Prosecutor General’s Office launches expert council on investor protection

The event marked the beginning of a permanent platform bringing together government agencies, major domestic and international businesses, as well as leading lawyers and economists of the country.

First Deputy Prosecutor General Zhandos Umiraliyev, Chairman of the Committee on Investor Protection Bauyrzhan Yeraly, representatives of government bodies, the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), the “Atameken” National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, JSC “Baiterek” National Investment Holding, business representatives, and members of the expert community took part in the work of the council.

Opening the meeting, Berik Asylov congratulated those present on the entry into force of the new Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, emphasizing that the principles enshrined in it — “Just Kazakhstan” and “Law and Order” — have become the main guiding benchmarks for the entire state system.

In line with the instructions of Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (Decree of December 17, 2025), the Prosecutor General, vested with the powers of Investment Ombudsman, presented participants with a comprehensive system for protecting business.

Within this framework, prosecutors provide oversight wherever investors interact with the law and the state. “Today, competition between states is not about resources, but about trust. We must turn the law into Kazakhstan’s competitive advantage. Tp achieve that, consistent improvement of relations between the state and business is needed,” stated Berik Asylov.

Currently, 3,300 investment projects with a total investment volume of 112 trillion tenge are under prosecutorial supervision.

To date, the rights of more than three thousand investors have been protected, and the implementation of over 270 investment projects has been ensured, providing for the creation of 30,000 new jobs.

At the same time, systematic reduction of administrative pressure is underway.

The number of legal disputes between entrepreneurs and government agencies has decreased by almost 40%, the number of cases of businesses being held administratively liable has dropped by 16%, and the trend of reducing criminal prosecution of entrepreneurs continues. Since the beginning of the year alone, the Prosecutor’s Office has refused to approve more than 800 decisions of government agencies that could have violated investors’ rights.

Special attention was paid by the Prosecutor General to recent legislative changes that have significantly strengthened state guarantees for business protection.

From now on, acts of prosecutorial oversight concerning the protection of investors’ rights, issued in the form of directives, are mandatory for execution by state and quasi-state organizations. In addition, the Prosecutor General has been vested with the authority to establish a unified procedure for prosecutorial support of investment projects countrywide.

This eliminates “regional discrepancies” and guarantees uniform, strict standards of protection in every part of Kazakhstan.

At the July 3 Council’s meeting, decisions were developed to further improve the construction industry, where administrative barriers have traditionally stifled initiative. The Prosecutor General highlighted problems related to the workload of experts, who are forced to manually sift through thousands of pages of drawings and estimates for months while businesses remain idle. Artificial intelligence should promptly analyze compliance with laws and national standards.

This agenda fully aligns with the strategic directives of the Head of State on the development of digitalization and AI.

Measures were supported to introduce a “comprehensive list of remarks” during project reviews and to shorten timelines. “The proposed measures should transform the construction sector from ‘paper red tape’ into a transparent conveyor,” noted the Prosecutor General.

The second issue addressed was the need to revise the system of evaluating the effectiveness (KPI) of government agencies in the investment sphere.

Participants supported a shift from formal indicators to assessing real economic outcomes — the creation of new industries and jobs, the development of exports, import substitution, and the successful implementation of investment projects.