SACE, represented by the managing director Alessandro Castellano, spoke yesterday at the Italo-Kazakh Business Forum, organized on the occasion of Kazkhstan Day at EXPO Milan, with the participation of the Kazakh Head of State Nazarbaev of the Italian premier Renzi.
Kazakhstan is one of the Eurasian markets with the highest potential for Italian exports and for SACE, which is working on new projects in the country for a total commitment of 800 million euros in a diversified range of industrial sectors.
The projects in the most advanced stage of evaluation mainly concern the supply of plants for the oil & gas and petrochemical sectors and machinery for the metal and agricultural sectors.
Although the operating context remains a factor of uncertainty, SACE detects interesting opportunities in line with the economic strategy undertaken by the Kazakh government, aimed at stimulating the growth and development of the local industrial fabric by focusing on sectors with higher added value, such as infrastructure and mechanical technologies, but also the agri-food and textile and clothing sectors.
Of particular note is the $5 billion public investment plan, which aims to enhance Kazakhstan's role in regional air, sea and rail transport; and partnering with multilateral financial institutions to support small and medium-sized businesses.
Export: trends and prospects
With an export flow of over 700 million euros, Italy is the second largest European exporter to Kazakhstan after Germany, and the sixth globally: a performance driven by mechanical engineering (which alone represents 43,3 % of Italian exports to the country) and fashion (22,1%).
Looking ahead, the appreciation of Made in Italy consumer goods by the new middle class of the Central Asian country is growing; in addition to fashion, Italian furniture has good opportunities, which currently already contributes to 7% of Italian exports to Kazakhstan, and products from the agri-food chain, which could enhance supply chain synergies, by virtue of the good positioning of downstream sectors.
