The first “Central Asia – GCC” Investment Forum was held in the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the city of Riyadh, Kazinform News Agency learnt from the Kazakh Foreign Ministry’s press service.
The Kazakh side was represented by Governor of the AIFC Renat Bekturov, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the KSA Madiyar Menilbekov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Development Bank of Kazakhstan JSC Botagoz Abisheva, Co-Chairman of the Kazakh-Saudi Business Council – General Director of Greywolf LLP Kanat Kudaibergen, General Director of Kazakhstan Investment Development Fund (KIDF) JSC Marat Tulebayev, Chairman of the Business Council of Kazakhstan in Dubai Daulet Zhumabay, as well as managers and representatives of more than 20 Kazakh companies, such as “White hill capital”, “Tumar Venture Fund”, “KMG PetroChem”, “AQS limited”, “PRO-IT Qazaqstan”, etc.
AIFC Governor Renat Bekturov during the the ministerial meeting of the “Central Asia – GCC” forum noted the strategic importance of intensifying cooperation between the public and private sectors of the two regions. He focused on the enormous potential of the Gulf market for strengthening trade and economic relations with Kazakhstan, as well as the unlimited prospects for expanding investment partnerships.
The head of the Kazakh delegation emphasized that the Central Asian and GCC countries have significant opportunities to further deepen contacts in such sectors of the economy as green energy, food security, transport and logistics, mining, petrochemicals, agriculture, finance and tourism.
At the same time, other representatives of government bodies and business circles of the Central Asian and GCC countries presented economic and investment proposals, exchanged views on the most important issues of the bilateral and multilateral agenda, and also discussed ways to implement strategically important projects in various areas.
Separate thematic panel sessions were organized for forum participants in the following areas: agriculture and food security, mining and metals industry, development and infrastructure, renewable and green energy. Kazakh companies took an active part in these panel sessions and had the opportunity to conduct practical negotiations with the business community of the Central Asian and Gulf countries. For the potential investors were presented the investment opportunities of Kazakhstan, government support measures and new approaches used in attracting investments.
On the sidelines of the forum, the Governor of the AIFC Renat Bekturov met with Minister of Investment KSA Khalid Al-Falih. Renat Bekturov noted that, despite the geopolitical situation in the world, comprehensive relations between Astana and Riyadh continue to actively develop. The serious interest of the business circles of the two countries in bringing cooperation to a real mutually beneficial plane serves as a solid basis for this. Saudi companies were invited to Kazakhstan to study the potential of our country with the subsequent establishment of joint ventures.
In turn, Khalid Al-Falih noted the high interest of the Kingdom’s leadership in strengthening multifaceted ties with Kazakhstan, which is seen as the leader of the Central Asian region. “Kazakhstan is the largest country with a huge territory, rich reserves of natural resources and high human capital. Saudi Arabia, like Kazakhstan, today seeks to diversify its economy and is interested in expanding the country’s investment potential, and in this context, the unique experience of AIFC in attracting foreign capital is of great interest,” said the Saudi Minister.
In addition, Renat Bekturov held bilateral meetings with Sultan Al-Marshad, CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) and Husayb Al-Hoseini, Deputy Director General of Saudi Eximbank, where they discussed the prospects for further development of investment cooperation, Islamic finance, implementation of joint infrastructure projects in Kazakhstan.
