As part of Astana finance days, a meeting of the highest collegial body of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) - the AIFC Management Board, chaired by President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, was held.
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Chairman of the Council - Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin, Minister of Finance of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov, Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan Ruslan Dalenov, Chairman of the National Bank Yerbolat Dosayev, Governor of AIFC Kairat Kelimbetov. The Council also includes authoritative leaders of major international financial institutions, such as President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Suma Chakrabarti, Chairman of the Board of Directors of JP Morgan Chase International Jacob Frenkel, President and Chairman of the Board of Sberbank of Russia Herman Gref, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group Bandar Al Hajjar, co-founder and the head of the Yandex group of companies Arkady Volozh and the head of the global bloc of governments and the public sector of an investment and corporate bank Citigroup Julie Monaco.
During the meeting of the Council an official presentation of the AIFC annual report was held.
Bandar Hajjar noted the great work that the AIFC has done since the official opening and stressed that the Islamic Development Bank is a strategic partner of the Republic of Kazakhstan and will continue to develop mutually beneficial relations and work on increasing the portfolio of projects.
Suma Chakrabarti noted that the EBRD is a partner of the AIFC and is working closely together on green financing at the AIFC platform, which will benefit and profit to all of Kazakhstan in the future.
During the meeting of the AIFC Management Board, the President of the first foreign company to become an issuer at the AIFC Stock Exchange (AIX) Polymetal management company JSC, also gave a speech.
“On April 17 of this year, ordinary shares of Polymetal International plc were included in the official list of the International Financial Center Astana. At the close of trading the volume of placement amounted to 1,690,440 shares in the amount of more than 17 million US dollars. Demand for stocks exceeded supply by more than 2 times! Trading results exceeded all our expectations. We believe that in the medium term, the AIFC will acquire significance as the main regional investment platform of the whole of Central Asia. AIX will become a place of attraction for investors from Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey and, of course, China,” said Igor Finogenov.
It is worth noting that the main tasks of the Council are to determine the strategic directions of development of the AIFC and assist in creating favorable conditions for the formation of a world-class international financial services centre.
The participation of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the heads of state bodies of the country in the work of the AIFC Governance Council testifies to the support and control of the initiative at all levels of government. Meanwhile, the participation of representatives of large international financial corporations and leaders of the region's innovative business provides a professional look at the situation in the AIFC and its development prospects.