The 2010 Winter Issue of “Investor’s Voice,” the official magazine of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kazazkhstan, was recently released and posted to on-line. This KazakhstanGrok post provides a link to the issue and the introductory remarks from AMCHAM Kazakhstan Executive Director, Doris Bradbury:
As 2010 gets underway, the global business community hopes for a recovery from the financial crisis that swept across the world in 2009. Last year was challenging, but Kazakhstan’s business community and the AmCham membership held firm and Kazakhstan appears to have weathered the storm, albeit with some significant damage to its financial sector and reputation. As we slowly emerge from the crisis that is still running its course in parts of the Eurozone and emerging markets, Kazakhstan can appreciate the benefits and drawbacks of being an oil-rich nation whose fortunes rise and fall with the price of this precious commodity.
And so we await what 2010 will bring us amid cautious signs that a measured recovery is indeed in progress. The Kazakhstan tenge, which underwent a 20% devaluation in early February 2009, is on the rise, closely controlled and monitored by the National Bank. The Russian economy is beginning to roar once again, Chinese industrial demand is surging, and American investment abroad is a bright light in the still faltering U.S. economy.
With an eye on the future for the economy of Kazakhstan, this issue of Investors’ Voice is devoted to cooperation in science and technology in a variety of fields vital to Kazakhstan’s economic and social development. The issue is timed to appear at the PPEPI Science and Technology Roundtable in Astana on 16 February 2010, when panels of experts and prominent industry figures will speak about cooperation in medicine, the pharmaceutical industry, the role of special economic zones and technology parks, and will a look at tax incentives for innovation and the protections provided by intellectual property rights. A comparison of national science policy in the United States and Kazakhstan will also be outlined and U.S. Embassy staff will share thoughts on the pending U.S.-Kazakhstan Science and Technology Agreement.
In the present issue of Investors’ Voice, you will find articles to complement the Astana Roundtable. Some writers are Roundtable panelists and others offer insightful articles to be read alongside the Roundtable reflections on science and technology as Kazakhstan maps out its path towards economic diversification. Regardless of the economic sector, innovation is the keyword for those businesses that wish to keep pace with developments in their industry.
We hope you will enjoy this issue devoted to an industry sector that surges ahead at breakneck speed, improving social well-being and shaping the global marketplace.
Doris Bradbury
Click here for the Winter 2010 “Investor’s Voice”
