AIFC Management council adapts Centre’s development strategy until 2025

AIFC Management council adapts Centre’s development strategy until 2025

The head of state held an expanded online meeting of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) Management council.

The meeting was attended by members of the Management council: Prime minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin, Chairman of the National bank of Kazakhstan Erbolat Dossaev, Minister of National Economy Ruslan Dalenov, former Chairman of management board J.P. Morgan Chase International Jacob Frenkel, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group Bandar Hajjar, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Sir Suma Chakrabarti, President and Chairman of the Board of Sberbank of Russia Herman Gref, Global Head of the Public Sector Group, Citigroup Corporate and Investment Bank Julie Monaco

The members of the Management Council and the heads of the Centre’s bodies, Chairman of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan Madina Abylkasymova and Chief Justice of the AIFC Court Lord Jonathan Mance, along with world leading experts took part in the development of specific decisions: Goldman Sachs International Chairman José Manuel Barroso, senior advisor to The Boston Consulting Group Antonio Riera, Professor at Harvard Kennedy School and Director of Growth Lab Ricardo Haussman, Dean of the London School of Economics’ School of Public Policy, former finance minister of Chile Andrés Velasco, Professor of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Donald Low, Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Lomonosov Moscow State University Alexander Auzan, Managing Partner of FutureMap Parag Khanna, Nasdaq President and CEO Adena Friedman, and Managing Partner and Head of Consulting Department in CIS Christopher Armitage.

A key agenda item was a discussion of the restoration of Kazakhstan’s economic growth and the role of the AIFC therein.

Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan: “Undoubtedly, we need to continue to build on the success of those institutions that have proven their sustainability and contribute to economic growth. The financial sector, in particular, has an important role to play in ensuring this. We cannot afford the luxury of using the AIFC potential exclusively for certain types of transactions. Thanks to the successful transactions of NAC Kazatomprom JSC, Halyk Bank and foreign companies, we see how beneficial the AIFC regime is for Kazakhstani and regional businesses. The Centre’s capabilities should be used to full extent in order to restore economic growth and attract investors to Kazakhstan, this applies to both national companies and the commercial sector.”

The experts shared their vision of the economic situation in the region and the world with the AIFC Management council, supported the current initiatives of the Head of State, and also presented arguments in favour of expanding the use of the AIFC capabilities both nationally and regionally.

Kairat Kelimbetov, AIFC Governor: “The AIFC Development Strategy until 2025 that we drafted, implies the Centre’s full participation in the implementation of the economic policy of the Government and the National Bank  AIFC will contribute not only to attracting investments, but also to the establishment of Nur-Sultan as a key regional financial centre.”

The meeting resulted in the adoption of the AIFC Annual Report and the Centre’s Development Strategy until 2025. The Head of State also gave a number of specific instructions on the implementation of related reforms.

 

Reference:

The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) was created on the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. The constitutional law on the establishment of the AIFC was signed on December 7, 2015. AIFC’s goal is to form a leading centre for financial services at the international level. The AIFC aims to assist in attracting investment in the country’s economy, create an attractive environment for investing in financial services, develop the securities market of the Republic of Kazakhstan and ensure its integration with international capital markets.