OECD/EU program to aid Kazakhstan?s competitiveness

ASTANA, March 13. KAZINFORM – Tuesday Vice-Premier of Kazakhstan Yerbol Orynbayev, Minister of Economy and Budget Planning Bakhyt Sultanov and representatives of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union held an official opening ceremony of the initiative on promotion of Kazakhstan?s investments and competitiveness.

This initiative is financed by the EU to the amount of Euro 2 mln and by the Government of Kazakhstan to the amount of Euro 1,8 mln, Kazinform has learnt from the press department of the European Commission?s Delegation to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. «This initiative is the beginning of partnership with the OECD to foster Kazakhstan?s competitiveness», Yerbol Orynbayev said. The initiative will be primarily focused on various sectors in order to distinguish the factors encouraging competitiveness and eliminate any obstacles. The OECD will aid diversification of the sources of direct foreign investments into Kazakhstan?s economy and active development of non-energy sectors. «Diversification of the sources of direct foreign investments in the financial crisis time will be very meaningful for Kazakhstan», - Fadi Farra, Manager of the OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Program commented.