Today, the city hosted a meeting of the regional project office for entrepreneurship under the chairmanship of the first Deputy akim of the region Mukhtar Mankeev. The meeting discussed the progress of work on the development Of the economic map of the regions, the implementation of the program of preferential lending "Economy of simple things", issues of local content in the procurement of state bodies.
The first question concerned the availability of financial resources for lending, starting a business, investing, replenishing working capital, and purchasing equipment.
– There are enough banks, the conditions are quite good, the remuneration rate is at least 6 %. There are guarantees from the Damu Foundation-assistance in providing collateral. Therefore, we ask the entrepreneurs to be actively involved in the lending process, – said Mukhtar Mankiw. – It is known that not every entrepreneur will fully invest their own funds in the project, in any case, they will apply for support and for this there is a program of preferential lending "Economy of simple things". Our region has shown good results over the past few months, but the activity of second-tier banks is still low. Therefore, we want to inform them that the situation is changing, we need to change the format of work – we need to support entrepreneurs more. Especially because of the pandemic, it is difficult for them to start large investment projects.
Natalia Nedoviziy, an expert of the project support Department Of the chamber of entrepreneurs of WKO, noted that our region ranks 13th in Kazakhstan, taking into account subsidized projects, as of October 19 this year.
Under the program of concessional lending "Economy of simple things", 228 projects worth 26.4 billion tenge were approved, of which 215 projects worth 16.6 billion tenge were approved, 192 projects worth 5.2 billion tenge were approved through the agro – Credit Corporation, and 23 projects worth 11.5 billion tenge were approved through second – tier banks. 4 projects worth 1.3 billion tenge are under consideration.
– Over the past month, 14 projects were dropped out, 12 of them – through the ACC due to lack of money, of which 8 have already been funded under the Agribusiness Program, - says Natalia Nedoviziy.
According to her, farmers note the lack of funds from the agro-Credit Corporation to Finance agricultural projects under the "Economy of simple things"program. Agricultural producers consider it necessary to allocate additional funds to the ACC, as well as to review the collateral policy and requirements for borrowers in second-tier banks.
- The low interest of second-tier banks in financing agricultural projects and the lack of funds for this from the ACC – rural business is now in this situation, - the expert stressed. – For example, under the program" Economy of simple things " over the past 1.5 years, 198 projects were approved for production in the agro-industrial complex, 192 of them were financed through the ACC, and 6 – through second-tier banks. The latter have a strict collateral policy. Practically, rural real estate and equipment are not taken as collateral. Second, interest rates. Third, the deadline for reviewing applications takes 1-2 months.
Natalia Nedoviziy stressed that it would be more expedient to launch undeveloped funds of second-tier banks through the ACC, as they have a more loyal collateral policy.
- The ACC currently has no money to Finance these projects. The national Bank, in turn, requires state guarantees. This issue is resolved for a period of six months to a year. This year, the regional branch of ACC has been allocated 1.5 billion tenge for the implementation of projects under the "EPV" program. The funds have already been fully disbursed – " the expert noted.
At the meeting, a draft Interactive economic map of regions was presented, which allows you to determine their production specialization, analyze the effectiveness of state support measures in the context of regions, industries and specific state programs.
- The development of the economic map of the regions was initiated by the Prime Minister of the country. All necessary information was collected and sent to the Republican office. First of all, it is necessary for the region itself to see the real picture of what is happening. The interactive map will be completed soon. First of all, the map will show the prospects of certain areas, niche projects, and many other factors. It is necessary to ensure that data is updated on a periodic basis – " Mukhtar Mankeev said.
At the meeting, it was noted that monitoring of public procurement is of great importance within the project office. It is common knowledge that this system raises more questions than answers. The project office has the opportunity and authority to make the public procurement process as transparent as possible in the region.
– For the first time, all design and estimate documentation developed in the region was published on the website of the construction Department. This means that any novice entrepreneur can go to the site and download the necessary POI and see what the state or customer plans to buy. Previously, this access was not available. This is for him a kind of market research – which direction to choose, – said Mukhtar Mankeyev.
– Another nuance, if the entrepreneur sees that the manufacturer has indicated a foreign analog in the POI, he has the right to apply to the Commission. It may come to suspension of the project and replacement of products. This is a good tool for domestic entrepreneurs, because our task is to support them.
If entrepreneurs have any initiatives and suggestions, our Commission is ready to consider them. But it is necessary that entrepreneurs themselves be more active and study the existing market.
During the meeting, it became known which companies subsidize old loans at 6% per annum. The head of state instructed the government to work out subsidizing interest rates up to 6% per annum on all existing SME loans in the affected sectors of the economy for a period of 12 months, starting from the moment of declaring a state of emergency. The government of the Republic of Kazakhstan approved resolution No. 679 of October 20 this year on the provision of subsidies in accordance with the above instructions.
According to the document, small and medium-sized businesses must apply to second-tier banks before October 30, 2020 to apply for subsidies.
Arailym Bekkaliev,
zhaikpress.kz