Turkic Investment Fund to boost trade and economic cooperation within and outside OTS - Bauyrzhan Kudaibergenov

The creation of the Turkic Investment Fund will contribute to strengthening trade and economic cooperation within and outside the Organization of Turkic States region, Bauyrzhan Kudaibergenov, vice minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, told Trend.

The Fund will be established by 5 members of the Organization of Turkic States - Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

At the same time, the vice minister noted that the Fund will make it possible to obtain financing for projects in priority sectors of Kazakhstan's economy. Financing will be aimed especially at the development of SMEs, tourism, green economy, energy, agriculture, transport infrastructure, he said.

The Fund is a financial institution for the economic integration of the Turkic world, aimed at financing micro, small and medium-sized enterprise projects that involve the creation and modernization of physical and digital infrastructure.

The initiative to establish the Fund was put forward by Azerbaijan during the informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in March 2021.

The agreement on the establishment of the Fund was signed within the framework of an extraordinary summit of the Heads of State of the Member States of the Organization of Turkic States on March 16, 2023, in Ankara.

The initial capital of the Turkic Investment Fund will be $500 million. The obligatory share will be $350 million, that is, $70 million for each country. All members with equal shares will have an equal vote.

The Turkic Investment Fund is the first joint financial institution for economic integration in the Turkic world. Its goal is to promote the economic development of member states of the Organization by expanding inter-regional trade and supporting economic activity.