AEF in New Economic Reality

In less than a month, May 25-26, the capital of Kazakhstan will host the Astana Economic Forum, which will be focused on “New Economic Reality: Diversification, Innovation and Knowledge Economy”. As in previous years, the Forum will be attended by Nobel Prize laureates in Economics, prominent businessmen and leading experts.

The global crisis, consequences of which are suffered by all countries of the world, forces the international community to seek new approaches and ways to reanimate economic growth. It is now obvious that breakthrough in combating the prolonged economic recession can be achieved only by diversification of commodity and traditional industries. At the same time, the crisis provides additional opportunities to develop new markets, occupy vacant niches, and increase productivity through the introduction of innovative approaches and technologies. The AEF 2016 participants will discuss methods for exploiting these emerging business opportunities.

Participants of high-level discussions will include people who started businesses from scratch and joined the ranks of the most successful entrepreneurs of the world, e.g. founder of Chinese e-commerce company “Alibaba Group” Jack Ma, who has been ranked among the world`s top 20 richest people. The Forum will also be attended by Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF); Suma Chakrabarti, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); and Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, who was ranked by The Economist Magazine among the world`s three most influential economists.

These participants of the Forum, as well as Daron Acemoglu, Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, author of international bestseller “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty”; Arthur Laffer, Adviser to the US President Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) and Prime Minister of UK Margaret Thatcher (1980-1989), and bestselling author of “Currency Wars” Song Hongbing, along with Nobel Prize laureates in Economics Edward Prescott, Christopher Pissarides, and Thomas Sargent, will discuss the global changes in the world financial and economic system, witnessed by the international community in the context of new economic reality.

 The program of the Forum includes traditional Kazakhstan Investment Summit, and, for the first time, Kazakhstan Privatization Forum, participants of which will explore where the investment opportunities lie. The Great Silk Road Countries` Forum will provide an overview of the further ways of development of global initiatives. The AEF 2016 will also present the Eurasian transit and water potential for the world economy sustainable development, as well as mechanisms and instruments for Astana International Financial Center development.

The final and one of the key events of the AEF is the Plenary Session, which will be held in the Central Concert Hall “Kazakhstan” for the first time. It should also be noted that the large investment contracts and important international agreements and initiatives are expected to be signed within the framework of upcoming Astana Economic Forum. The representatives of Kazakhstan`s business community will have an opportunity to network and establish productive working relationship with foreign partners and investors.

05.03.2016