The Kazakhstan-Singapore Business Forum was held in Astana with the participation of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov and the President of Singapore Halima Yacob, which brought together over 200 representatives of government agencies and business circles of the two countries, El.kz cites primeminister.kz.
In his speech, Alikhan Smailov noted that over the years the two countries have built strong and harmonious relations. Today, Singapore is the largest trade and investment partner of Kazakhstan in the ASEAN region. Thus, following the results of the last year the bilateral trade turnover grew by 65% and reached almost $2 billion. In the same period the volume of Singaporean investments for the same period increased six-fold to a record level of $400 million.
"Today more than 230 Singaporean companies and joint ventures successfully operate in Kazakhstan. At the same time, we have great potential for expanding and deepening our economic ties. We have all necessary prerequisites for the implementation of breakthrough investment projects," Alikhan Smailov said.
He stressed that major Singaporean companies are actively expanding their presence in Kazakhstan. In particular, he mentioned the successful partnership with Surbana Jurong in the implementation of a large-scale project "G4 City" in the Almaty region, cooperation with the world-famous manufacturing group Indorama, as well as the importance of the agreement between Kazakhstan Railways and PSA International to create a joint venture that will accelerate the development of the Middle Corridor.
"The growing interest of Singaporean businesses in launching joint projects in Kazakhstan is evidence of the great attention being paid to improving the investment climate in our country. This is expressed in measures of state support and various preferences. For example, special economic and industrial zones, focused on priority sectors of the economy, are functioning. Their participants have access to all necessary infrastructure. We are ready to further deepen our cooperation with Singaporean partners," Prime Minister said.
For her part, President Halima Yacob of Singapore noted that Kazakhstan is Singapore's largest partner in Central Asia and expressed confidence that the relations between the countries will continue to strengthen.
"Today's business forum brought together many business leaders, including Singaporean companies that want to explore project opportunities in Kazakhstan. Given the growing geopolitical challenges, this will contribute to the diversification of the economies of both countries. In this context, Singapore continues to be open to an expanding partnership. Kazakhstan, with its vast resources and strategic location in the heart of Central Asia, is an attractive place for investment from the perspective of various countries and companies," President Halima Yacob said.
The forum resulted in a number of bilateral agreements and memoranda aimed at strengthening cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, logistics and training of civil servants, as well as commercial documents worth $275 million.