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City
Profile
While
Almaty is not the capital of Kazakhstan,
it is the country's largest city. Like other
financial centers in the Muslim World Almaty
is also home to a stock exchange which boasted
a 50% return in 2004. In recent months Almaty
has been the site of a number of important
business related events.
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Country
Rankings
for Kazakhstan
|
|
| Ease
of Doing Business World Bank '05 |
86
of 155
|
Med*
|
Corruption
Perception
Transparency International '05 |
107
of 159
|
Med
|
Growth
Competitiveness
World Economic Forum '05 |
61
of 117
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Med
|
| National
Literacy |
99.5%
|
High
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GDP
Growth
(2004 est.) |
9.1%
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High
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In
September the first International Festival of
Design opened to create a forum for the exchange
of experiences as well as creation of new innovative
ideas. In addition, the European Bank of Development
and Reconstruction has recently implemented the
Kazakhstan small business program at a leading
Kazakhstani bank.
About
450 companies from 40 countries worldwide are
said to have taken part in the 13-th Kazakhstan
International Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference
which was held in Almaty on October 4-7 where
emphasis was placed on the need to use the rich
practice of foreign investors in Kazakhstan.
The
International Finance Corporation, the private
sector arm of the World Bank Group, has also recently
signed an agreement to provide a long-term loan
of $5 million to BTA ORIX Leasing which is a joint
venture between Kazakhstan's second largest bank,
Bank Turan Alem, ORIX Corporation of Japan, the
largest Japanese leasing company, and ORIX Leasing
Pakistan.
The
recently formed Caspian integration business club
has started work with a meeting of Kazakhstan
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Vladimir
Shkolnik, representatives of Kazakhstani companies
and the mass media. The club unites more than
100 companies from 30 countries. It was founded
to promote integration in economic, social, political,
energetic and environmental processes in the Caspian
region. The club will provide for the further
development of the regional ties between countries
and collaboration of the governmental institutions
and private industries.
The
domestic political environment continues to remain
active with the recent hunger strike by opposition
newspaper editors over alleged government pressures
restricting the printing of their newspapers.
Source:
Population:
2004 or latest: http://www.citypopulation.de;
GDP Data: 2004 CIA Fact Book estimate; Literacy:
UN estimate
*
Country Ranking Codes: A relative color coding
of where the country falls compared to the 20
other Muslim countries represented in this list.
Hgh/Green=Top 3rd; Med/Yellow=Mid 3rd; Low/Orange=Bottom
rd
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