Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy Nurlan Baibazarov met with Acting Managing Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for Central Asia and Mongolia Hüseyin Özhan, El.kz reports with reference to primeminister.kz.
At the meeting, the parties discussed the current status of existing projects, as well as the EBRD's plans to finance new initiatives. They stressed the importance of attracting investments for the sustainable socio-economic development of the country.
As Hüseyin Özhan noted, this year the bank plans to at least double the volume of investments in the economy of Kazakhstan. The EBRD is working on a major project with Kazakhstan's electricity grid management company KEGOC, which will help improve the reliability of electricity supply in the west of the country.
According to Nurlan Baibazarov, Kazakhstan intends to expand cooperation with the EBRD, both at the country and regional levels, and also supports the bank's desire to invest in the private sector
"Our country is ready for mutually beneficial work with the EBRD to attract investment for the implementation of projects in energy, transport and logistics, the development of renewable energy sources and private business," the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Since the beginning of its operations in Kazakhstan, the EBRD has invested €10.2 billion in the country's economy through 324 projects. At the moment, the bank's portfolio of projects in Kazakhstan includes 121 projects worth more than €2.9 billion.