Today, as part of the press conference in the press center of the Government, Deputy Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Ministry for Investments and Development, Larisa Dzhumagaliyeva spoke about the main directions of the investment policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

According to the information of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, after a three-year recession, in 2016, the inflow of foreign investment has grown significantly, amounting to $21 billion, which is 41.5% more than in 2015.

"The growth trend remains this year. In the first half of the year, the gross inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI) amounted to $10.5 billion, an increase of 8.6% compared to the same period last year," Larisa Dzhumagaliyeva said.

At the same time, the greatest growth in gross inflow of FDI is demonstrated in such industries as the mining industry - 2.2 times, manufacturing industry - 46.7%, transport - 10.3%.

In accordance with the instruction of the Head of the State, the MID RK jointly with the World Bank developed and adopted the National Investment Strategy, the main goal of which is to create a favorable investment climate and attract investments focused on the manufacturing sector and related services.

By 2022, the following target indicators are to be achieved:

1) The increase in FDI gross inflow by 1.26 times;

2) The 19% increase in the ratio of gross inflow of foreign investment to GDP in 2022;

3) FDI focused on increasing efficiency (FDI gross inflow into the manufacturing industry) will grow by 1.5 times;

4) The volume of investments in the fixed capital of the non-primary sector of the economy (excluding the state budget) will increase by 1.46 times;

5) The volume of foreign investment in the fixed capital of the non-primary sector of the economy will increase by 1.5 times.

Larisa Dzhumagaliyeva also noted that priority sectors have been identified, in which it is most beneficial to attract new investments aimed at increasing efficiency.

These industries can be divided into two groups. First, these are industries with active potential, such as the food industry, deep processing of oil, gas and minerals (that is, metallurgy, chemistry and petrochemistry), as well as engineering.

The second group is promising sectors, such as ICT, tourism and finance. This group consists of industries in which investors can be interested in the long term.

Also, the Strategy identifies priority countries for attracting investment.

"Taking into account economic opportunities, 36 potential countries of the world were identified, of which 11 countries are the top priorities for us. These are the US, RF, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, the PRC, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, the UAE. To work with each of these priority countries, in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an individual approach and a concrete action plan are being developed," the deputy chairman of the committee said.

In her speech, Larisa Dzhumagaliyeva announced that at present, the Ministry is actively working to attract foreign investors, including multinational companies, to the country's economy.

So, this year 34 projects are being implemented for a total amount of about $13 billion. Of these, 12 projects started construction, 20 projects started their implementation (development of documentation), and two projects are undergoing geological exploration.