Proposals to improve investment climate considered by Government

Proposals to strengthen the work of the investment block of the Government were considered at a Economic Policy Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov.

Minister of National Economy Alibek Kuantyrov said that by the end of 2022 the volume of investments in fixed assets amounted to about 15 trillion tenge representing about 94% of the plan. Although investors often take a wait-and-see attitude because of the current external economic situation, a gradual recovery of investment activity has been seen, he said. At the same time, foreign direct investment in the country's non-resource sector is growing.

In order to further improve the investment climate, it is proposed to implement a number of comprehensive measures. In particular, to reduce the time for approval of applications for state support by investors and reduce the threshold amount of investment for obtaining state support measures.

In general, Prime Minister supported these approaches, noting the need to thoroughly elaborate a list of priority activities to be provided with preferences and to take into account all regional features in the approval of new rules.

The participants of the meeting also discussed the improvement of the mechanism of signing the Agreement on Investments, the implementation of the investment rating of the regions and the elaboration of a separate normative act for investors, which will allow boosting the implementation of the state support measures provided for in the existing laws and codes. 

At the end of the meeting, the Prime Minister instructed to work out additional proposals to improve the investment climate in the country. He stressed that the main emphasis should be placed on measures to ensure the rule of law by reducing the pressure on business by law enforcement and regulatory authorities.

"We need to revise the Criminal Procedure Code in order to remove unnecessary grounds and unjustified reasons for initiating criminal proceedings against businesses. The Justice Ministry has already been instructed to do this, but this work needs to be strengthened and a comprehensive approach to this issue must be taken. We need to take a deeper look at what entrepreneurs are facing in practice and develop effective measures that will bring quick, concrete results," Smailov said.

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