Kazakhstan, China to sign updated agreement on promotion and mutual protection of investments - Vice PM Sklyar

He said that China remains one of the major trade and investment partners of Kazakhstan and Central Asian region.

Last year, the volume of trade between Central Asia and China hit $95 billion, almost half of which falls on Kazakhstan. Thus, in 2024, bilateral trade turnover reached a record high of $44 billion. The volume of Chinese investment in the region’s economy exceeded $40 billion.

According to Roman Sklyar, some 10,000 companies with Chinese capital are operating in the domestic market today. In Kazakhstan alone, 224 projects worth more than $66 billion are being implemented with the participation of Chinese investors, generating almost 50,000 jobs.

In his words, the implementation of transnational projects involving Chinese investors help contribute to economic connectivity of the region.

The Government of Kazakhstan aims at increasing the volume of investments, transfer of advanced technologies, localization of productions and creation of high-value added industrial clusters with the participation of Chinese investors.

“Central Asia is a gateway to the major markets offering multimodal logistics opportunities. Currently, more than 80% of land transportations from China to Europe are carried out through our country. We are interested in further deepening of interaction under China’s One Belt, One Road initiative,” Roman Sklyar said.

The project together jointly with the Middle Corridor opens additional opportunities for unlocking the potential of the North-South and East-West corridors.

“In 2024, growth in the volume of transportations along the Middle Corridor exceeded 60% reaching more than 4.5 million tons of cargo. By 2030, we plan to increase the annual volume of cargo transportations to more than 10 million tons,” the Vice Prime Minister said.

Also, in his words, there is enormous untapped potential in agriculture, with climatic conditions of the region enabling to compete in growing cereals, oilseed, as well as in production of meat and milk.

“In 10 years, Kazakhstan plans to join the world’s Top 10 producers and suppliers of deep grain processing products. In case of complete removal of restrictions, we intend to further increase the scales of supplies of high-quality products to the Chinese market,” he noted.

He highlighted that all-round support of investors remains one of the priorities of the Kazakh Government.

“Today we will sign an updated agreement on the promotion and mutual protection of investments with the Government of China. The document will let create more favorable conditions for the work of Chinese investors in our country. We have introduced a principle of individual support of each investor, as well as benefits and preferences like exemption of taxes, customs duties, issuing land grants, and addressing infrastructure issues. We provide investors with unhindered access to the resources, infrastructure and expert support,” he said.

Upon conclusion, Roman Sklyar invited Chinese partners to take up all existing opportunities to develop business in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

Earlier it was reported that Kazakhstan and China plan to sign 60 agreements worth USD 25 bln.