Aidar Arifkhanov: The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Is Paying Great Attention to the Support for the Kazakhstani Entrepreneurs

The Chairman of Baiterek Holding’s Management Board, Aidar ARIFKHANOV, spoke about the role of Baiterek National Managing Holding in the implementation of the Address of the Head of State to the People of Kazakhstan, “Constructive Public Dialogue - the Basis of Stability and Prosperity of Kazakhstan”.

- The address of the Head of State, Qassym-Zhomart Toqayev, covers a huge range of issues. It contains specific issues only and instruction to the Government which are directly aimed at improving the welfare of Kazakhstanis and developing the country’s economy. In addition, the President pays great attention to the support of the Kazakhstani entrepreneurs, and manifests concern.

There are several items in the President’s Address regarding the activities of Baiterek Holding as the operator of a series of state programs.

First, today the state provides great support to small and medium-sized businesses. Thus, our subsidiary, Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund, provides a number of tools, including interest rate subsidies and loans guaranteeing. Over the existence of the "Business Roadmap 2020" State Program, approximately 14.5 thousand of various projects worth a total of 2.5 trillion tenge have been subsidized. In addition, 5.6 thousand contracts were signed for a total loan amount of 216 billion tenge.

Meanwhile, the Head of State noted that the system of the public financial support for the SMEs needs to be "rebooted", giving the priority to new projects. The President has instructed the Government to allocate additional 250 billion tenge for these purposes in the next three years under the new “Business Roadmap”. Our development institutes will be actively participating in these activities.

Second, the President announced a decisive increase in the efficiency of the public support for the companies involved in exports. It is, first of all, about medium businesses. It should be noted that "KazakhExport" Export Insurance Company and the Development Bank of Kazakhstan are successfully engaged in this area. Thus, over the period of 2014-2018, KazakhExport has supported 152 exporters, while the volume of obligations undertaken has amounted to 173 billion tenge, and the amount of export contracts has constituted 841 billion tenge. During the period from 2015 to 2018, the DBK has provided 425.5 billion tenge to support exporters through pre-export financing, taking into account the repeated disbursement.

Meanwhile, the Holding is eliminating the causes of comments made by the Head of State in regard to the lack of effective public support in this segment of entrepreneurs precisely. First of all, this is related to the field of products distribution. It should be mentioned that Kazakhexport is opening its foreign representative offices to provide assistance to exporters in potential importers search and guidance in foreign markets. At present, the company has representative offices located in the cities of Kazan (Russia), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Xian (China) and Dushanbe (Tajikistan). By the end of 2019, it is planned to open representative offices in the cities of Moscow, Novosibirsk, Minsk and Bishkek.

Third, the President has instructed the Government to develop a unified model of housing development in the country, abandoning the practice of adopting programs that are uncoordinated between each other. I believe that this is a necessary action. Earlier, Baiterek Holding had already come up with the idea of ​​establishing a single operator that will be able to resolve all the issues related to engineering, social and commercial infrastructure.

Forth, the Head of State has dwelt in detail upon the new program of ‘Baqytty Otbasy’ launched under the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Yelbasy, Nursultan Nazarbayev. By the end of the year, at least 6 thousand families will acquire housing under this program within preferential terms. First of all, they are large families and families raising children with disabilities. Since 2020, 10 thousand of such families will be constantly provided with accommodation. This task is being entirely undertaken by our subsidiary, the Housing Construction Savings Bank of Kazakhstan. We will also be involved in determining specific criteria to participate in the program and ensure its strict management.

In conclusion, I would like to note that implementation of the objectives set out for the Government by the Head of State requires Baiterek Holding’s and its subsidiaries’ direct involvement and activities implementation. We will make every effort to effectively implement the stated objectives.

Reference:

“Baiterek” National Managing Holding” JSC was established in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated May 22, 2013. The key institution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan that complies with the advanced standards of corporate governance and ensures the implementation of the objectives for the sustainable development of the economy of Kazakhstan through its diversification, support for innovation, export development, increase in labor productivity. The Holding includes: Development Bank of Kazakhstan JSC, Investment Fund of Kazakhstan JSC, Zhilstroisberbank of Kazakhstan (HCSBK) JSC, Kazakhstan Mortgage Company MO JSC, KazakhExport EIC JSC, Damu EDF JSC, QazTech Ventures JSC, Housing Construction Guarantee Fund JSC, Kazyna Capital Management JSC, Baiterek Development JSC, Kazakhstan Project Preparation Fund LLP.