The Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) has facilitated raising more than $12 billion in investments in Kazakhstan, exceeding the expected target of $10 billion by 2025. These figures were revealed by CEO of the AIFC, Renat Bekturov, during his meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
«Since the start of the AIFC, its participants have paid $242.2 million to the state budget, including $62.7 million over the first six months of the year. This increase in tax payments was driven by the surging number of registered companies and their growing activities,» Bekturov highlighted.
According to the AIFC CEO, there are 3,000 participants in the center, with 500 companies joining it between January and June this year. The official also noted that the center’s participants created more than 7,600 jobs as of the end of the second quarter.
In turn, President Tokayev has instructed Bekturov to be more active in attracting investments to Kazakhstan via the AIFC, even if this means strengthening the work of all state agencies and financial institutions.
In mid-June, managing companies registered with the AIFC appealed to the Ministry of National Economy with a request not to change fiscal conditions in the center. They pointed out that the AIFC, which had received massive investments from the government, might lose its attractiveness for both local and foreign investors if the government cancels tax benefits for the center’s residents. In this case, many investment funds might opt to move to other jurisdictions with softer and more predictable fiscal policies.
In a new draft project of the Tax Code of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of National Economy has proposed imposing a 5% tax on dividends and gains for Kazakhstan residents, along with canceling tax benefits for KASE and AIX. In contrast, the current tax legislation doesn’t require Kazakhstani and foreign investors to pay taxes on dividends if the stocks they have invested in are listed on Kazakhstani stock exchanges and are actively traded in a specific tax period.
