The Kazakhstan Economy 2008. A Year When Dreams do not Come True?
The current liquidity and solvency crisis, high inflation rate and economic slowdown suggest that the next few years will be a period of full-scale risk management. I use the term ‘full-scale’ because in the light of global instability, the countries that are efficient in overcoming economic, institutional and political risks will have the greatest competitive advantage. The participants of the 4th International Risk-Management Conference, which was organised by Eurasia Insurance Company, presented their views on the possible solutions to the problem. This article deals with the opinions of just three of these: the Russian economists Yegor Gaidar and Aleksandr Illarionov and the Kazakhstani political scientist Dosym Satpayev, whose speeches we found to be the most interesting and relevant.

State vs Business. Partners or Rivals
The functions of the state in market economy to a certain extent are focused on three aspects: social security, the regulation of rules of market processes and active involvement in business in the role of investor. The experience of developed countries shows that in order to achieve real efficient economic development greater attention should be paid to solving precisely the first two tasks.

Kazakh Metallurgy. Under the Control of TNCs
Mining and metallurgy are usually identified as key industries in Kazakhstan. Metallurgical products are shipped to around 30 different countries and account for 35% of total exports. Ferrous alloys and rolled metal, together with copper alloys and refined copper are much sought after in the international market and almost all (95%) are exported. However, there is a downside to this export focus as it neither contributes to local employment nor offers higher value added end products for the home market.

Oil Chronicles. Astana does not Believe in Tears
As compared with the same period last year, oil production in Kazakhstan over the first four months of 2008 has grown by almost 6%, and that of natural gas – by 11%. Gas condensate production has decreased by 5% while the oil processing volume has risen by 5.4%.

PetroKazakhstan’s Image. New Corporate Look
Mr Bakhytzhan Issengaliyev, Vice President of PetroKazakhstan, answers questions from our magazine.

Telecommunications: Connections Improving
In spite of the general economic downturn caused by the financial crisis, the telecommunications sector has not suffered setbacks and continues to demonstrate steady growth. Indeed, the 2007 results show that the market volume has maintained the characteristic average growth of recent years, achieving a financial increase of 33%, or 356.8 billion tenge, according to the Statistics Agency data.

Kazakhstan Real Estate Market: Expecting Changes
Today, the real estate market in Kazakhstan is experiencing uncertain times. Practically all the players – developers, realtors, investors and speculators – have firsthand knowledge of the meaning of the current liquidity crisis. However, the fact that two big international real estate conferences were held in Almaty this spring, only one month apart, clearly demonstrates that interest in this sector has not yet been exhausted. Moreover, according to expert opinion, the current situation gives foreign investors a good chance to fish in troubled waters, at least in the commercial real estate market… 

Almaty City Development: Taking Chances
The Master Plan for the Almaty Development, approved in December 2002, was the first urban planning document of this scale to be drawn up under conditions dictated by a market economy. Its implementation, which is anticipated for 2020, is intended to bring Kazakhstan’s only metropolis to a completely new international level. However, according to experts the interim results cast some doubt over whether this goal is achievable.

Banking Sector. Every Alley Is a Dead End
The information life of the banking sector got into full swing in the last month of spring 2008. While proclamations were being made announcing that there was no crisis in the country and that the economy was continuing to develop rapidly, the ratings agency Standard & Poor's sprang another unpleasant surprise on us having revised its outlook on Kazakhstan's sovereign credit ratings to negative. However the country's long-term ratings remain unchanged. The question is – for how long?

Sponsorship for Innovations: Are We in Full Sail?
The initial stage in forming Kazakh National Innovative System (NIS) reached completion in 2007. What results have been achieved during the course of its implementation? What are the prospects for its development in Kazakhstan? These questions were the main themes at the fourth Innovation Congress held with the backing of the National Innovation Fund in May 2007 in Almaty.

Collective Investment. The More Funds the Better
It is only three years since unit investment funds (UIF) were introduced into the Kazakh market, but they have demonstrated a high rate of growth over this period. During 2007 the number of UIFs almost doubled, with Kazakh UIFs reporting a four-fold increase in assets. However, according to traders in the collective investment market, qualitative indicators of such growth, leave much room for improvement.

Stock Indices. Uneasy Start
Over the first four months of 2008, Kazakhstan Stock Exchange transactions totalled $79,747.8 million or 9,606.6 billion tenge. This amount comprises transactions at all sectors, including transactions on the special trading floor of Almaty’s Regional Financial Center. As compared to January-April of 2007 the stock exchange turnover decreased by 13% in terms of dollars and 15.6% in terms of tenge. The volume of transactions went down by 28.9% in terms of dollars and by 29.4% in terms of tenge compared to the previous four-month period (September-December, 2007).