Kazakhstan is promoting investment opportunities in its growing economy. It has a large land area and population of over 17 million people. Kazakhstan ranks well in various indices like 25th in ease of doing business. It has abundant natural resources and is among the top countries for foreign direct investment inflows in its region. The government offers various incentives for priority sectors to attract investment, including tax breaks, cashback on investments, and free economic zones. Major projects underway include Expo 2017 in Astana, focusing on renewable energy, which involves the construction of large exhibition and thematic pavilions. The document provides an overview of Kazakhstan's investment environment and opportunities.

1. Invest in
Kazakhstan
Embassy of Kazakhstan
Rome, 18.02.2016
1

2. Basic Facts
● Area: 2,724,000 km2 (1,051,742
sq.miles), 9th largest
● Population: 17,476,141
● Official language: Kazakh, Russian
● Currency: Tenge (KZT)
● Capital: Astana
● Administrative division: 14 regions + 2 cities ​of
republican significance
● Member of organizations: UN, IMF, WB, OSCE,
OIC
National Flag National Emblem
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3. DOING BUSINESS 2016
Rank Country
1 Singapore
8 South Korea
20 Turkey
25 Kazakhstan
36 Azerbaijan
49 Armenia
57 Belgium
66 Russia
81 Hungary
134 China
Protecting minority investors
Rank Country
1 UAE
5 Singapore
18 Kazakhstan
34 Azerbaijan
41 Armenia
47 Russia
61 Turkey
90 Belgium
95 Hungary
132 China
Paying taxes
Economy
Source: World Bank, Doing Business 2016
Kazakhstan ranked 41st
84
83
68
63
61
60
55
53
51
45
44
43
42
41
35
25
4
1
China
Ukraine
Qatar
Azerbaijan
Luxembourg
Greece
Turkey
Israel
Russia
Italy
Belarus
Belgium
Hungary
Kazakhstan
Armenia
Poland
SouthKorea
Singapore
3

4. GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS INDEX RANKINGS
Economy
Source: World Economic Forum, Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016
Rank Country Score
1 Switzerland 5,76
2 Singapore 5,68
3 USA 5,61
4 Germany 5,53
5 Netherlands 5, 50
6 Japan 5,47
… … …
42 Kazakhstan 4,49
45 Russia 4,44
51 Turkey 4,37
80 Tajikistan 4,03
102 Kyrgyz Republic 3,83
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5. Kazakhstan in the world ranking for reserves
Economy
NATURAL RESOURCES
Kazakhstan in the world ranking for production
12
8
12
2
14
11
1
7
10
5
13
11
18
10
13
1
11 12
3
9
18
12 11 10
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2014; BP Statistical Review of
World Energy, June 2014; U.S. Energy Information Administration, Independent Statistics and
Analysis; The Global Source, The Silver Institute; Thomson Reuters GFMS, Gold Survey 2013
Update 1.
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6. Economy
TAXATION: COMPARISON WITH CHINA AND RUSSIA
Kazakhstan Russia China
Corporate income tax
(CIT)
20% 20% 25%
Value-added tax (VAT) 12% 18% 17%
Land tax from 0.03 to 0.16
USD per 1 sq.m (10.8
sq.ft);
0.3%, 1.5% -
Property tax
1.5% 2.2%
1.2% assessed value;
12% rental property.
Source: Ministry of Finance of the RK; Federal Tax Service of Russia; State
Administration of Taxation of the People’s Republic of China
TAXES
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7. 0.3 0.7 1.1 2.1 1.8 2.2
5.7
3.5 2.5 3.7
7.9
12.1
19.4
21.3 21.4 22.2
26.5
28.9
24.0 23.9
Manufacturing Total
Source: National Bank of the RK
FDI in the manufacturing
sector
17.6 $ bln.74%
FDI in the manufacturing
sector
6.1 $ bln.26 %
Since 2005, gross inflows of FDI in the manufacturing sector amounted to $ 23.7 billion, of
which:
From 2010 to 2014 gross inflow of FDI in the manufacturing industry was 17.6 billion USD,
which corresponds to 74% of total FDI inflows in the manufacturing industry since 2005.
Economy
FDI ATTRACTION
7

