On June 9, 2022, the 34th Plenary Session of the Foreign Investors’ Council chaired by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was held in a hybrid format. The main topic of the current meeting was “Decarbonization of the economy. Implementing low-carbon technologies to meet environmental, social and governance standards (ESG)”.

The event was attended by top managers and heads of the largest transnational companies, heads of government agencies and representatives of international organizations.

As the President stated at the plenary session, further improvement of the investment climate and the system for protecting the legal rights of investors are the strategic tasks of our state.

“Last year, foreign partners invested around $24 billion in our economy, which was 38% higher comparing to the previous year. Remarkably, the non-primary sector of the economy already accounts for over 60% of total foreign investment inflows. We greatly appreciate these investments and shall do everything to fulfill all our obligations to foreign partners,” the Head of State assured.

Systematic work to improve the investment climate will be accompanied by large-scale reforms. We are talking about the development of fair competition, the eradication of corruption, effective public administration and improving the quality of human capital, reforming the judicial system.

During the Plenary Session, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Odile Renaud-Basso, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Bakhyt Sultanov spoke on implementation of the Minutes instructions of the 33rd Plenary Session of the Foreign Investors’ Council, Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kuantyrov A.S. on the main topic of the meeting, Governing Board Chairman of the Kazakhstan Foreign Investor’s Council Association, Managing Partner for Kazakhstan and Central Asia, EY Erlan Dosymbekov on recommendations to the Foreign Investor’s Council, Vice President, Private Sector Operations and Public Private Partnerships, Asian Development Bank Ashok Lavasa, Executive Vice President, Upstream, Chevron Corporation James Johnson, Chief Executive Officer, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Citi David Livingstone, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Eurasian Resources Group Sarl Alexander Machkevitch, Senior Vice President ExxonMobil Neil Chapman, President, General Electric Russia/CIS Bela Ferenczi, President, Eastern European Region, Philip Morris International Marco Mariotti, President of the Polymetal Igor Finogenov, Partner, Chief Executive Officer for PwC CEE Nick Kos, Speech by the Group Chief Executive Officer, VEON Ltd  Kaan Terzioglu, Senior Vice-President Asia Pacific, TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Julien Pouget.

At the meeting, foreign investors noted the importance and relevance of the chosen topic and shared their recommendations on the implementing low-carbon technologies to meet environmental, social and governance standards (ESG)

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The Foreign Investors’ Council (FIC) is an effective platform that brings together major foreign investors in Kazakhstan and provides an opportunity to discuss the most important issues related to the development of the national economy and improving the investment climate. 

The Council includes the heads of 41 large transnational companies and international organizations, as well as heads of key ministries.