Kazakhstan continues to bet on foreign companies relocating to the country

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Business news correspondent
The country is interested in the relocation of about 400 companies / Collage by Kursiv.media

According to Bauyrzhan Kudaibergenov, deputy minister of the national economy of Kazakhstan, 41 foreign companies with a combined market cap of $1.5 billion have already relocated to Kazakhstan and do business as usual within the country.

«Currently, the government is working on the relocation of foreign companies and big enterprises. We have around 400 companies from 30 countries on the list. We already have tangible results from 41 companies with a combined market cap of $1.5 billion. As you know, these are InDriver, TikTok and Fortescue, among others. Furthermore, we are currently negotiating with 37 more companies on the same issue,» he said.

He refused to reveal the names of these 37 companies, as negotiations between them and the government are still ongoing. Kursiv.media has officially requested the ministry to comment on the issue.

«I wouldn’t bet that all 37 companies will relocate to Kazakhstan by the end of the year. It might be more or less. However, I can say that we will continue this work until the end of the year. We have been relying on individual approaches to each company; they all want something specific. Some only need land, while others ask for preferences, benefits and so on. This is why authorized agencies and Kazakh Invest negotiate with these businesses so closely,» the deputy minister highlighted.

He also underscored that companies on the relocations list are predominantly from the most important sectors: the mining and processing industries and IT.

In September 2023, Kazakhstan announced that 35 foreign companies relocated to the country or started working here. Among them are: InDriver (USA), OZON (Russia), Alstom (France), Clariant (Switzerland), Youngsan (South Korea), Avtovaz (Russia), Reimann (Germany), R-Vent Medical (Turkey), Weir Minerals (the U.K.), Ural Spring (Russia), Marubeni (Japan), Transco (Czech Republic), Great Wall Motors (China), Knauf (Germany) and others.

In August 2023, Polymetal, one of the biggest gold and silver producers in the world, relocated to Kazakhstan from the British island of Jersey. Russian Fix Price and Dodo Brands have also redomiciled to Kazakhstan from Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands, respectively.

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