The Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry offers "Atameken" to cooperate in different directions

Within the framework of the Kazakh-Romanian intergovernmental commission on trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation, which was was held in Astana, representatives of the business environment of Romania visited the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs.

The delegation of the Eastern European countries led by Claudiu Vryncheanu, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business Environment of Romania.

"We are going to discuss the following areas: ways and means of enhancing cooperation between NCE and the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry – improvement of the legal framework of relations; cooperation in the field of development of business environment and human resources in a business relationship; the development of trade relations between companies of Romania and Kazakhstan; the development of bilateral trade and bilateral investment structure; bilateral support of new companies", - said during the meeting the head of the Romanian delegation.

Deputy Chairman of NCE RK Atameken "Tulemis Shotanov met with the guests from Bucharest. First of all, he informed the Romanian colleagues about the structure and activities of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs.

"NCE - is the leading Business Association of Kazakhstan, which unites - 1 million 300 thousand businesses. Our main function – is to protect the rights of entrepreneurs, analysis of legislation, a platform for dialogue between the state and business. In addition, we provide service and consulting services for business. We are represented in all 16 regions of Kazakhstan. We also have subsidiary structural units, such as the Chamber of Commerce, Arbitration Center, etc. Our task – is to eliminate contact between officials and businessmen", - said Tulemis Shotanov to guests.

Deputy Chairman of NCE also spoke about investment opportunities in Kazakhstan, adding that foreign investors in the country are under the direct protection of the Head of State. He added that they can also count on the support and assistance of NCE.

"In Kazakhstan (international indices show that) there are very good conditions for doing business. In the world ranking of Doing Business, our country occupies 49th place. Kazakhstan among the CIS countries is a leader in attracting foreign investment. And NCE – is the only structure, which has no analogues in other countries of the former Soviet republics, which united business and helps to establish contact with the state in the implementation of investment projects", - said Tulemis Shotanov.

Deputy Chairman of the Board of NCE introduced Romanian guests with the Map of Regional Development, developed by NCE. "This is a map of all the investment opportunities of Kazakhstan. You can select any region and get detailed information about the availability of mineral resources, business environment, markets, visiting http://businessmap.kz/ru/ site. In short, it is possible, while, for example, in Bucharest, visit the website and get complete information about the potential of a region of Kazakhstan", - said Tulemis Shotanov.

He also stressed that "Atameken", as a leading business association, is interested in establishment of relationships with similar foreign entities as the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania. "If you have an intention to organize a business mission to Kazakhstan, then we are ready to accompany you. Similarly, we can go to visit you. It would be interesting to find out what opportunities there are for Kazakhstani business in Romania. We are open and ready for cooperation", - said the Deputy Chairman of the Board of NCE, addressing the guests.

Tulemis Shotanov also noted that for the Romanian business has great potential in the field of agriculture. According to him, Kazakhstan mainly exports oil, gas and minerals, but now, due to the fall in commodity prices, is looking for new drivers of economic growth, and one of the most promising areas is the agricultural sector. "We have extensive arable land, pasture, lots of agricultural land. The state allocates considerable subsidies for the development of agriculture, in addition, there are a number of large markets around, such as China and Russia. Our products are organic and they are very popular in the same China, and in general, the Celestial Empire is very interested in agricultural products made in Kazakhstan", - said T. Shotanov.

In turn, positively evaluating the map of regional development, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business Environment of Romania Claudiu Vryncheanu noted several areas in which they could work together with Kazakhstan, in particular, the power industry, information technology, at the same time, of course, not excluding the possibility of cooperation in the agro-industrial complex. "We have three areas, these are: trade, exchange of information and experiences, organization of exhibitions, both in your country and our country", - said the Romanian guest.

Virgil Guage, Director of International Relations of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the Chamber of Commerce of Romania and NCE "Atameken", although they are different in structure but are similar in that both organizations are on guard and protect the rights and interests of business. "We are just like you, are working for the sake of protecting the interests of the business environment in Romania. We represent their interests both at national and international levels. We also have a website, where you can get all necessary information about business opportunities in our country", - he said.

As noted by the deputy chairman of the Foreign Trade Chamber Nuraly Bukeikhanov, there was agreed the draft agreement on cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce of Romania (Romanian side offers to sign with the personal visit of one of the parties). "On regular basis is held collaboration between the Foreign Trade Chamber, Embassy of the ROK in Romania and the Romanian Embassy in the Republic of Kazakhstan. In particular, the Embassy of Romania in the Republic of Kazakhstan has repeatedly provided information support for the introduction of business in the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as search of potential partners for the Romanian companies in Kazakhstan. FTC disseminates information on exhibitions and fairs held in Kazakhstan and Romania", - he added.

Reference: Exports of RK to Romania is 17 times higher than imports from Romania. At the end of 2015, the mutual trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Romania amounted to more than 1 billion 420 million US dollars, including exports of Kazakhstan to Romania - 1 billion 343 million US, Kazakhstan imports from Romania mounted 76 million 684 thousand US dollars.

Compared to 2014, the trade turnover between the countries has decreased almost three times (figure for 2014 - 3 billion 164 million US dollars), with the main decline accounted for by exports of Kazakhstan to Romania. Imports of Kazakhstan from Romania fell only by 7.6 million US dollars.

The lion's share (96.7%) of Kazakhstan exports to Romania is crude oil and crude oil obtained from bituminous rocks (the total amount - 1 billion 299 million dollars).

The remaining 2% of Kazakhstani exports to Romania is liquefied propane gas (total amount - 29.5 million US dollars).

The main imported products from Romania are medicines, valves for pipes, boiler shells, tanks, etc., hair products.

As of April 2016, Kazakhstan registered 33 joint ventures with participation of the Romanian capital.