From 16 to 17 May Kazakhstan hosted the 12th Astana Economic Forum: one of the most influential international discussion platforms in Eurasia, where over 5,000 representatives from leading local and global business, government, and development institutions annually take part. AEF topics are annually updated and cover a wide range of challenges and tasks of global development, and this year the forum focused on the technological effectiveness of the economy, urban development, and human resources.   

KPMG in Russia and the CIS Managing Partner Oleg Goshchansky, KPMG in Kazakhstan and Central Asia Managing Partner Saken Zhumashev, and KPMG Head of Power & Utilities Vassily Savin took part in the event.

Oleg spoke in the session The Eurasian Economic Union for Business: Investment Expectations, Opportunities, and Outlooks by the Business Development Department of the Eurasian Economic Commission. The session focused on Eurasian business integration processes, scaling up the best national practices to the Eurasian format, and increasing mutual confidence of national businesses and regulators. Oleg spoke on group and holding company structuring and its EAEU specifics and challenges. The session line-up also included speakers from the EEC, Eurasian Development Bank, National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan, and the World Bank.

Saken spoke at the Digital Security State and Ecosystem sub-session of Cyber & Digital Security session. It was dedicated to the current state of the Informational Security legislation base in the Republic of Kazakhstan and in the world, a map of threats, and technological protection measures. Saken overviewed corporate innovations as a growth source for business, and shared best practice of innovation development platforms which bring together the state, large corporations, start-ups, and investors.    

Vassily presented at the session Response to the Challenges of Regional Development, by the Kazakh Ministry of the National Economy. It discussed a number of issues related to economic globalisation and integration, elaborating and coordinating spatial and regional policies, relevant global practice vis-à-vis regional development, and local specifics. Vassily's presentation covered key changes and opportunities for energy trade in Central Asia.