AKIPRESS.COM - The Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov, has visited the EBRD’s Headquarters in London, EBRD said in a press release on 23 February.

He was received by EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti and addressed the EBRD’s Board of Directors which represents the Bank’s shareholder countries and organisations.

The Kazakhstani delegation also included the Minister of Economy, Yerbolat Dossayev, the Minister of Investment and Development, Asset Issekeshev, Chairman of the Board of the Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund, Umirzak Shukeyev, and other top officials.

The Republic of Kazakhstan and the EBRD have dramatically increased the level of their cooperation after the signing last year of the Enhanced Partnership Arrangement which defines the way in which the EBRD and other international financial institutions can join forces with the government to finance projects and re-start economic reforms.

EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti said: “Kazakhstan has demonstrated that it is committed to re-energise transition and is accelerating reforms, increasing efforts to diversify the economy away from the oil and gas sector, and rebalancing its economy towards the private sector. This is what the EBRD also believes. To help re-ignite the transition process in Kazakhstan, the EBRD is partnering with the government on a number of reforms in a range of sectors.”

After addressing the Board, the Prime Minister and the President attended the signing of a loan agreement with Turkey’s Yildirim Group for a large-scale cross-border investment project in Kazakhstan: a chromium ore mine which will help western Kazakhstan to diversify its industrial base from oil and introduce top technologies to the sector.

To date, the EBRD has invested about US$ 7 billion dollars into various sectors of the economy of Kazakhstan, with investments in 2014 alone reaching a record level of about US$ 700 million.