What is the main outcome of Astana Finance Days?

July 1-4, the Astana Finance Days financial conference was held in the city of Nur-Sultan. It was attended by world experts, politicians, business representatives and participants of the Astana International Financial Centre. Conference speakers discussed new approaches and ways in the financial market, as well as changes over the past decade. What important issues were raised at this event?

Practical seminars “Getting trained for IPO”

Within the framework of the Astana Finance Days, the AIFC Bureau for Continuing Professional Development  organized for the first time pre – IPO workshops. The seminars are aimed at improving investment literacy and building professional competencies in preparing companies for working with the capital market, including classic problems and issues that stakeholders and the team may face, as well as solutions that experts can offer at all stages of the IPO cycle. The program included guest lectures and practical workshops by global partners from among the leading financial institutions in the fields of accounting and auditing, corporate governance, financial management, IR, HR, and others.

Revolution in the sphere of education

Representatives of international companies as Coursera, EdCrunch, Google, Microsoft, ACCA, GARP discussed topical issues in education technology. Special guest of the meeting, head of the Fung Group  Victor Fang, said that it is  time of revolution in education. According to research conducted by McKenzie, about half of the world’s jobs can be automated. In the middle of the XXI century, half of the working professions will be replaced. Automation will affect 400 million people around the world.
“In my opinion, new technologies are revolutionizing education. At this point, professionals need to learn new skills to get rid of unemployment” said Victor Fang at the Digital Age Education session.

New technologies in the financial sector

Also within the framework of the conference, the first Fintech Summit was held at the Astana International Financial Centre. During the summit, issues such as disappearing professions in the field of finance, new development stage, difficulties in financial services and new global trends, advantages and disadvantages of digitization of finance, QR payments, online ticket offices were considered.
“The fourth industrial revolution brought us to a new stage of development. At the moment we are talking about artificial intelligence, blockchain and Internet products. But innovations in finance are developing slowly. Because we work with people’s money. Any unverified step leads to a loss of money. Therefore, financial institutions adhere to a convergent approach. They want to save their investors and money”, explained the director of FinoTech4Good, Xiaochen Zheng.

Halal industry is of particular importance

Kazakhstan is an attractive platform for the development of Islamic finance in the region, and Islamic finance is one of the strategic objectives of the AIFC. In this regard, AIFC is building a community that will be engaged in Islamic finance, halal industry and attracting investment. “The Islamic financial system is closely linked to the real economy. There are certain limitations in using its tools. For example, the entrepreneur is forbidden to engage in gambling, alcohol production, over-growth. That is why business in Islamic finance should be halal. We have learned to link Halal business with the food industry. In fact, pharmaceuticals, tourism are extensive. Therefore, if we develop halal industry, there would be more investments”, said Alibek Nurbekov, Head of Islamic Finance and Business Hub, Astana International Finance Centre.

New projects

Within the framework of the conference, the Astana International Financial Centre there was presented several new projects. On July 1, with the participation of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the AIFC Court and the International Arbitration Center were opened. The AIFC Court is based on English law and is based on the constitutional law of the financial center. It is independent of the judicial system of Kazakhstan and works only with civil and commercial complaints.
Another interesting project in the judicial system is AIFC Law Pro Bono. The term “Pro Bono” means “for the good of the community”. That is, people who do not have the means to hire a lawyer will receive free high-quality legal services.
The AIFC Bureau for Continuing Professional Development has presented itself on global and international level. 
The center is engaged in the training of specialists in modern social skills. Because training is conducted online and offline, everyone has a chance to get quality education and self-development.