Geneva Hosted an Investment Forum, Dedicated to Opportunities in Kazakhstan

Geneva, June 11, 2025 – The investment forum “Market Focus on Kazakhstan” organized by the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Switzerland with the support of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce and Industry took place in Geneva. The event became an important platform for expanding economic interaction between Kazakhstan and Switzerland, in particular with representatives of French-speaking businesses.

Opening the forum, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Switzerland Kairat Sarzhanov noted that Kazakhstan has established itself as a stable and reliable partner, carrying out consistent reforms and demonstrating sustainable economic growth. He emphasized the growth of trade turnover with Switzerland, which reached 1.7 billion US dollars in 2024, and the active participation of Swiss companies in investment projects. The Ambassador paid special attention to promising industries – agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, nuclear energy, transport and digitalization, stressing that the volume of Swiss investments in Kazakhstan has already exceeded 35 billion dollars.

With keen interest the participants received the speech of Saken Olzhabayev, representative of Kazakh Invest in Europe, who presented in detail the instruments of state support for foreign investors – tax and customs preferences, capital protection mechanisms, as well as administrative support of projects at all stages of their implementation – emphasizing that Switzerland remains the third largest foreign investor in Kazakhstan over the past decade.

From the Swiss side there were positive assessments of the investment climate in Kazakhstan. Switzerland Global Enterprise consultant Xavier Cornut called Kazakhstan a key partner of Switzerland in the region, noting the growing interest of local businesses in the Kazakh market. He highlighted political stability, pragmatic foreign policy, diversification of the economy, consistent transition to privatization and renewable energy sources, as well as the development of transit potential as the main factors contributing to the expansion of the partnership.

The heads of Swiss Choice Holding and INOKS Capital shared their own successful experience in Kazakhstan in bison breeding, construction of a fish farm, implementation of integrated projects to support agriculture, and emphasized the high efficiency of interaction with government agencies and transparency of administrative procedures.

Jean-Paul Periat, Vice President of the Joint Chamber of Commerce, Honorary Consul of Kazakhstan in Geneva, expressed support for deepening bilateral economic cooperation, noting the representativeness of the recent Astana International Forum as an authoritative platform for discussing a wide range of relevant economic issues.

The forum ended with a series of business meetings, where participants discussed practical steps to enter the Kazakh market and outlined promising areas of cooperation.