Fifth Astana Economic Forum

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Fifth Astana Economic Forum PR Newswire ASTANA, Kazakhstan, June 5, 2012 ASTANA, Kazakhstan, June 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifth Astana Economic Forum from May 22 to 24 attracted a record number of participants -- over 8,000 from 93 countries. More than 2,000 international delegates, including 300 guests with top reputations in academics, government and politics, took part in 55 events at the Forum, whose theme was "Global Economic Transformation: Challenges and Perspectives of Development." The notables included current and former heads of states, 25 current and former ministers, 40 heads of international corporations, 11 Nobel Prize winners, other renowned economists, and heads of international organizations, such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee, the Club of Madrid, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia, and the World Intellectual Property Organization. About 300 journalists from Kazakhstan and other countries covered the Forum. Kazakhstan President NursultanNazarbayev gave the Forum's keynote address ston May 23. He proposed five principles for 21 Century development, which he called G-Global Principles. They were: Evolution rather than revolution. Justice, equality and consensus.Global tolerance and trust.Global transparency.And constructive multipolarity. The President invited Forum participants to discuss the principles on G-Global online.

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• Publié par: astana-economic-forum-2012
• Nombre de lectures: 27
• Langue: English

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Fifth Astana Economic Forum

PR Newswire

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, June 5, 2012

ASTANA,

Kazakhstan

,

June 5, 2012

/PRNewswire/ --

Fifth Astana Economic Forum from

May 22 to 24

attracted a record number of

participants -- over 8,000 from 93 countries.

More than 2,000 international delegates, including 300 guests with top

reputations in academics, government and politics, took part in 55 events at

the Forum, whose theme was "Global Economic Transformation: Challenges

and Perspectives of Development."

The notables included current and former heads of states, 25 current and

former ministers, 40 heads of international corporations, 11 Nobel Prize

winners, other renowned economists, and heads of international organizations,

such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the Reinventing

Bretton Woods Committee, the Club of

Madrid

, the Economic and Social

Commission for

Asia

, and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

About 300 journalists from

Kazakhstan

and other countries covered the Forum.

Kazakhstan President NursultanNazarbayev gave the Forum's keynote address

on

May 23

. He proposed five principles for 21

st

Century development, which he

called G-Global Principles. They were: Evolution rather than revolution. Justice,

equality and consensus.Global tolerance and trust.Global transparency.And

constructive multipolarity.

The President invited Forum participants to discuss the principles on G-Global

online.

He also suggested establishing an International Forecasting institute under the

Eurasian Economic Club of Scientists. It aim would be to better predict future

economic trends.

Kazakhstan's

Foreign Investors Council, which President Nazarbayev chairs, met

during the Forum to discuss international trade, logistics, and creating business

and financial hubs.

Speakers included Thomas Mirow, president of the European Bank

forReconstruction and Development; Lakshmi Venkatachalam, vice president of

the Asian Development Bank; AlexanderMashkevich, one of the founders of the

Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation; Lorenzo Simonelli, president of

General Electric Transportation; Frank Chapman, chief executive of BG Group;

Yves-Louis Darricarrere, chairman of Total Exploration and Production; Mark

Albers, senior vice president of ExxonMobil; andAndreyKuzyaev, president of

Lukoil Overseas Holding.

Another important gathering that was held as part of the Forum was the 2

nd

Eurasian Business Congress. It covered investment, economic cooperation and

problems that entrepreneurs face in

Asia

and Europe.Representatives of

business organizations from

Germany

,

Russia

,

Hong Kong

and other countries

took part.

At the Forum's closing ceremony, its organizers announced that

$1.5 billion

in

business deals had been signed - from memorandaof understanding to full

contracts - between

Kazakhstan

companies and the companies of other

countries, including

Germany

,

Turkey

and

Indonesia

.

Another event at the conference, the Global Energy/Ecology Forum, generated

three sustainable-development initiatives. One was a Green Bridge Initiative for

a sustainable-development relationship between

Kazakhstan

and

Europe

.

Kazakhstan

noted that its quest to hold an "Energy of the Future" Expo in 2017

in Astana was a good fit with the Green Bridge Initiative.

Kazakhstan

also recommended developing a global energy-and-ecology

strategy to be discussed at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable

Development in

Rio de Janeiro

in 2012.

The Global Energy/Ecology Forum also generated a call for the United Nations

to develop a "Sustainable Energy for Everyone" Initiative.

Another Forum event was the Seventh Congress on Innovation, whose theme

this year was "Innovative Business - a Way to a Competitive Economy."The

Innovation Congress generated 23 memoranda of understanding with an

estimated economic impact of

$100 million

.

At the congress, it was announced that

Kazakhstan's

natural-resources

companies have pledged to allocate 1 percent of their annual revenue to

research and development. The government said it would tax research and

development allocations that result in innovative products at only 50 percent of

the normal tax scale.

The World Economic Forum of Youth also was part of the Astana Economic

Forum. Countries represented by the 500 participants included

Kazakhstan

,

England

,

Germany

,

the United States

,

Italy

,

Russia

,

Estonia

,

Bulgaria

, the

Czech

Republic

,

Ecuador

and

Bolivia

.

A new Forum event was the Congress of Private/Public Partnerships. Its theme

was "Attracting Private Investments to Develop State Services in

Kazakhstan

."

During the Forum the Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organization,

Alejandro Jara, made the important announcement that

Kazakhstan

could join

the WTO as early as the end of 2012.

