President invites Finnish businessmen to invest in Kazakhstan

HELSINKI. March 25. KAZINFORM /Yernur Akanbai/ Head of the State Nursultan Nazarbayev who is paying a working visit to Finland has met today with the representatives of the Confederation of Finnish Entrepreneurs and proposed them to invest in Kazakhstan.

?Finland can become a reliable trade and investment partner for Kazakhstan. I invite Finnish businessmen to come to the Kazakh market with new projects?, N. Nazarbayev said. In this connection the Head of the State pointed out Kazakhstan?s readiness for cooperation with Finland in engineering, energy, transport transit, communication infrastructure, construction and pharmacy. The Head of the State also noted the importance of development of cooperation in agro-industrial complex. ?Kazakhstan considers Finland as a promising trade and economic partner in the EU. We have great potential for developing and strengthening interaction in many spheres. We have defined the main directions of cooperation. The intergovernmental commission will work on seeking closer cooperation?, N. Nazarbayev highlighted. Alongside, the President noted Kazakhstan had provided all conditions for foreign investors. The Confederation of Finnish Entrepreneurs is one of the leading structures in business life of Finland. The enterprises entering its structure manufacture more than 70% of the country?s domestic products and over 95% of exports. The Confederation represents Finnish companies? interests in the EU and international arena. The organization purposes to support domestic businesses and enhance their competitiveness. According to the RK Statistics Agency, the volume of commodity turnover between Kazakhstan and Finland made USD 1.1 bln in 2008 (USD 634.1 mln of export, USD 506 mln ? import)