BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 18. The Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) is open to cooperation with Central Asian countries, as stated by the Acting Chairman of the AIFC Administration, Temirlan Mukhanbetzhanov told Trend.
"We collaborate through the Organization of Turkic States (OTS). The Turkic "Green" Finance Council, for example, was founded on the AIFC. We have high hopes for this endeavor. The AIFC can build partnerships with all OTS member countries. Collaboration will be aided by shared culture, language, and values," Mukhanbetzhanov said.
He mentioned that, as of today, over 2,000 companies are registered with the AIFC.
"75 of these offer financial services such as asset management, insurance, and Islamic finance. Furthermore, approximately 150 companies provide consultancy services, with the remainder being non-financial companies from a variety of industries, including real estate and information technology. AIFC also includes Azerbaijani IT firms. In total, the AIFC registers a large number of IT companies," the acting board chairman noted.
Mukhanbetzhanov highlighted that the AIFC has attracted over $8 billion in foreign investments by the end of 2022.
"The investments were attracted through companies within the AIFC, the sale of securities on the AIFC stock exchange, and investment funds created on our platform," he explained.
Regarding the potential integration of AIX (Astana International Exchange) and KASE (Kazakhstan Stock Exchange), the acting board chairman mentioned ongoing negotiations on this issue.
"We're attempting to identify the best integration model, which may not be of two platforms but of some product segments." We anticipate that this issue will be resolved by the end of the year. Following that, the integration model will most likely be made public," Mukhanbetzhanov added.
He emphasized that the AIFC is the only platform for bitcoin exchanges to operate in pilot mode.
"It is a pilot project where we are trying to build the right regulatory environment to balance business interests and consumer protection. Significant work has been done in this direction, but it's ongoing due to the permanent development of technologies. As a financial center, we see new aspects that we did not pay attention to before, and we are working on them accordingly," the acting board chairman explained.
According to him, in terms of traditional financial services, the AIFC will continue focused work on asset management, Islamic banking, and the capital market.
"In terms of the capital market, we pin high hopes on the upcoming privatization program, which has already started in principle. Our uranium company (Kazatomprom) and oil and gas company (KazMunayGas) held IPOs. Recently, Polymetal International Company (engaged in the extraction of silver, gold, and copper) has re-domiciled its business from Jersey to the AIFC. We see some positive signals from both the market and investors, and we'll continue to work in this direction," Mukhanbetzhanov concluded.
AIFC is a one-of-a-kind center on the global economic map, integrating the greatest expertise and most current capabilities of major financial centers ranging from New York and London to Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
The center provides the most successful worldwide financial center methods and technologies, complimented by its remarkable advantages.
Furthermore, AIFC creates new opportunities for investors by offering securities issued by public and private issuers in Kazakhstan and other countries in the region, as well as business projects of various scales, ranging from large-scale projects (at the level of the Belt and Road Initiative) to small IT startups, and for businesses by facilitating access to investors, including major international and regional financial institutions, asset managers, and representatives of the Islamic financing segment.
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