BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 12. Kazakhstan's Qazaqstan Investment Corporation JSC (QIC) has locked important cooperation agreements with international financial institutions and companies in the past few years, a source in the Corporation told Trend.
"As part of its activities, over the past couple of years, the company has been actively establishing a network of business contacts with key industry players in the international arena. QIC's partners include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Wolfensohn Capital Partners global private equity fund, Mubadala state holding company, CITIC Group Chinese investment company, ADQ Arab investment holding, 500 Startups venture fund, Quest Ventures Southeast Asian fund, DEG-Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft German development institute, TAV Holding Turkish company and others," the source said.
According to the source, QIC entered into a number of agreements and memorandums with foreign companies, such as Da Vinci Emerging Technologies GP Limited (UK), VPE Capital (UAE), as well as QIC and BGI Group (China) reached an agreement on creation of a joint investment fund - Forebright Life Science Technology Fund.
To note, QIC in partnership with international institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds and international financial institutions, invests and manages private equity funds.
As the source noted, QIC funds provide capital to companies in non-resource sectors of the economy to further growth and improve competitiveness.
"In addition to cooperation with international financial institutions, QIC also raises funds from the republican budget to develop the direct investment ecosystem in Kazakhstan. Thus, the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan supported the need for a one-time allocation of budget investments in the amount of 35 billion tenge (about $77 million) in 2023 to finance priority sectors within the framework of state programs," the source noted.
As the source pointed out, QIC has also joined the UN Principles of Responsible Investments and became the first quasi-public financial institution in the CIS to join the leading international network of institutional investors committed to the concept of implementing ESG standards in their activities.
Moreover, the implementation of ESG standards in QIC’s investment activities is identified as one of the main strategic directions that will contribute to the high investment attractiveness of Kazakhstan.
"The introduction of responsible investment practices will increase the visibility of QIC to institutional investors and provide the opportunity to attract additional capital to build a portfolio of green projects," the source said.
Thus, at the end of December 2023, the Sustainable Fitch assigned QIC an ESG rating of "3" for the first time, with an overall score of 59.
Furthermore, QIC is a fund of private equity funds with state participation, created to promote the growth and development of the national economy of Kazakhstan. Activity of QIC is aimed at forming private equity infrastructure in the country and attracting foreign investment in priority sectors of the economy. For every dollar invested, QIC attracts $2.1 from the funds of foreign partners.