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Legal reform in Kazakhstan gets $1m boost
EBRD, Japan launch major technical and legal cooperation project
The EBRD and Japan will put at least $1 million into a comprehensive programme
of technical and legal support for Kazakhstan over the next year. The aim is
to support Kazakhstan’s transition to a market economy by offering practical
help in adopting a legal and regulatory framework that reflects international
best practice.
The money will be used to help Kazakhstan’s State Agency for the Regulation of
Natural Monopolies (AREM) to continue market and regulatory reforms in four
sectors of the national economy: telecoms, power and energy, oil and gas
pipelines and rail transport sectors. It builds on earlier EBRD successes with
technical and legal cooperation projects in a number of individual economic
sectors.
The project, which will also further strengthen AREM’s institutional
organisational capacity, will make sector opportunities significantly more
attractive to foreign investors. The Kazakh government is strongly supportive
and requested the assistance because, in the words of Deputy Prime Minister
Sauat Mynbaev, “we believe it will be critical in achieving the appropriate
market reforms to underpin higher levels of private investment”.
Funding is provided by the Japanese government, an important donor to the EBRD
Legal Transition Programme. "Japan appreciates the importance of putting in
place a strong, clear legal framework to buttress the market economy,
benefiting both Kazakhstan and its regional partners in Central Asia and
beyond," said Susumu Fujimoto, the EBRD Board Director representing Japan.
Funding is administered by the EBRD’s Office of the General Counsel, as part
of the Bank’s Legal Transition Programme. International consultants based in
Kazakhstan will help to implement the programme over the coming 12 months.
Emmanuel Maurice, General Counsel of the EBRD, emphasised the Bank’s
commitment to promoting commercial principles and international standard legal
and regulatory practices, noting that the project displays the EBRD’s
willingness to play a crucial role in supporting Kazakhstan’s transition.
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