8. Source: UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2015
Top 5 host economies, FDI inflows
Transition economies, 2014, $ bln. (change)
Top 5 host economies, FDI inflows
Landlocked developing countries, 2014, $ bln. (change)
According to the UNCTAD, in 2014 Kazakhstan has entered top 5 host economies for FDI
inflow among transition economies and became the largest FDI recipient in the
landlocked developing countries group. Among all countries Kazakhstan was ranked the
28th.
Economy
FDI ATTRACTION
2 (-2,7%)
3,2 (+2,8%)
4,4 (+68,3%)
9,6 (-6,4%)
21 (-69,7%)
Serbia
Turkmenistan
Azerbaijan
Kazakhstan
Russia
1,2 (+26%)
2,5 (+37%)
3,2 (+2,8%)
4,4 (+68,3%)
9,6 (-6,4%)
Ethiopia
Zambia
Turkmenistan
Azerbaijan
Kazakhstan
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9. 1st level
Border regions of Russia
2nd level
 Russia
 Ukraine
 Belarus
3d level
Western regions
of China
5th level
 Iran
 Azerbaijan and other
Caucasian countries
4th level
 China
 Uzbekistan
 Tajikistan
 Turkmenistan
 Kyrgyzstan
High Low
Level of integration of the macro-region
12
4
3
5
Kazakhstan is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union:
- free trading without customs duties
- access to population over 170 mln. people
Market of the macro-region

