TBY releases latest The Business Year: Kazakhstan 2018

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - The Business Year's latest endeavor in Kazakhstan-The Business Year: Kazakhstan 2018- has just been launched in partnership with the Foreign Investors' Council, Kazinform has learnt from TBY. The publication, which comes with the full backing of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, tracks the country's growth narrative as it aims for transform into a diversified and digital economy, through a top-down shift toward a free market."

The President also reminds readers "2018 is the 20th anniversary of our capital, Astana. Its formation as one of the most important centers of Eurasia's development is a source of common pride." Astana is the focus of the publication's Construction & Real Estate chapter, in which the Chairman of Astana Innovations, a subsidiary of the city administration, told TBY, "Our concept [to digitalize the city] is based on the European smart city model that focuses on major areas such as smart government, smart environment, smart transportation, smart lifestyle, and smart society."

However, it is another, lesser known Kazakhstani city that steals the top spot. Atyrau, on the shores of the Caspian Sea and the country's fastest-growing oil and gas hub, is the focus of a detailed infographic. Receiving investment injections of USD37 billion-the biggest-private sector investment in the global oil industry in a decade-Atyrau proves a worthy poster boy for Kazakhstan's energy sector.

Moreover, Nazarbayev is not the only president to grace the pages of The Business Year: Kazakhstan 2018. In a first for TBY, Donald Trump, President of the United States, perhaps the world's most talked about personality, also features. After discussing hot potatoes such as the nuclear issue-both in historic Kazakhstan and in present day North Korea-President Trump goes on to highlight, "our nations have a long history of cooperation to promote a safer, healthier, more prosperous and brighter tomorrow. I look forward to seeing the great advances of the Kazakhstani people under [Nazarbayev's] incredible leadership. And that's what it is-it is incredible leadership."

Technology also gets a look in elsewhere in the edition. Key stakeholders gathered at TBY's annual Kazakhstan roundtable, which this year tackled the major developments, opportunities, and challenges that businesses involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (RBI) are facing in 2018. "As with any initiative of this scale, we will attract digital and technological aspects, which very much align with certain projects already underway," commented Erlan Khairov, Chairman of the Committee on Investments at the Ministry of Investments and Development. Full coverage of the roundtable is featured in the publication's Transport chapter.

With over 100 interviews, The Business Year: Kazakhstan 2018 features many key government and private-sector figures, including: Timur Suleimenov, Minister of National Economy; Doris Bradbury, Executive Director, American Chamber of Commerce; Olivier Lazare, Vice President and Country Chair, Shell Kazakhstan; Kanat Bozumbayev, Minister of Energy; Gordon Haskins, CEO, Al Hilal Bank Kazakhstan; and Nurzhan Kozhamuratov, General Director, EFKO Kazakhstan.

According to TBY Analytics, our unique methodology for parsing C-level opinion into crunchable data, the impacts of the New Silk Road (NSR) project on Kazakhstan are already being felt. Half of all those interviewed discussed the advantages of the NSR, including better development of rail and road infrastructure, a rise in the number of container trains passing from China to Kazakhstan, and shorter transit times. Another area to watch according to TBY Analytics is Islamic finance. A total of 40% of interviewees in the finance center highlighted its potential. They spoke of the promising level of support from the government in this sub-segment. "President Nazarbayev announced in September 2017 at the Global Islamic Finance Awards that Kazakhstan would issue a USD300 million sukuk in 2018," said Gordon Haskin, CEO of Al Hilal Bank. "We see this as a potential investment opportunity both here and in the UAE."

Ayşe Valentin, CEO of TBY, commented, "Our latest Kazakhstan edition covers an exciting year in the country's economic trajectory. With several achievements in 2017 and 2018, including hosting peace talks in Syria, the Expo 2017, as well as increased commitment to diversifying away from hydrocarbons, Kazakhstan has entered 2018 with a newfound optimism. With the right measures being put in place by the public sector, alongside continued enthusiasm from the private sector, the country seems on track to emerge as a sustainable economy in a world without oil."