Kazakhstan invites HKEx to become ‘stakeholder’ in new stock exchange

Resource-rich Central Asian nation Kazakhstan is seeking to cooperate with Hong Kong’s stock exchange, including a possible tie up that would involve an ownership stake in a new stock exchange planned for the nation’s capital.

The landlocked nation, with a land mass the size of Western Europe and an economy that relies on crude oil for 20 per cent of its gross domestic product, has ambitious plans to grow its stock exchange into the top leagues in Asia.

“Kazakhstan wants to diversify its economy, and play a key role in providing world-class financial services covering Central Asia as well as neighbouring nations like Russia, Mongolia, northwest China, and Iran,” governor of the Astana International Finance Centre, Kairat Kelimbetov told the South China Morning Post in an interview.

Kelimbetov, a former deputy prime minister and ex-governor of the nation’s central bank, says that the Astana International Finance Centre will be built on land that will host the World Expo next year.

Kelimbetov said he will hold discussions with Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Monday on potential cooperation in the trade of commodities such as gold, uranium and crude oil.

Also on the agenda is whether Hong Kong should become a “key stakeholder” in the project.

“We are looking for investors who can bring new technologies and new understanding to the exchange,” Kelimbetov said.