CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 04/2015

LE MONDE KAZAKHSTAN
The city of Astana, seen in the
dawn of the evening (l.), the
prestigious new Astana Opera Hall
(ctr.) and the space launch facility
in Baikonur (r.).
FACTS &
FIGURES
Trade: Kazakhstan
& Austria
Traditional culture, often expressed
through the beauty
of local dresses, is highly
valued all over Kazakhstan.
page 34), Kazakhstan is currently campaigning for a
non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security
Council, the latest step on a long way in which ”from
the earliest days of its independence, Kazakhstan has
emphasized economic reform and, as a result, is now
a middle-level-income nation“, as it is pointed out in
a strategic Kazakh paper. ”The transition from a Soviet
command economy to a modern market economy
was marked by hardship, with growing income
inequalities, unemployment, hyperinflation, and deteriorating
living standards“, the document further
says. Then, ”in 1997, President Nursultan Nazarbayev
set out a bold vision in the Kazakhstan 2030
Strategy to overcome these difficulties by emulating
the growth miracles of the Asian ’tiger economies’“
as an ”ideal objective and a dream of the future“.
”Today“, the document concludes, ”it is a dream
that came true.“ Indeed, Kazakhstan has outstripped
most expectations in its ambition to achieve high
and steady growth rates, reduce poverty, attract foreign
investments in transition to a modern market
economy, and liberalize its trade regime. Its economic
growth has averaged 8 per cent since 2000 and,
according to Ernst and Young and Oxford Economics’
joint report “Rapid Growth Markets”, it was the
third fastest growing economy in the world between
2000 and 2010, trailing only China and Qatar. Per
capita income had a peak of over 13,000 US-dollars
in the strong year 2013. Poverty rates, according to
the World Bank, have been cut from 47 per cent in
2001 to just 4 per cent presently and the country has
entered the club of the 50 largest economies of the
world, twisting around rank 40, not far behind Sweden
and Singapore and aiming at rank 30 and higher
as outlined in the Kazakh ”National Strategy 2050“.
”The goal of our ’Strategy 2050‘ is to move on along
this successful path“, says Ambassador Sarybay. ”It
will emphazise on reform towards a more liberal legal
framework for entrepreneurship and an upgrade
of the private sector.“
Sadly, this economic pursuit race, which is largely
based on Kazakhstan‘s richness of natural resources
like oil, gas, coal, minerals, corn, iron ore, metals and
uranium (only 15 such commodity products consist
for 95 per cent of the country‘s exports), experienced
a painful slowdown in 2014. Its growth rate has fallen
to 4,3 per cent and its GDP per capita to some 12,270
US-dollars due to a decreasing demand from Russia
and China and the overall weak global economy.
According to Michael Müller, the Austrian Commercial
Counsellor in Astana, the trade volume between
Kazakhstan and Austria – with record exports
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE EMBASSY OF KAZAKHSTAN IN AUSTRIA; NIKITA BASSOV; AFP IMAGEFORUM
from Austria of some 292,5 million Euros in 2013 –
has therefore nearly come to a ”stillstand“ in 2014,
with Austrian exports falling back to 12 per cent to
257,2 million Euros, which was also due to a heavy
devaluation of the Kazakh currency Tenge and budget
cuts. On the other hand, the low Tenge exchange
rate right now opens an attractive window for investments
and acquisitions in Kazakhstan, which in November
2015 has put many state companies for sale
as part of an extensive privatization programme. According
to the Austrian Central Bank, Austrian direct
investments, headed by OMV, accounted for 62
million Euros as of the end of 2014.
”Kazakhstan is very open for new international
investments“, says Müller. ”There are more than 50
Austrian companies active there and some, like Frey
Wille, Bene, Ciro or Aida, have even opened franchises
or flagship stores, mostly in the business metropolis
Almaty.“ In order to ”discovering new business
opportunities in Kazakhstan“, Ambassador Sarybay
additionally reports, the Kazakh-Austrian Commercial
Forum recently has compiled a roadmap listing
36 ”priority projects with a volume of some 400 million
Euros“ and with companies like OMV, Kapsch,
STRABAG, Bertsch, Porr, Siemens, Swarovski, VA-
MED, Doppelmayr or Christof Group involved.
Maybe the only downer in this résumé might be
Kazakhstan‘s low rank of Nr. 126 (out of 175 countries)
in the corruption awareness index of Transparency
International. The government is tackling this
problem with an ”anti-corruption-strategy 2015-
2025“ and introduced severe criminal legislature in
June 2015. One of its first victims, by the way was the
former CEO of the EXPO 2017 organization committee.
Many observers regard his indictment as a
bold signal to the international community of the
many ways of Kazakhstan‘s ”Future Energy“.
Kazakhstan traditionally
ranks number 3 within
Austria‘s most important
trade partners in the GUS
in Central Asia, behind
Russia and the Ukraine.
Austria‘s exports, mainly
pharmaceuticals,
machinery, iron and steel
products, paper and high
tech steering and
measurement equipment,
have reached a record of
nearly 300 million Euros in
2013, but have fallen below
260 million Euro in 2014
due to a heavy devaluation
of the Tenge, the Kazakh
currency. Imports of
Kazakhstan, which for 98
per cent consist of oil, had
been around 1,65 billion
Euros in 2014. There are
some 50 Austrian
companies active in
Kazakhstan, with the OMV
as the major investor. Vice
versa, Kazakhstan has hit
the headlines in 2012,
when its biggest
investment (via Verny
Capital) in Austria, the Ritz
Carlton Hotel in Vienna,
opened its doors to
international visitors.
Kazakh President
Nursultan Nazarbayev
with Austrian President
Heinz Fischer at a state
visit in October 2012.
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Cercle Diplomatique 4/2015
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