British investors continue cooperation with Kazakhstan

New investment opportunities were discussed on the sidelines of the Kazakhstan-British "Kazakhstan Global Investment Forum 2020", which was held via video conference simultaneously in London and Nur-Sultan.

The Forum was attended by more than 500 heads of government bodies, quasi-public organizations and companies working in the manufacturing, agricultural, chemical, mining and financial sectors, as well as the metallurgy, alternative energy, logistics and digital technologies fields.

The Kazakh delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi, who delivered a welcoming speech at the opening of the Forum.

Speaking on behalf of the British side, the British Prime Minister's Trade Envoy for Kazakhstan, Baroness Emma Nicholson, noted that the two countries have great opportunities in implementing joint projects in the fields of renewable energy sources, mining and metallurgical complex, agro-industrial complex and healthcare.

"We share a common interest to both build back better. There are many opportunities for investors in Kazakhstan to help achieve that and many ways that the United Kingdom can help attract it", added Baroness Nicholson.

During the forum, participants discussed a wide range of issues related to economic development in the post-coronavirus period, business and investment in Kazakhstan and the privatization of state assets. At the same time, specialized sessions covered the development of financial services, mining, digitalization and the technology sector in Kazakhstan.

The event also included bilateral meetings between Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Almas Aidarov and the management of major British companies in the fields of energy, infrastructure and construction, MMC and mechanical engineering.

He discussed with the Independent Power Corporation its participation in the implementation of the Caspian Digital Hub investment project.

ERG International Group is interested in implementing infrastructure projects in the Mangystau region. In particular, it is planned to implement a project to build a desalination plant with a capacity of 50 thousand cubic meters of potable water per day.

As part of negotiations with Ferro-Alloy Resources, a project for the development of a large Bala-Sauskandyk vanadium deposit in the Kyzylorda region was considered.

The implementation of "Localization of production of equipment for mining, mechanical engineering, oil and gas and other industries" investment project on the territory of the Industrial Zone of Almaty was discussed with the British company Weir Group.

Today, the UK is one of the five key trade and investment partners of Kazakhstan. The volume of gross inflows of British investment in the domestic economy from 2005 to the 1st half of 2020 amounted to 14.1 billion dollars. Overall, there are more than 500 companies with British capital in Kazakhstan, including such companies as Royal Dutch Shell, Ernst & Young, BG, Shell, BAE Systems and others.