Capital market in Kazakhstan – is there a positive outlook?

The recent outbreak of COVID-19 pandemia has not created any new issues for Kazakhstan’s economy, it has just uncovered the existing ones. Long before the pandemia it was already clear to the Kazakh Government that “oil era” is coming to an end and new instruments shall be developed to attract money to the country. As a response to the challenging reality, the Kazakh Government has to apply non - resource based means to boost the economy. Creating a strong capital market that will attract regional and foreign investors to Kazakhstan is one of such non - resource based measures.

Kazakhstan’s largest ever privatization of its most valuable state-owned assets, including through initial public offerings (“IPOs”) of the “blue chip” Kazakh companies on the stock exchange of the Astana International Financial Center (“AIFC”), the Astana International Exchange (AIX) and London or Hong Kong and establishment of AIFC that is declared to become the financial hub for the whole of Central Asia and Eurasian Economic Union, are important steps undertaken by the Kazakh Government in attempt to strengthen capital market in Kazakhstan.

The ambitious plans of the Kazakh Government are, however, not always implemented smoothly. Though some success has been already reached, the main results are yet to come and Kazakhstan’s capital market is yet at the early stage of its development. One of the key indicators of week capital market in Kazakhstan is that even large players still prefer to get expensive financing from the banks as attracting money through the stock exchange is challenging and success of the transaction is not guaranteed.

Read more in the Investor's Voice Magazine by The American Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan (AmCham) here → 

Author: Marina Kahiani, Partner, GRATA International Law Firm

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One of the most important areas of AmCham activity is its publications and communications strategy that ensures the broadest possible visibility for the Chamber and makes its voice heard where it matters. Our publications are distributed not only to members in Kazakhstan, but to AmCham member companies around the world, including the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.