of the investment processes
in the country’s economy. Currently the
Council consists of 33 foreign members and
2 observers. These are the first chiefs of all
big transnational foreign companies that
implement their activities in Kazakhstan,