10. Metallurgy1
1. Ferrous
metallurgy
2. Non-ferrous
metallurgy
3. Agricultural chemistry
4. Production of
chemicals for industry
5. Oil refining
6. Petrochemical industry
13. Production of
construction materials
7. Manufacture of motor
vehicles
8. Electrical equipment
9. Agricultural machinery
engineering
10. Railway machinery
engineering
11. Mining equipment
12. Oil producing
equipment; oil and gas
refining equipment
14. Food production
Chemical Industry2 Petrochemical
Industry
3
Machinery4 Production of
construction materials
5 Food Industry6
Priority sectors
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11. INCENTIVES
IN-KIND
GRANTS
In-kind grants of not more than
30%
of the total investment in fixed
assets.
Free land
EXEMPTION FROM CUSTOMS DUTIES
1) When transporting manufacturing
equipment and components for it the
exemption from customs taxation is granted
for the term of investment contract but not
later than 5 years after the investment
contract registration.
2) When importing spare parts for the
manufacturing equipment, raw stock and (or)
materials for term up to 5 years the
exemption from customs taxation is granted
to the legal companies depending on the
volume of investment in the fixed assets.
Investment
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12. FREE
ENTRY
FREE WORK PERMITS
Visa-free entrance
Visa-free entrance for citizens of Australia,
Hungary, Italy, Monaco, Belgium, Spain, the
Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Malaysia, the
United Arab Emirates, Singapore, the United
Kingdom, the United States of America,
Germany, Finland, France, Switzerland, and
Japan for the period from 16 July 2015 till 31
December 2017 if the stay does not exceed 15
days (general application).
Foreign labor
Without permit
for the duration of construction + 1 year
after commissioning of the investment
project for those with investment contracts
NEW INCENTIVES (since 2014)
Investment
In 2017, Kazakhstan plans to abolish visa
requirements for citizens of the 34 member
states of the OECD,
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13. *Criteria for priority investment projects:
- matching the List of Priority Activities (approved by the Government)
- newly created legal entity with investments of more than 2 million MCI (MCI – monthly calculated
index, approved by the Law on the national budget)
CASHBACK ON INVESTMENTS
Reimbursement up to
of the actual expenses for installation and
construction works and equipment
acquisition without value added tax and
excises on the basis of supporting
documents, but not exceeding the cost of
expenses provided by preproject
documentation having the conclusion of
state expertise.
Corporate income
tax (10 years)
TAX EXEMPTIONS:
Land tax (10 years)
Property tax (8 years)
Incentives for priority investment projects*
NEW INCENTIVES (since 2014)
Investment
30 %
0 %
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14. STABLE LEGISLATION STRONG PROTECTION OF INVESTOR’S RIGHTS
Stability of tax legislation for all taxes except
VAT and excise (subject to investment
contract)
Ombudsman’s Office
For ensuring protection of the rights and
legitimate interests of the investors, the
investment ombudsman:
1) considers addresses of investors on issues
arising during the implementation of investment
activity and gives recommendations for their
solution, including interacting with government
bodies;
2) assists to investors in solution of arising
issues in extrajudicial and pre-judicial
procedures.
Investment
Incentives for priority investment projects*
NEW INCENTIVES (since 2014)
*Criteria for priority investment projects:
- matching the List of Priority Activities (approved by the Government)
- newly created legal entity with investments of more than 2 million MCI (MCI – monthly calculated
index, approved by the Law on the national budget)
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15. SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES
«Pavlodar» SEZ
Petrochemical
industry
«NIPT» SEZ
Petrochemical
industry
SEZ «Saryarka»
Metallurgy
«Seaport Aktau» SEZ
Mixed
«Burabai» SEZ
Tourism
«Ontystik» SEZ
Textile industry
«Astana
- new city» SEZ
Mixed
«Chemical
Park Taraz» SEZ
Chemical industry
«Khorgos – Eastern
Gate» SEZ
Logistics
Investment
«Park of Innovative
Technologies» SEZ
IT - Innovations
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16. • Increase of marginal rate of depreciation for tax on the production of software to 40%
• For «Park of Innovative Technologies» SEZ – social tax is 0% for 5 years, under certain
conditions and depreciation rate for software increased to 40 %
• Provision of free land in SEZ for a period of up to 10 years from registration time as SEZ resident
• Simplified procedure for the recruitment of foreign labor
NON-FISCAL INCENTIVES
FISCAL INCENTIVES
INVESTMENT INCENTIVES IN SEZs
Investment
Corporate income tax
Land tax
Property tax
until 2020-2025
with possibility for extension
0 %
Exemption from VAT (for products consumed in
SEZ)
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17. LOCATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
● Kazakhstan’s geographical position makes it a natural crossroads for major transit corridors
from East to West, from North to South.
● The transcontinental automobile road corridor “Western Europe – Western China” passes
through the territory of Kazakhstan. The corridor will allow to deliver freights from China to
Europe in 10 days.
● There is a territory with population of more than 3.3 bln. people within a radius of 2 thsd. km
(1,243 miles) from Kazakhstan.
● The flight time from most European destinations is five hours.
Infrastructure
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
143.5 mln.
KAZAKHSTAN
17 mln.
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC
OF CHINA
1.4 bln.
MONGOLIA
2.8 mln.
INDIA
1.3 bln.
BELARUS
9.5 mln.
IRAN
77.4 mln.
PAKISTAN
182.1 mln.
TURKEY
74.9 mln. Lianyungang
St. Petersburg
Aktobe
Shymkent
Western Europe – Western China
corridor on the territory of
Kazakhstan (2,787 km=1,732 miles)
Western Europe – Western China
corridor (8,445 km=5,247 miles)
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18. SUCCESS STORIES
Investment
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19. EXPO 2017 ASTANA - FUTURE ENERGY
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20. FUNCTIONAL USE:
- EXHIBITION AREA
- PUBLIC AREA
- ENTERTAINMENT AREA
SUSTAINABLE FEATURES:
- PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
- -WIND TURBINES
- -GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
OVERALL AREA – 24 760 m2
NATIONAL PAVILION “KAZAKHSTAN” – THE SPHERE
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21. THEMATIC PAVILIONS
FUNCTIONAL USE: 4 THEMATIC
PAVILIONS:
- EXHIBITION AREA - MY FUTURE ENERGY
- WORLD OF ENERGY
RENEWABLE ENERGY: - ENERGY FOR LIFE
- PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS - ENERGY FOR ALL
OVERALL AREA: 17 440 m2
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22. 8 GENERAL CONTRACTORS
12 CONSTRUCTION SECTORS
OVERALL MORE THAN 150
BUILDING PARCELS
MORE THAN 2000 UNITS OF
WORKERS INVOLVED IN THE
CONSTRUCTION
MORE THAN 120 UNITS OF
CONSTRUCTION MACHINE
AND EQUIPMENT
INVOLVED IN THE
CONSTRUCTION
36 HIGH PRIORITY
EXHIBITION BUILDING
PARCELS
CONSTRUCTION
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23. 23

24. PERSPECTIVES FOR THE RENEWABLE ENERGY
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25. Ministry of Investment and Development of the
RK
www.mir.gov.kz
Electronic Government
www.egov.kz
National Export and Investment Agency
«KAZNEX INVEST»
www.kaznexinvest.kz
National Investment Internet Resource
www.invest.gov.kz
Useful Links
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26. Thank you
for your attention
Embassy of Kazakhstan
roma@mfa.kz
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