Investment ombudsman's first meeting to be held in Astana

The first meeting of the investment ombudsman of Kazakhstan will be held in Astana on June 18, Tengrinews.kz reports citing deputy Prime-Minister of Kazakhstan and Minister of Industry and New Technologies Asset Issekeshev. “We plan to hold meetings of the investment ombudsman every quarter. The first meeting will be held tomorrow, June 18,” Issekeshev said at the round-table meeting on protection of rights of foreign investors and introduction of the investment ombudsman institution in Kazakhstan. Any investor or embassy will be able to apply to the investment ombudsman on certain issues and file requests both via the Secretariat (the Investment Commission) and the Investors Support Center in Kaznex Invest, he said. The investment ombudsman institution was established in Kazakhstan based on the best international practices, in particular on the successful experience of South Korea where this institution had been functioning since 1999 and helped solve 4,500 issues in 2000-2012, he said. “The Kazakhstan government made a decision to establish the investment ombudsman institution. A workgroup led by Vice-Prime-Minister Asset Issekeshev was formed. Not all the countries have such institutions. But we are a developing and emerging market and attraction of high-quality investments is our economic priority. This institution is being established to serve a comfortable, modern and efficient platform for interaction with the investment community,” Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov said. Establishment of the ombudsman institution will allow to introduce a systematic approach to resolving problems of our investors who are already working in Kazakhstan, Asset Issekeshev said. “According to the international statistics, about 65% of investments comes from the existing investors, that is why the rapid response to arising issues and their solution is an important part of promoting reinvestment among the companies operating at our market,” he said. According to him, the work group that will deal with the investors’ problems includes prominent officials from the General Prosecutor’s office, Ministries of Oil and Gas, Interior Affairs, Justice, Finance, Economy and Budget Planning, Labor and Social Protection, Emergency Situations and Environmental Protection, Agency for Countering Economic and Corruption Crime (financial police), National Security Commission and Supreme Court. Major objectives and functions of the investment ombudsman will include: - solving issues related to rights and interests of foreign investments during implementation of investment projects, - rendering consultation services in different areas, - attraction of state authorities’ experts to the issues of their competence, - making suggestions to the state authorities on further improvement of the work on attraction of foreign investments and implementation of investment projects with foreign participation, - mediatory and conciliatory functions шn settlement of disputes between investors and state authorities, - rendering support in legal proceedings. By Altynai Zhumzhumina