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EBRD President visits Kazakhstan
Two deals, €40 million to be signed on second visit to Central Asia in one month
Jean Lemierre, President of the EBRD, will this week make his second trip to Central Asia in a month to visit Kazakhstan and underline the Bank's commitment to a region to which it has committed over €1.6 billion in the last 10 years.
Mr. Lemierre, who visited Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in November, is going to Kazakhstan to attend a session of the Foreign Investors' Council (FIC) in the new capital, Astana.
He will also hold separate talks with President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Prime Minister Kasymzhomart Tokaev, deputy premier Karim Masimov, as well as sign two infrastructure projects worth around €40 million.
The Foreign Investors' Council was set up in 1998 -- with the EBRD and the Kazakh government acting as co-sponsors - and has the task of advising on how to improve the investment climate. The Astana session will coincide with the start of celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence.
Mr. Lemierre will during his visit argue that improving governance and diversifying the economy hold key to securing future growth and building on the economic achievements of the first decade of independence.
Mr. Lemierre, who will be accompanied by the Deputy Vice President David Hexter and the EBRD's Chief Economist, Willem Buiter, as well as other senior staff, will also stress that facilitating regional trade is of paramount importance to the long-term stability of Central Asia.
During the December 14-16 visit, the EBRD will underline its commitment to helping Kazakhstan renew its infrastructure by signing two projects worth around €40 million for the western city of Atyrau. These are aimed at improving living conditions for the local population and modernising transport links with the outside world.
A €13.7 million loan to the Atyrau regional government will be earmarked for the construction of a new drainage system with the aim of tackling a chronic flooding problem in the city centre.
A separate €28 million loan, supported by a sovereign guarantee by the Republic of Kazakhstan, will be used to refurbish the main runway and finance other operational improvements at Atyrau airport.
Kazakhstan is the largest recipient of EBRD investments in Central Asia. The latest projects signed this week will bring the Bank's total commitments to nearly €800 million over the last 10 years. The EBRD business volume in Kazakhstan for 2001 is on target to reach more than €180 million by the end of the year - a 44 per cent increase on the 2000 total of €125 million.
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