Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 19
By Ali Mustafayev – Trend:
Asian Development Bank plans to provide $3 billion in assistance to Kazakhstan under new 2017-2021 Country Partnership Strategy, planning to expand its support to several sectors of the country, including water, agriculture, and health, ADB’s Country Director for Kazakhstan Giovanni Capanelli told Trend.
“Last year ADB also approved a $120 million loan to finance Samruk-Energy Restructuring Transformation Project. This nonsovereign project will support the company’s goal of initial public offering by 2020 through the balance sheet restructuring, improvement of operational efficiency, and supporting the company’s decarbonization by developing a renewable energy projects’ pipeline,” said Capanelli.
He added that in recent years, ADB operations in Kazakhstan have focused on finance and transport sectors as well as on strengthening knowledge partnerships, as well as on its contribution to Kazakhstan’s active participation in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program.
During the past six years, ADB has also been a partner of the government of Kazakhstan supporting financing of small and medium-sized enterprise development.
“Under our new loan with Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund on Supporting Resilience of Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSME), a total of 72 billion tenge is being channeled to local businesses. The project aims to support economic diversification by promoting private sector development and improving access to finance,” Capanelli said.
He stressed that the external shocks which hit Kazakhstan in 2014 showed that the country’s economy remains highly vulnerable to international financial dynamics due its limited diversification and its dependence on hydrocarbons.
“ADB support will allow MSMEs to access financing needed to maintain operations, invest in productive technologies, and help grow business, thereby contributing to job creation, economic stability, and diversification. As microbusinesses are a major source of income for the low-income population in rural areas, the project will also help reduce income inequalities. It also fosters gender mainstreaming through specific targets to support women entrepreneurs,” according to ADB’s Country Director.
ADB has been actively contributing to the modernization of Kazakhstan’s transport and logistics system to ensure country’s connectivity with the world’s transportation network, and its integration into global supply chains. Investing in the country’s road system has been an ADB’s long-standing priority to reduce the cost of transporting goods and people across a vast territory.
“In Mangistau region, for example, ADB has recently completed the reconstruction of 400 kilometers of the Aktau–Beineu road, reducing the average travel time on this road from twelve to five hours. In October 2017, work was launched on the Aktobe-Makat road, for which ADB provided a $240 million loan to help Kazakhstan increase its trade links with markets in East Asia, Europe, and the Caspian Sea subregion,” said Capanelli.
The project is expected to strengthen regional connectivity and reinforce Kazakhstan’s role as a regional hub in Central Asia.
Asian Development Bank is also committed to further support the government’s efforts in promoting green growth and in development of renewable energy sources, both through public and private sector investment projects, and knowledge support.