Kazakhstan, EBRD getting ready for Annual Meeting in Astana in May 2011
During the recent meeting (March 2) between Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Karim Massimov and the EBRD Managing Director for Turkey, Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia Olivier Descamps, the two reviewed preparations for the 2011 Annual Meeting.
The organizer expects it to gather no less than 2,000 guests, including the world's prominent politicians, corporate leaders, as well as representatives of small and medium enterprises and NGOs, Kazinform refers to the Embassy of Kazakhstan in the UK.
The EBRD 2011 Annual Meeting will convene the EBRD's Board of Governors, namely the government ministers and other senior officials who represent the Bank's shareholder countries and organisations, to review the EBRD's activities in the region and draft plan of activities for the year ahead.
Alongside the Annual Meeting, Kazakhstan and the EBRD will organise the Business Forum programme, launched this year under the theme "Supporting Markets - Asia Meets Europe." The Forum will bring together investors, senior business executives and policy makers from around the globe for a series of high-level panel discussions, country presentations, and networking and social events, according to the EBRD official website.
Panel discussion will cover key topics such as the development of national currency and capital markets in the EBRD region, definition of governments' proper role in a well-functioning market economy, food security, consequences of the global financial crisis, fostering entrepreneurship, as well as the Bank's role in promoting projects on energy efficiency and climate change mitigation.
Moreover, the Host Country Investment Forum will take place on May 19, in association with the EBRD 2011 Annual Meeting. The Investment Forum will provide the participants with an opportunity to review Kazakhstan's investment climate and potential, and will present its exciting investment opportunities. The Investment Forum is expected to highlight the oil and gas industries as well as other business sectors, the EBRD site informs.
Another event scheduled to take place within the Annual Meeting and Business Forum is a Civil Society Programme, where civil society organisations will be able to engage directly with the EBRD staff and senior management to discuss the Bank's policies, strategies, and the implementation of projects. Panellists, among other things, will share their perspective on the role of civil society in building open and democratic market economies. A number of other events will be held under the EBRD 2011 Annual Meeting as well.
The EBRD organises Annual Meetings since 1992 in order to review topical political, economic, and social issues in the EBRD countries of operations.
The EBRD is an international financial organization, owned by 61 countries, the European Union, and the European Investment Bank, that funds projects in 29 countries stretching from Central Europe and the Western Balkans to Central Asia. By investing in projects that could not otherwise attract financing on similar terms, the Bank promotes entrepreneurship and transition to open and democratic market economy.
To date, the EBRD has committed itself to allocate EUR 2.8 billion to finance projects in various sectors of Kazakhstan's economy, which mobilised additional investments worth over seven billion euros.
The EBRD is also actively supporting the infrastructure development in Kazakhstan. The Bank is involved in the restructuring of the railway sector, which has great importance for the transport of major products. It also helps improve municipal infrastructure of Kazakh cities. Another priority is to solve the problems of power imbalances and improve energy efficiency.
To learn more of the upcoming EBRD 2011 Annual Meeting in Astana please visit the event's webpage - http://www.ebrd.com/pages/news/events/am_astana.shtml