The report is divided into three sections. The first section provides a general profile of the country and an analysis of the most relevant topics that impact the business environment. The second section gives an insight into the most important industries in Kazakhstan, their investment and expansion opportunities, and relevant challenges. The third section looks at the ease of doing business in Kazakhstan and explores more specialized topics such as tax and corporate social responsibility.

“Significant progress has been made with a vision to turn Kazakhstan into the region’s most investment friendly country. Former President Nursultan Nazarbayev laid out a strategy, Kazakhstan 2050, calling for better governance, improvement of the welfare and tax systems, support for small and mediumsized businesses, and development of infrastructure to transform Kazakhstan into one of 30 most advanced nations by 2050. This will truly hold for the future with the new President. To do so, Kazakhstan will need to integrate its economy into the global and regional environments by capitalizing on its transit potential and bolstering information technology capabilities,” the report says referring to numerous public sources.

“Kazakhstan is a natural transit corridor for the new Silk Road — a project expected to significantly accelerate and reduce the cost of goods delivery from China to Europe through Central Asia and the Caucasus in which China is heavily invested. Kazakhstan’s strategic geographic position will become even better placed in the future because of major geo-economic shifts, together with innovations in the transport industry,” the document went on.

According to the authors, the project delves into the opportunities available to Norwegian companies interested in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Interviews with experts and analysis of secondary data are supplemented with ontheground interviews with key companies.

“To most Norwegian companies, Kazakhstan and Central Asia remains uncharted territory. With this report, the authors hope that Norwegian business will gain insight into market information and new possibilities in Kazakhstan,” says Frode Mo, Country director, Russia Innovation Norway, in his introduction to the issue.

“With critical research by our members, we attempt to present an objective view of the economical, cultural, political, and social aspects of this unique country,” says Eric Hua, the project leader.

International Business Project was initiated in 1984 by Innovation Norway and is an annual non-profit project that aims to uncover distinctive international business opportunities in emerging markets. According to Innovation Norway, “the project contributes to more positive and open-minded thinking regarding emerging markets”.