The second day of the working visit to Sicily by the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Italy Yerbolat Sembayev followed by a business forum in Catania, organised by the Honorary Consulate of Kazakhstan in the region. It was attended by CEOs of Sicilian companies, representatives of the tourism and food industry, and agriculture. The Kazakh side, in addition to the Embassy of Kazakhstan, was represented by Kazakh Invest National Company, Almaty Tourist Information Centre, the Turan Special Economic Zone and the Department of Investment Promotion of Shymkent, the speakers of which made their presentations online, Delovoy Kazakhstan reports.
The conference saw representatives of the Sicilian business community were presented with detailed information on the reforms taking place in Kazakhstan, investment and tourism potential, and opportunities for the implementation of joint business projects.
In particular, speaking at the opening ceremony, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan in Italy Mr. Yerbolat Sembayev briefed the participants on unprecedented political and economic changes in Kazakhstan, modernisation of the country, strengthening the role of Parliament, enhancing mechanisms for the protection of human rights, measures to ensure citizen participation in the state management, etc.
In addition, the Kazakh diplomat pointed out a new programme of economic reforms in the country, which envisages deoligopolisation and demonopolisation of the economy, measures to increase competition, ensure equitable distribution of national income and favourable conditions for investors.
Ambassador Sembayev stressed the strategic nature of relations between Astana and Rome. Italy is Kazakhstan’s No. 1 trade partner in Europe and the nation’s third largest trading partner after Russia and China. Mutual trade turnover between January and October 2022 totalled $13bn. This is 66.3% higher than in the same period of the previous year (USD 7.8 billion).
Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Kazakh Invest National Company Mr. Zhandos Temirgali presented the Sicilian business community with the activities of the national company, briefed on measures to improve the investment attractiveness of Kazakhstan.
Director of Tourist Information Center Almaty Mr. Yedige Margulan told the participants of the forum about the work on development of tourism, measures to turn Almaty into a tourist hub of the region.
Mr. Zhasulan Tulebekov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Special Economic Zone Turan, and Mr. Bolat Yetekbaev, Director of Investment Attraction Department of Shymkent, respectively, talked about measures to attract foreign investors to Turkistan province and Shymkent city.
In turn, representatives of the Sicilian business community thanked their Kazakh counterparts for informative presentations, received answers to their questions and expressed their interest in developing relations with Kazakhstan.
The working visit of the Ambassador of Kazakhstan in Italy Mr. Yerbolat Sembayev in Sicily followed by bilateral meetings with representatives of companies in sectors such as agriculture and food industry. Also there was a meeting with Mr. Simone Massaro, the head of the Centre for International Cooperation, Research and Development of intellectual technology Free Mind Foundry of the region of Sicily.
