NUR-SULTAN – Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into the Kazakh economy rebounded to pre-pandemic levels reaching $23.7 billion and growing 37.7 percent compared to 2020, said the National Bank of Kazakhstan. In 2020, FDI amounted to $17.2 billion.
The top foreign investors are the Netherlands, the United States, Switzerland, Russia, and China. Together, they account for 68.3 percent of the total volume of investments.
Belgium displaced the United Kingdom from sixth place, showing significant growth of 35.1 percent, while South Korea with an increase of 73.2 percent moved from ninth to eighth place ahead of French investors, who closed out the top 10 list of largest investors.
Turkish investors also showed a rather big increase of 87 percent and rank as the ninth-largest investor leaving France and Cyprus behind.
In terms of the industries, mining is leading in terms of investments attracting US$9.7 billion in 2021. In 2020, the figure was US$8.2 billion.
Last year, investment in the manufacturing industry, the second-largest sector in terms of FDI, grew a record 65.4 percent reaching US$5.2 billion.
The annual FDI inflow exceeded the forecasts of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry for 2021. The ministry, which oversees the attraction of FDI into the country, planned to attract around US$19 billion.
Attracting foreign investments has been a priority for the government of Kazakhstan which has a three-tier system for that purpose. The country is now developing a new investment policy through 2025 that will also include ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) standards.
