Competitiveness and Private Sector Development: Kazakhstan 2010
Sector Competitiveness Strategy
Since 2000, the economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been growing at an annual rate of between 8%-9%, making it one of the ten highest performing economies in the world. Kazakhstan alone attracts more foreign direct investment than all other Central Asian countries together. To date, the country’s strong economic performance has been driven largely by its natural resources sector. The oil and gas sectors alone attract three quarters of foreign investment inflows. However, Kazakhstan’s non-energy sectors also have competitive advantages that could be potential new sources for growth.
In 2009 Kazakhstan launched a far-reaching programme to diversify its sources of foreign direct investment. To support this effort, it asked the OECD to undertake a three-year Sector Competitiveness Review. This report represents the first phase of this Review, which is an assessment and strategy to help Kazakhstan enhance the competitiveness of non-energy sectors including agribusiness, fertilizers, logistics, business services and information technology. While it acknowledges that the government has successfully implemented a first generation of business climate reforms, the report recommends that sector-specific policy barriers be further addressed. For example, policy makers could stimulate quality improvements and modernise production in some sectors by facilitating access to finance, attracting modern retailers and addressing skills gaps in the workforce.
Egalement disponible en : Russe
Meat Sector
Focus on Beef
The global trade in meat has increased by an average of over 7% annually over the past three decades, and global meat consumption is forecast to grow by 15% in the 2010-19 period. Kazakhstan’s beef sector is supported by its comparative advantages of low labour and land costs, low processing costs and access to premium markets such as Russia. Its challenges include a very low cattle inventory, the absence of an active marketing institution for Kazakhstan’s beef and a lack of affordable financing to grow the sector. Policy options include promotion of modern retail and access to finance schemes to promote investment in the sector and upgrading the standards of beef products. Kazakhstan’s exports should focus on the growing markets of Russia, Central Asia and the Middle East and the beef sector should move up the value chain, coupled with promotion of better quality standards, the development of producers’ organisations and extension programmes.
Egalement disponible en : Russe