During his working visit to Abay Region, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin familiarized himself with the operations of the Damu Fund’s mobile front offices, which help entrepreneurs from remote settlements receive state services and consultations without the need to travel to regional centers.

A mobile front office is a specialized minibus on which consultants from the Damu Fund, representatives of akimats, second-tier banks, the Atameken Chamber of Entrepreneurs, JSC “Agrarian Credit Corporation”, JSC “KazAgroFinance”, and consulting organizations travel to cities and villages. On site, entrepreneurs can receive consultations on existing state support measures and submit applications to participate in financing programs.

As part of the mobile front offices’ work, entrepreneurs are provided with information on subsidizing, guaranteeing, preferential lending, microfinancing, leasing, support for export projects, as well as non-financial support measures, including training, consulting support, and development of entrepreneurial competencies.

As noted by Chairman of the Board of the Damu Fund Farkhat Sarsekeyev, special attention is paid to informing entrepreneurs about the unified small business support program “Isker Aimaq”, aimed at developing entrepreneurship in small towns and rural settlements.

“This year, we also launched a Unified Front Office of the Baiterek Holding based on the regional branches of the Damu Fund. Since the beginning of the year, we have received about 12 thousand appeals from entrepreneurs, including 553 from Abay Region and 609 from East Kazakhstan Region,” Farkhat Sarsekeyev reported.

Today, mobile front offices operate in Ulytau, Zhetisu, Abay, North Kazakhstan, Pavlodar, Almaty, Zhambyl, Karaganda, Turkistan, Kostanay, Akmola, and East Kazakhstan regions. In the near future, the project will be scaled to five more regions of the country. Thanks to this initiative, more than 300 people have already received consulting support.

In addition to trips to remote settlements, mobile front offices operate at regional exhibitions, fairs, and business events, where entrepreneurs can receive consultations directly at the venues.

In Semey, a mobile front office was deployed as part of an exhibition of agricultural producers at the Central Arbat. Residents and entrepreneurs of the region had the opportunity to learn about existing state support programs for business and available financing tools.

Head of the Talpyn Semey children’s educational center Meruert Zhumasheva noted that she received a consultation on state support measures for the first time thanks to the mobile format.

“I came to the fair as a visitor and was pleasantly surprised to see the mobile front office. It is very convenient that specialists come to such events themselves and one can get a consultation on the spot without spending time on a separate visit. We are now considering opportunities for further development and expansion of the educational center, so it was important for me to learn about the existing state support measures and available financing tools,” the entrepreneur said.

Individual entrepreneur in the IT sphere Rinat Zhakashev also highly appreciated the new work format.

“I am currently interested in subsidizing opportunities. I plan to create my own application, and the main costs are not related to development, but to product promotion. The ‘Orleu’ program suits me, which provides convenient participation conditions. The mobile office is an excellent idea, the main thing is to know in advance about its arrival,” he noted.

In the near future, it is planned to launch consulting and rehabilitation centers for small businesses based on mobile front offices. Entrepreneurs will be able to receive support on issues of business development, project scaling, and overcoming difficulties in doing business.

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