Economy Diversification: Investors Are Ready to Help

The State Program on Forced Industrial Innovative Development will get a start in Kazakhstan in 2010. Under government plans, this program is expected to eliminate drawbacks of the previous government's initiatives and will bring the Kazakhstan’s economy to a relatively new quality level. In its expectations, the government relies on help of the international institutions, both who invest and operate in Kazakhstan. Exactly the foreign companies’ participation in the economy diversification and technological development of our country will be the main topic of discussion at the twenty second plenary session of Foreign Investors Council (FIC) under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, to be held in Astana on December 4, 2009.

On the threshold of the session, we asked we asked some of the FIC companies' representatives to share with us their vision of potential interaction between the investors and the state in this area. The interlocutors were asked just two questions:

What should Kazakhstan do to increase the attractiveness of its non-extractive sectors of economy for investments?

How does your company contribute to the diversification and technological development of Kazakhstan?

Lord Renwick of Clifton KCMG, JP Morgan

Claudio Descalzi, Eni E&P

Jean Luc Porcheron, Total E&P Kazakhstan

Jay Johnson, Chevron Eurasia

Keith Gaebel, Ernst & Young