Business Integrity Forum took place at AIFC

The Business Integrity Forum, organized by the Anti-Corruption Agency in cooperation with the Astana International Financial Centre (hereinafter – AIFC), took place at the site of the AIFC.

The forum is dedicated to topical issues of improving the business climate, as well as protecting the rights and interests of entrepreneurs and investors. Sir Suma Chakrabarti, an Adviser to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan under  the President; Alik Shpekbayev, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Kairat Kelimbetov, Chairman of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Governor of the AIFC; representatives of government agencies, domestic business, diplomatic corps, international organizations and others have attended the event.

The head of the Anti-Corruption Service spoke in detail about the measures to protect businesses from corruption pressure. He noted that the protection of the rights and interests of both foreign and domestic investors is one of the key priorities of the Agency.

“Today, over 650 investment and business projects with a total amount of declared investments of more than US $ 38 billion are under the Agency’s anti-corruption support. Foreign participation is noted in every fifth project with a total investment of about US $ 21 billion, ” – A. Shpekbayev said.

“One of the key tasks within the framework of the new concept of public administration is to create favourable conditions for business development, including by improving the judicial and law enforcement systems, deregulating and regulating business from scratch. The openness and transparency of the activities of the state apparatus, as well as the maximum disclosure and exchange of information will contribute to a significant increase in public trust,” – K. Kelimbetov mentioned.

Within the framework of the forum, the sessions “Development of a favourable business environment”, “Business practice: problems and solutions”, “Trends and standards of business ethics” and others were held. The speakers of the event were also the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan Rustam Zhursunov, Registrar and Chief Executive of the AIFC Court Christopher Campbell-Holt, CEO of Freedom Finance Holding Timur Turlov, Deputy General Director for Commerce of Lukoil LLP Alexey Kharitonov, as well as Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Jordan, the Republic of Korea and the Netherlands, etc.

The Forum is intended to become a dialogue platform between business and the state to discuss urgent problems faced by investors and entrepreneurs, and jointly develop approaches to their solution. Based on the results of the work, all comments and suggestions from representatives of the business community will be sent for further study to the Government.

Reference:

The Astana International Financial Centre was created by the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Leader of the Nation, Nur-Sultan Nazarbayev as part of the “100 steps to implement five institutional reforms” national program. The Management council of the AIFC during the council’s meeting on July 2, 2020 approved the Centre’s development strategy until 2025. In accordance with the strategy, the vision of AIFC is in becoming the leading financial centre in the region that includes Central Asia, the Caucasus, EAEU countries, western China, Mongolia, and Eastern Europe.

The mission of the AIFC is in assisting the sustainable and long term development of the region. As the head of state Tokayev noted, “AIFC, with its unique opportunities, can act as a universal platform that connects the countries in the region.” The strategic directions for the sustainable development of the AIFC include the development of a circular economy, financial technologies, and “digital financial centre.” aifc.kz 

The Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Anti-Corruption Service) is a state anti-corruption body, directly subordinate and accountable to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in charge of the formation and implementation of the anti-corruption policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan and coordination in the field of anti-corruption, as well as the identification, suppression, disclosure and investigation of corruption offenses.