Kazakhstan launches a new program to support small businesses

A new program to support small businesses has been launched in Kazakhstan, a Tengrinews,kz journalist reports, citing Kuandyk Bishimbayev, Chairman of the Board of Baiterek National Company.

According to him, the new program seeks to bolster export-oriented entities outside extraction industries. This year is expected to be a pilot period for the program. This year the initiative will be focused on three major areas, notably agribusiness, machinery building and production of construction materials, and is to be further extended to other industries.

“Since January 1, 2015 Kazakhstan has been part of the Eurasian Economic Space and is about to enter the WTO. Kazakhstan has seen competition getting stiffer both in the domestic and external markets. We want to select a number of companies capable of boosting their production output if supported by the Government”, he elaborated.

He said the measures of support include financial backing through direct lending, lending through the country’s banks, leasing deals, subsidized interest rates, export insurance, pre-export financing and innovation grants.

The second direction of support is consulting services. Participating companies will be exposed to the best corporate governance practices, practical suggestions, professional training for personnel.

The third direction is collaboration with public bodies to remove administrative barriers.