Another Forum event was a conference of presidents of

Kazakhstan

academies

and schools of public administration and public service.

A Forum first was a CNN televised debate. Its theme was "Rethinking

Integration: Lessons for Emerging Markets." The debaters included former

heads of state, top corporate executives and heads of international

organizations.

An event that drew considerable interest was a dialogue with the famed

economist NourielRoubini, who is known for his economic forecasts. The

dialogue was called "Prospects for the Global Economy."In 2011 Roubini

predicted a new - and far worse -- global economic crisis in 2013.

One of his topics in Astana was the Greek debt crisis. He predicted it would

worsen, transforming

Greece's

recession into a depression. He said there's a

good chance

Greece

will abandon the euro and return to a national currency.

Rubin contended that

Russia's

"economic growth will be constrained because of

excessive centralized control of the economy in recent years." The country

needs to increase entrepreneurial activity, reduce regulation, and make it

easier for foreigners to invest, he said.

Even with reforms,

Russia's

economic growth will be no higher than 3 ½

percent, compared with

Kazakhstan's

7 ½, he said.

Russia's

declining and aging

population will have a negative impact on growth, he added. So the question of

"

Russia

and its future is still open," he said.

Another important event at the Forum was a meeting of Finance Ministers of

the Commonwealth of Independent States. The gathering focused on economic

and financial issues in Commonwealth countries. At the meeting, the Eurasian

Economic Commission began discussions with

Kyrgyzstan

on

Kyrgyzstan's

desire to enter the Customs Union.

The First Congress of Central Asian Businesswomen also was part of the Forum.

Kazakhstan's

women account for about 40 percent of the country's GDP,

participants were told. Overall, women make up two-thirds of all public

employeesand 24 percent of Parliamentarians are women.Kazakhstan is 33d in

the world in MOSocialWatch 2012's Index of Gender Equality

Kazakshtan's sovereign wealth fund SamrukKazyna made a presentationat the

Forum called "The People's IPO," under which

Kazakhstan

will offer stock of

national companies to the public. The first listing, in

September 2012

, will be

KazTransOil, the national operator of oil pipelines.

Forum participants also discussed creating a single agricultural hub within the

Customs Union, which consists of

Kazakhstan

,

Russia

and

Belarus

. This would

involve grain exporters in Customs Union countries working in tandem. Key

goals would include shipping products more efficiently, reducing transportation

costs, and ensuring food security in Customs Union countries.

Another Forum event was the third international investment forum Astana

Invest 2012. Today,

Kazakhstan

has nine free-trade zones and four industrial

zones that provide tax and other incentives to potential investors.The new

technology park Astana New City has drawn interest from 45 businesses.

The consulting company Ernst & Young has noted that 85 percent of foreign

investors in

Kazakhstan

consider the country the most attractive market in the

CIS. Two reasons are economic stability and top growth potential.

The ratio of foreign direct investment to GDP in

Kazakhstan

in 2010 was one of

the highest in any emerging market. In 2010, investment coming into the

country accounted for 1 percent of the worldwide index while

Kazakhstan's

share of global GDP was 0.2 of a percent.

Those surveyed said

Kazakhstan's

most attractive investments are oil and gas

(30 percent of respondents), mining and steel(23 percent), agriculture (14

percent) and infrastructure (10 percent).

The Fifth Astana Economic Forum Wrapped Up with the "Dialogue of Leaders:

New Financial and Economic Policy." Nobel Prize winners, other renowned

economists, government leaders and politicians discussed global economic

challenges. After the Dialogue, Forum organizers put together

recommendations to the G-20 countries for addressing the current global

economic malaise.

Organizers also announced that a world anti-economic-crisis conference will be

held in Astana on

May 24

of 2013.

References

:

Organizers of Fifth Astana Economic Forum

-- The Eurasian Economic

Club of Scientists, 14 Ministries of the Republic of

Kazakhstan

, the National Bank

of

Kazakhstan

, the SamrukKazyna sovereign wealth fund, the United Nations,

the World Economic Forum, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the

Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee, the Club of

Madrid

, and the Russian

Academy of Natural Sciences.

Sponsors and Partners:

The General Sponsor was the SamrukKazyna sovereign wealth fund. Official

Sponsors included KazAgro and RussNeft. Sponsors of the business program

were BG, PhilipMorris Kazakhstan, USAID, Turkuaz, TICA, and Salam World. The

official logistics company for the Forum was Kazakhstan TemirZholy.

G-Globalonline

:

G-Global is an online forum at http://www.gglobal.aef.kz where anyone can

discuss ways to overcome dysfunction in the globaleconomic and financial

systems. Kazakhstan President NursultanNazarbayev came up with the idea.

Governments can offer ideas on G-Global, as can individual public figures,

experts and scholars. G-Global operates in conjunction with the Astana

Economic Forum Web site.G-Global online has attracted hundreds of thousands

of visitors from 143 countries. The Eurasian Economic Club of Scientists reports

that than 9,000 people a day visit the site. In terms of the popularity of an

economic analysis site, G-Global ranks second after the Davos Economic

Forum's Web site, and is on top of all economic forums by search index,

according to the Eurasian Economic Club of Scientists.

Contact Information:

International Press Centre of Fifth Astana Economic

Forum:

Marina Miller: [phone]; [phone], e-

mail:

[e-mail]

.