ASTANA, Kazakhstan, January 13. The European Investment Bank's activities in Kazakhstan focus on supporting development of the local private sector, a source at the EIB told Trend.
"The Bank’s operations in Kazakhstan started in 2013. To date, a total of four loans have been signed for 269.5 million euros. The EIB’s activity in Kazakhstan has focused on supporting the development of the local private sector by enabling access to finance to local SMEs while incentivizing them to adopt more sustainable and environmental-friendly practices," the source said.
The bank said the projects supported by the EIB aim to enable access to micro-loans (Kazakhstan Micro Lending), as well as finance directed towards the agricultural sector (Kazagro Climate Loan for SMEs Midcaps & MSMEs), and in support of impacted business in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis (DAMU COVID-19 Loan for SMEs).
"The EIB will continue working in Kazakhstan in line with the principles and priorities of the EU-Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement," the source said.
Edvardas Bumšteinas, the head of Asia and Pacific Division at EIB, previously stated that EIB also interested in supporting projects related to developing transport infrastructure in Kazakhstan. In this regard, Bumšteinas noted the importance of developing the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor (TITR, or Middle Corridor), which, in his opinion, will become an additional tool for strengthening regional infrastructure between Europe and Asia.
Furthermore, the EIB is currently active in four Central Asian countries: Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and most recently Uzbekistan.