On 21 September 2022, Yerbolat Yerkebulanov (partner, head of Subsoil Use (Almaty)) lectured on FDI attraction issues at the "Promoting regional economic connectivity" online seminar, organized by the OSCE Center in Ashgabat.
The participants comprised representatives from the Mejlis (Lower Chamber) of the Milli Gengesh (National Council) of Turkmenistan, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations, Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan, state and commercial banks and other relevant stakeholders.
During the webinar the participants were informed about 30-year Kazakhstan's experience in modernization of its legal system aimed at FDI attraction, advantages gained and certain omissions made and rectified.
Among others, two most successful cases were discussed which related to the reform in subsoil use of solid minerals (adoption of the new Code on Subsoil and Subsoil Use with implementation of the Western Australia approach being among the world's top mining destinations) and development of the renewable energy sources ("RES") sector. (During 2013-2021 the capacity of the RES sector in Kazakhstan rose 11-fold, from 177.52 MW (26 RES facilities) to 2010 MW (134 facilities) with the accumulated volume of investments being $1.8 billion, including $1 billion received from international development institutions.)
In addition, the issues of proposed amendments to the oil and gas legislation were considered (a modernized model contract) and measures for further attraction of FDI envisaged by the Concept of Investment Policy of Kazakhstan until 2026.