The impact of the current situation on the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, the global challenges of the post-pandemic crisis, as well as the advantages of developing a supplier project in Kazakhstan, were discussed last Tuesday by experts and representatives of various specialized departments and organizations.

 Zhaksybek Kulekeyev, research director of AERC, spoke about the growth sectors of the economy of Kazakhstan in the post-period period.  According to him, last year, given the current situation in the world associated with the spread of a new type of coronavirus, the level of the economy of Kazakhstan decreased by 2.6%.  At the same time, the expert noted that such an indicator has not been observed in the republic for the last 20 years.  However, in comparison with the decline in the economies of other countries, our country still managed to contain the negative dynamics of economic losses thanks to a number of timely decisions, including anti-crisis measures adopted by the government of Kazakhstan.

“In fact, not only Kazakhstan, many countries of the world had a negative pace over the past year.  It's just that in the Eurozone the fall was more than 7%.  In general, in developed countries, the overall economy fell by more than 5% and in Japan by more than 5%.  In general, the world economy over the past year fell by 4.3", Zh. Kulekeyev said.  While “manufacturing, construction, transportation and storage will be the drivers of economic growth this year,” AERC's research director added.

The world will not be the same.  Given the new realities, companies must embrace new innovative and digital opportunities.  Paris Kokorotsikos, CEO of Euroconsultans SA, is convinced of this.  According to him, the period of the pandemic has provided new opportunities for many small and medium-sized businesses.

 “We have learned to work remotely.  This teleworking is a basic characteristic of small and medium-sized enterprises operating in international value chains.  Working remotely via video calls is very important”.

Paris Kokorotsikos also spoke about the role of supporting small and medium enterprises for their integration into the international supply and procurement chains of multinational companies.

 “One of the main activities that small and medium-sized enterprises do in order to be present in international value chains is to create knowledge management tools and support knowledge-building activities that help build new know-how and retain it,” P. Kokorotsikos, CEO  Euroconsultans SA, said.

As relevant proposals necessary for the accelerated development of small and medium-sized enterprises in the context of the pandemic, Paris Kokorotsikos named the creation of a single technological training center with experienced simulators of oil and gas processes, the launch of an integrated technical system to gain access to international networks and a specialized park of energy technologies using international experience.

 Aidana Togizbayeva, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Atameken NCE, spoke about the impact of the post-pandemic period on the development of human resources of small and medium-sized enterprises in Kazakhstan.

“As you know, the pandemic also made its own adjustments and during the survey from March to September this year, we interviewed 144 thousand employers.  Their main problems were that they cannot service loans, they cannot pay taxes, they have no income, what they consider to be a problem of restricting measures.  16% of employers laid off their workers and 17% of employers indicated that they sent their workers on unpaid leave”, A. Togizbayeva said.

A. Togizbayeva also spoke about the measures taken by the state in support of entrepreneurs, as well as about programs aimed at developing small and medium-sized businesses in the country.  Aizhan Syzdykova, head of the local content development department, the industrial development committee of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, spoke about some provisions and situations that arose after Kazakhstan's accession to the WTO.

“Under the terms of Kazakhstan's accession to the WTO for the transition period from 2015 to 2021.  a phased cancellation of preferences for enterprises is envisaged.  Changes were made to public procurement procedures to abolish the local content requirement.  In the field of subsoil use, since 2021, requirements for local content in goods are excluded, and in works and services no more than 50% in subsoil use contracts,”A. Syzdykova noted.

According to her, in order to support domestic producers and increase the share of local content, comprehensive work was carried out.  In particular, an agreement was signed on the creation of an International Center for the Development of Oil and Gas Engineering, a phased cancellation of preferences for various enterprises was envisaged, as well as changes were made to public procurement procedures to abolish the requirement of local content.  So, in the field of subsoil use, from the current 2021, local content requirements in goods are excluded, and in works and services no more than 50% in subsoil use contracts.