The "Kazakhstan The Country Of Great Opportunities" business forum was held in Milan with the aim of expanding economic ties between the countries, developing business contacts, and promoting mutually beneficial cooperation. The event was organized by "KAZAKH INVEST" National Company, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Italy, and the Italo-Kazakh Chamber of Commerce. Meirzhan Yussupov, Chairman of the Board of Directors represented the National Company, DKNews.kz reports.
The event brought together representatives of Kazakh state bodies, national and private companies, as well as Italian investors, represented in various sectors such as the agro-industrial complex, light industry, including leather production, logistics, tourism, engineering, oil and gas sector, energy, and others. The total number of participants was 160 people, including more than 110 representatives of Italian companies.
The event was opened with welcoming speeches from the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Italian Republic, Erbolat Sembaev, the Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, Gianluca Grandi, the President of the Justice Committee of the Chamber of Deputies and the President of the Friendship Group Italy-Kazakhstan, Chiro Maschio, and the President of the Budget Committee of the Lombardy Region, Davide Caparini. The speakers highly appreciated the dynamics of economic interaction between Italy and Kazakhstan, noting the significant potential for expanding investment partnership in various areas of the economy.
During the panel session "Investment Opportunities of Kazakhstan and Italy", Meirzhan Yussupov presented the investment opportunities of Kazakhstan and measures of state support for investors, noting that at present, more and more international companies are choosing Kazakhstan as a platform for localizing their industrial enterprises.
"Italy remains Kazakhstan's third strategic trading partner after Russia and China, with a share of more than 11.1% of the total volume of external trade. Today, over 260 enterprises with Italian capital successfully operate in the country, which indicates the high confidence of Italian business in our country" Meirzhan Yussupov
Also, the Head of the Trade and Investment Agency (ICE) in Kazakhstan, Salvatore Parano, the Head of the Supply Chain and Business Promotion Department at "SACE" Luca Passariello, the Chief Customer Officer at AIFC, Temirlan Mukhanbedzhanov, the Managing Director for International Business at KazPost, Semen Pak, and the Commercial Director of Bonifiche Ferraresi, Francesco Formisano, spoke at panel sessions.
As part of the forum, a Memorandum of Cooperation in the development of e-commerce between KazPost and NEOS was signed, and a number of bilateral meetings between the businesses of the two countries were held.
Italy is one of Kazakhstan's most important partners in the European Union, and the countries have a number of intergovernmental agreements aimed at deepening trade and economic cooperation, promoting and protecting investments.
The bilateral trade between the countries in 2022 increased by 54.1% compared to 2021 (USD 9.7 billion) and amounted to USD 14.9 billion. Of these, Kazakhstan's exports were USD 13.85 billion, and imports were USD 1.05 billion. The main exports from Kazakhstan are oil, petroleum products, aluminum, ferroalloys, wheat, copper, and lead.
Since 2011, the gross inflow of direct investments from Italy to the Kazakh economy has been about USD 3.98 billion. Currently, the pool of investment projects of Italian businesses in Kazakhstan consists of 15 projects worth a total of USD 159 million.
