BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Kazakhstan auctioned more than 1,300 megawatts of installed renewable energy capacity in 2021 with the support of USAID, the USAID official told Trend.
In 2021, USAID continued its multi-year projects to diversify Kazakhstan’s economy, increase regional business and trade connections, and strengthen regional cooperation on energy and shared water resources.
Thus, with USAID assistance, in 2018-2021, Kazakhstan auctioned more than 1,300 megawatts of installed capacity in wind, solar, hydropower, and biomass energy, attracting investors from 195 companies from 12 countries.
Furthermore, USAID partnered with the Supreme Court, Academy of Justice, National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, bar associations, the business community, and other stakeholders to improve the investment climate and legal enabling environment for businesses by promoting stronger alternative dispute resolutions, improved tax administration, and increased court effectiveness.
At the same time, USAID helped develop the entrepreneurship ecosystem, including by working with the MOST Business Incubator in Almaty and providing feedback on draft venture capital legislation. These will help the diversification of Kazakhstan’s economy.
“USAID organized online capacity building and consultations for 200 tourism service providers in Kazakhstan on best practices in product development, hospitality management, and social media marketing to spur the region’s travel industry recovery,” the official said.
In 2021, USAID supported the development of 31 new trekking routes in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan by publishing detailed descriptions of trails on Asia-Hikes.com to promote tourism in the region.
“USAID partnered with Kazakhstani firms, providing expertise and investment facilitation. As a result, these firms implemented new projects, expanding and creating new jobs, and now can pass the newly acquired experience to the smaller firms they work with. These efforts contribute to strengthening a private-sector-based economy,” the official said.
Here are examples of the projects:
- Magnum Cash & Carry LLP is the largest retail chain in Kazakhstan. Magnum launched an e-commerce application, developed software products, and opened an online platform connected to physical stores that created 1,736 new jobs, including 863 in the e-commerce department.
- Adal Sut LLP is part of the group of companies JSC “Agro-industrial company Adal”. They aspire to become a leader in the dairy industry in Kazakhstan. Adal Sut attracted $718,000 to renovate a warehouse and other facilities.
- Arnur Credit LLP is a microcredit company with headquarters in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. The company attracted $8.2 million of investment to deliver access to finance for its clients.
- Bayan-Sulu JSC is a part of the private holding KazFoodProducts and is engaged in the confectionery business. Bayan Sulu attracted $1 million for the factory expansion.
- Kazbeef Group LLP is one of the largest meat processing complexes and is the only producer of marble beef using American technology in Kazakhstan, with a full cycle production of high-quality meat products—from growing fodder to the packaging of finished products. Kazbeef invested about $2.7 million into improvements to its business processes to meet international requirements. With USAID support, Kazbeef achieved Global GAP certification in November 2021.