ASTANA – A plenary session of Kazakhstan’s lower chamber of parliament, the Mazhilis, on Jan. 15 approved a bill titled “On ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on encouragement and mutual protection of investments.”
“The agreement is aimed at creating a favourable legal framework for promotion and mutual protection of investments, improving the investment climate and further development of mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation between the two countries,” said Yerbolat Dossayev, Minister of Economy and Budget Planning of Kazakhstan, while presenting the bill in the Mazhilis. “A promising direction of our investment cooperation lies in collaboration between the KazMunayGas national company and Vietnam’s oil and gas corporation Petrovietnam.”
“Among the goods exported to Vietnam are asbestos, iron, and various transport equipment. From Vietnam we import tea, medicines, food processing equipment and computers,” the minister added.
According to the minister, the agreement was signed in September 2009 in Astana during a visit by the Vietnam’s Prime Minister. The agreement includes provisions related to expropriation, nationalization, compensation payment to investors and dispute resolution.
Dossayev noted that from 2005 to September 2013 gross inflows of Vietnamese investments in Kazakhstan amounted to $2.4 million. The volume of trade turnover between the two countries has doubled since last year and reached $221.8 million in January-November 2013.
