Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 22
By Rashid Shirinov – Trend:
International Finance Corporation (IFC) will provide advisory services on the modernization of the infrastructure of Kazakhstan’s Almaty city, Trend reports via the press service of the city’s administration.
The relevant cooperation agreement was signed by the Mayor of Almaty Bauyrzhan Baibek and Georgina Baker, IFC Vice-President for Latin America, Europe and Central Asia. Under the agreement, IFC will also assign an international credit rating to the city.
During the meeting, Baibek noted that IFC has vast international experience in supporting agreements on the public-private partnership principle and creating a clear picture of investment indicators of cities. He said large infrastructure projects requiring long-term foreign investment are being implemented in Almaty.
Baker, in turn, stressed that signing of the agreement is the beginning of a long-term strategic partnership and expressed confidence that it will help strengthen the reputation of Almaty as the leading metropolis of Central Asia.
She noted that the IFC strategy in Kazakhstan is aimed at improving access to infrastructure, supporting diversification and competitiveness of the economy, strengthening the financial sector and small and medium enterprises.
Along with investment, IFC, which is a member of the World Bank Group, is engaged in providing advisory services to government agencies and corporations in the development of public-private partnership mechanisms.
It should be noted that today Almaty is a city of high business activity and sustainable economy accounting for one-fifth of Kazakhstan’s GDP. In 2014 there was a decrease in the volume of investments by 5 percent, and by the end of last year the growth reached 10.5 percent.
Total investments reached almost 732 billion tenge, including more than 100 billion tenge of foreign investments. At the same time, the share of small and medium enterprises increased to 42.4 percent in the city’s economy and 64 percent in tax payments.
(375.95 KZT = 1 USD on Feb. 22)
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