Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Nurzhan Altayev, recently announced plans to expand the Bastau Business Project, a government-sponsored initiative that involves “training rural people with entrepreneurial skills, including the principles of forming agricultural cooperatives, and supporting their business projects” with credit. The program, launched in 2017, is open to individuals who are self-employed, unemployed, members of agricultural cooperatives, or owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Graduates of the training course are eligible to apply for government-funded microenterprise loans with annual interest rates of 6 percent. These loans, which are serviced by multiple banks, use real estate as collateral, a practice that the region’s commercial banks do not allow when lending from their own accounts. During 2017, the Kazakhstani government disbursed a total of KZT 42 billion (USD 129 million) in microenterprise loans, and it has allocated an additional KZT 20 billion (USD 61 million) for this purpose during 2018.
In 2017, the Bastau Business Project enrolled 15,000 people in 80 districts. Of this group, 7,000 were approved for loans, with 80 percent of these targeted for investment in agriculture. During 2018, the government is seeking to expand the program to a total of 160 districts and train an additional 30,000 people.
The Bastau Business Project is part of a government effort called the Program for the Development of Productive Employment and Mass Entrepreneurship for 2017-2021.
By Nicholas Galimberti, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
Astana Times article
https://astanatimes.com/2018/05/government-extends-microfinancing-opportunities-for-rural-kazakhs/
Bastau Business Project background
https://primeminister.kz/en/news/all/proekt-bastau-biznes-startuet-v-160-raionah-i-monogorodah-npp-atameken-16289
Program for the Development of Productive Employment and Mass Entrepreneurship for 2017-2021 background
http://egov.kz/cms/en/articles/zanyatost_2020
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