Finance Monthly April 2020 Edition

44 www.finance-monthly.com BUSINESS & ECONOMY - KAZAKHSTAN’S INVESTMENT & BUSINESS CLIMATE by setting up their own corporate universities/academies of business to bring up the desired number of trained professionals fitting their requirements. You were recently elected the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Kazakhstan Foreign Investors’ Council Association. Tell us more about what your role would include and what your plans for it are. Kazakhstan Foreign Investors’ Council Association (KFICA) could be briefly described as the foreign side of the above-mentioned Foreign Investors’ Council (FIC) chaired by the President of the country. EY has been an active member of the FIC since 2001. I have been a member of the Operating Committee of FIC as well as a member of the Governing Board of KFICA and for about eight years now. I have also served as KFICA’s treasurer for the last three years. Apart from that, I have co-chaired the Council’s Investment Policy Working Group (IPWG) since 2011. In IPWG, we collaborate with the Ministry of National Economy, with the Minister being the other co-chair, by formulating and executing an annual action plan. The plan includes a number of issues pertaining to and impacting the investment climate in Kazakhstan. In my capacity as the IPWG co-chair, I have led the policy dialogue with the Government side in terms of the improvements required for the business and regulatory environments to make the country’s investment climate more attractive. Nowthat I havebecome theGoverning Board Chairman, my role will be more around leading KFICA’s overall collaboration with the Government. To this end, I will actively engage with the President’s Administration as well as the top Government members (including the relevant ministers) to facilitate the work of FIC and KFICA. I will also support the activities of the working groups constituting the main platform through which the FIC’s most important work is carried out. (Apart from the above-mentioned IPWG, there are three other working groups: Energy, Human Capital and Joint Events.) There are other strategic and administrative tasks I will tend to. In doing all of this, I am honoured to work alongside six other Board Members and four working group co-chairs representing a good mix of different industries. I must, of course, mention the entire KFICA, which currently consists of 32 members and 5 observers. I take pride in being a part of this great group of company executives and their GRs and to have the opportunity to contribute to the policy dialogue with the Kazakhstan side aimed at enhancing the country’s investment climate. France, Italy, China, Japan, South Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates). The industry and country priorities identified in the strategy will help to achieve the desired results. What should companies that wish to do business in Kazakhstan consider? Modern investors (especially now, with a wide choice of countries to invest in) are paying increased attention to transparent and predictable legislative environments, the rule of law and independence of the judicial system. They naturally want to safeguard their investments and to be able to rely on the market in the long term. In this respect, while Kazakhstan has made great strides by undertaking major reforms, there are still many areas where improvements are required. One of the most common issues raised by existing investors, both foreign and national, is the rule of law. While the laws and regulations have been significantly improved, the lack of consistency in their application continues to be a challenge. Often, decisions made by local authorities are not consistent with how investors read the applicable legislation. The resolution of such cases, including tax and customs disputes, is typically a time and resource-consuming process. On the other hand, human capital constraints, as in many other countries, must be carefully considered. The lack of qualified personnel in quite a few industries coupled with relatively tough regulations for importing foreign labour place staffing issues at the top of many businesses’ agendas. Many companies, foreign and local, have addressed this issue Kazakhstan has made great strides by undertaking major reforms, there are still many areas where improvements are required.