Transformation of Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund will bring 2 trillion Tenge or $11 billion to the national economy by 2020. On Monday, the relevant program was presented and launched in Astana with participation of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The new program implies a reform ensuring a powerful leap forward.



Umirzak Shukeyev, Chairman of Management Board, Samruk-Kazyna JSC:

— It is obvious that country’s development is impossible without Samruk-Kazyna’s modernization. In this regard, the President has instructed to achieve global competitiveness in relevant industries. We know that, in spite of good indicators in operating efficiency, we need to improve the efficiency of capital allocation.

Experience of Singapore’s Temasek Holding in its structural transformation is impressive. The country has increased its capital by more than three times as a result of the transformation. The cost of portfolio companies of Malaysia’s Khazanah has grown more than 200% due to the reforms as well.

Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan:

— We need to follow these examples. As Mr. Roubini noted today, we have great opportunities. Kazakhstan has the resources, the funds and the educated people. Our students study in and out of the country. We should use this experience and realize it.

Many foreign experts have outlined that Kazakhstan has every opportunity to follow the example of the world's leading holdings. Kazakhstan needs transformation right now as the world witnesses serious geopolitical changes. The power balance is shifting towards Asia and Samruk-Kazyna Fund should be fully ready for the new economic realities.

Nouriel Roubini, Professor of Economics, New York University:

— Well, I am quite optimistic about the future economic prospects of Kazakhstan. This country has been growing very fast for the last 20 years as a diversified economy, as a stable government and sophisticated policy making. And as to implement the kind of structural economic reform that is going to lead it to be moving away from middle income status to much high level of per capita income.

One of the main tasks of transformation is a new value of the holding. The transformation will change approaches to investments and optimize the business processes. In addition, a large-scale reorganization and ‘de-bureaucratization’ will take place. The Fund should bring more profits and its companies must work more efficiently.

Transformation program will focus on three main directions: the implementation of best practices in human resources management, a full review of business processes and modernization of applied technologies. President has emphasized that at least three companies of the Fund should be able to enter the list of the largest companies in the world in five years. The Head of State has set several major challenges. According to him, the Fund should improve the efficiency immediately by 40% and develop its scientific and technological potential. Moreover, People's IPO program should be further implemented. It is necessary to develop the private sector and support the small and medium businesses.

Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan:

— We need to create global brand names. We need to set ambitious goals and to not be afraid of them. We have created a state from nothing. The Soviet Union was like a broken plate. We made ​​the country out of nothing. Nobody knew about the Kazakhs, no one knew about Kazakhstan. Today the whole world knows where Kazakhstan is. We have changed the country, built a capital and built the economy. We need to achieve the new goals too.

Samruk-Kazyna is the largest employer in the country. It brings together the most important assets of the country, and its subsidiaries carry out a quarter of all investments in Kazakhstan. The transformation can be one of the key tools in joining world’s top 30 developed economies.



Source: Kazakh-tv