Almaty improves standing as world financial center in latest ranking

Almaty. Photo courtesy of exclusive.kz

Almaty has gained 15 positions in the ranking of The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), Tengrinews reports citing the press service of the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

One of the Leading Centres in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Almaty has significantly improved its position occupying at the present the 43rd place among 83 financial centers of the world. In the region, Almaty is preceded only by Istanbul. It is followed by Prague, Warsaw, Saint Petersburg, Budapest, Moscow, Tallinn and Athens.

"This is a significant achievement, since GFCI includes more than 25,000 responses from more than three thousand professionals in the investment industry," the National Bank said.

The purpose of the Global Financial Centres Index is to study competitiveness of the main financial centers of the world. It includes both data surveys and “instrumental factors”, such as business environment, infrastructure and human capital.

However, the report notes that the largest movers, such as Almaty and Glasgow, remain unpredictable.

In March 2014 Almaty was included in the GFCI for the first time and occupied the 58th place.

The Regional Financial Center of Almaty has a special legal regime governing relations of its participants aimed at the development of the financial market of Kazakhstan.

Development activities of the Regional Financial Center of Almaty are conducted by the National Bank of Kazakhstan. The Governor of the bank Kairat Kelimbetov earlier declared that Almaty was Eurasian Union’s Frankfurt in the making.

By Dinara Urazova

Almaty has gained 15 positions in the ranking of The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), Tengrinews reports citing the press service of the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

One of the Leading Centres in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Almaty has significantly improved its position occupying at the present the 43rd place among 83 financial centers of the world. In the region, Almaty is preceded only by Istanbul. It is followed by Prague, Warsaw, Saint Petersburg, Budapest, Moscow, Tallinn and Athens.

"This is a significant achievement, since GFCI includes more than 25,000 responses from more than three thousand professionals in the investment industry," the National Bank said.

The purpose of the Global Financial Centres Index is to study competitiveness of the main financial centers of the world. It includes both data surveys and “instrumental factors”, such as business environment, infrastructure and human capital.

However, the report notes that the largest movers, such as Almaty and Glasgow, remain unpredictable.

In March 2014 Almaty was included in the GFCI for the first time and occupied the 58th place.

The Regional Financial Center of Almaty has a special legal regime governing relations of its participants aimed at the development of the financial market of Kazakhstan.

Development activities of the Regional Financial Center of Almaty are conducted by the National Bank of Kazakhstan. The Governor of the bank Kairat Kelimbetov earlier declared that Almaty was Eurasian Union’s Frankfurt in the making.

By Dinara Urazova

ranking Central Asia CIS finance industry Kazakh Kazakhstan National Bank news Almaty