On March 27, 2019, Almaty hosted a meeting with entrepreneurs on improving business conditions and improving Kazakhstan's position in the Doing Business ranking.
It brought together representatives of different organizations and departments, where current issues were discussed and joint solutions were worked out to improve conditions and increase the pace of business development in Kazakhstan.
Under the moderator of the Department of Entrepreneurship Development of the Ministry of National Economy, Jakupov Aslanbek raised issues of improving the business climate related to the implementation of legislative initiatives aimed at reducing administrative barriers, reducing permits for business, and their enforcement practices.
The results of the reforms and the state of business in Kazakhstan are assessed by independent experts of the World Bank. According to the World Bank's 2018 Report in the Doing Business ranking, Kazakhstan climbed 8 points from the previous period and ranked 28th out of 190 countries in the world, having increased its rating for the entire period by 49 positions.
Kazakhstan was ahead of Spain (30th), France (32), Poland (33), Portugal (34), Switzerland (38), Japan (39th), Turkey (43). Among the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, Kazakhstan is leading, with Russia (31), Belarus (37), Armenia (41) and Kyrgyzstan (70) ranked lower.
At the same time, Kazakhstan was recognized as the best reformer in the 2016 report and ranks 3rd among 190 countries in terms of the number of reforms implemented since 2005. Over the past four years, 53 reforms have been implemented (an average of 13 reforms per year or more than one reform per month).
Deputy Finance Minister Ruslan Ensebayev spoke on the «International Trade» indicator and spoke about the possibility of filing a customs declaration and committing customs operations in the ASTANA-1 Information System through the «Single Window» portal, digitalization of customs and tax administration, as well as VAT administration using blockchain technology.
During the event, presentations are presented on the implemented measures to simplify the procedure of opening a business, in particular, reducing the time required to register a value-added tax from 5 (five) to 1 (one) working day, introducing a ban on the requirement to print documents from private companies, the introduction and use of information systems in the railway, procedures for connecting to the electricity system, reforms within the indicators «Getting credits» and «Protection of minority investors» , the state of work when obtaining a building permit, the possibilities of registration of real estate rights and others.
At the same time, experts noted that the next package of legislative amendments (7 package) includes the following basic reforms: allowing the use of the bank account remotely from the moment of online opening without proper verification, establishing priority of the rights of collateral creditors in the bankruptcy procedure of the enterprise, ensuring public access to the information of a single registry of collateral of movable property, the conclusion of contracts for electricity supply on the principle of public offer.
In general, the meeting received good feedback from the audience, interested parties strengthened cooperation, exchanged contacts, and outlined joint actions to address further systemic issues.
Experts noted that the implementation of the announced legislative initiatives within the framework of the «Doing Business» rating will have a positive impact on business development in Kazakhstan, attracting additional investments in the country and, as a result, on the development of the economy, ensuring better conditions for every citizen of the country.
Presentations of the meeting in Almaty on March 27, 2019 can be downloaded from the following links:
http://economy.gov.kz/ru/kategorii/podderzhka-biznesa
http://economy.gov.kz/ru/pages/infografika-8
