Asia Society’s International Business Conference

Kazakhstan
Draws a New Wave
of Investment:
Strategies for Diversification
and Sustainable Growth

June 14-16, 2005 • Almaty, Kazakhstan

On June 14 the Asia Society opened a major international business conference, “Kazakhstan Draws a New Wave of Investment: Strategies for Diversification and Sustainable Growth.” Taking place through June 16 at The Regent Almaty, this conference was co-organized by the Eurasian Media Forum and the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan. President Nursultan Nazarbayev delivered the opening keynote address, and announced that Kazakhstan “confirms its unwavering commitment to be a reliable and responsible international partner who, together with the United States and other leading countries of the global community, contributes to international and regional security, fight against international terrorism, nuclear proliferation and other modern threats.”

The conference provided a forum for examining the country’s emergence as a global economic player, as well as its potential to promote Central Asia as a strategic destination for investment and a bridge for trade between East Asia and the West. It was historic in that it was the first conference organized by Asia Society in Central Asia, and an extraordinarily successful one. This was underscored by the quality of speakers, breadth of discussions, active participation from the audience, and overwhelming positive feedback from participants, speakers, and sponsors alike. The conference has brought tremendous attention to Kazakhstan and consequently, highlighted its potential as a major player in Central Asia as well as on the global scene. At the same time, several speakers urged the need for the Kazakhstani leadership to demonstrate their willingness to focus on the areas of immediate priority with respect to the country’s economic, political and social agenda in order to achieve that immense potential vis-à-vis embracing the rule of law, sanctity of contracts, transparency, and greater political space, to name a few.

Over fifty speakers from government, business, academia and civil society provided their expertise on areas ranging from opportunities in the energy sector, to building a sustainable base for a diversified market economy, to strengthening investor confidence. The esteemed list of speakers from the Kazakh government included Kassymzhomart Tokaev, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Vladimir Shkolnik, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources; and Kairat N. Kelimbetov, Minister of Economy and Budget Planning. Among the international speakers were Richard C. Holbrooke, Vice-Chairman, Perseus LLC and Chairman, Asia Society; Dariga Nazarbayeva, Chair, Eurasian Media Forum; George Soros, Founder and Chairman, Open Society Institute and Chairman, Soros Fund Management LLC; John Ordway, U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan; Martha Brill Olcott, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Pan Guang, Director, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Director, Institute of Eurasian Studies, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences; and Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

The countries and regions represented were Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, Egypt, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, India, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mongolia, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, United States, and Uzbekistan. More than 400 people attended the conference, along with 150 members of the local and foreign media.

Collaborating partners included the American Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan, Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Eurasia Group, European Business Association of Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Foreign Investors Council Association, United Nations Development Programme, and U.S.-Kazakhstan Business Association.