This publication presents the OECD country review of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) and entrepreneurship policy in Kazakhstan. The report is part of the series OECD Studies on SMEs and Entrepreneurship undertaken by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities. In addition to Kazakhstan, country reviews have covered Canada, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Poland, the Russian Federation and Thailand.

The rate of business creation in Kazakhstan is high and there is a very large base of small businesses. However, small firm productivity is low, there are relatively few high growth firms, and few small businesses reach significant scale. This report analyses the issues and makes concrete proposals on how the government of Kazakhstan can release the untapped potential of small businesses to drive economic growth.

This chapter summarises the main findings and recommendations of the Kazakhstan SME and entrepreneurship policy review. It covers SME and entrepreneurship characteristics and performance, the business environment for SMEs and entrepreneurship, the strategic framework and delivery arrangements for SME and entrepreneurship policy, national SME and entrepreneurship programmes, the local dimension of SME and entrepreneurship policy, and the promotion of linkages between foreign direct investors and domestic SMEs.

This chapter examines the state of SME and entrepreneurship characteristics and performance in Kazakhstan. It presents key structural indicators including the SME share in numbers of enterprises, employment and GDP, the sector and size distribution of SME activity, business start-up rates, entrepreneurial intentions, women and youth entrepreneurship, number of high-growth enterprises and the size of the informal economy.

This chapter assesses business environment conditions for SMEs and entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan. It examines macroeconomic conditions, a summary of business perceptions of the main obstacles in the business environment, regulations, corruption and governance, human capital, the innovation system, access to finance, and foreign direct investment.

This chapter examines arrangements for the formulation, co-ordination and delivery of SME and entrepreneurship policy in Kazakhstan. It reviews the legal basis of policy in the Entrepreneurial Code, assesses the vision and objectives set out for SME and entrepreneurship policy, and examines the arrangements for leadership and co-ordination of the policy within government. The distribution of SME and entrepreneurship policy expenditures in the Business Road Map 2020 is also examined. The chapter then turns to an assessment of the main agencies and structures for the delivery of business support services to SMEs and entrepreneurs including the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs and the Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund. Finally, arrangements for monitoring and evaluation of SME and entrepreneurship policies and programmes are reviewed.

This chapter examines national programmes for SMEs and entrepreneurship. It assesses national programme measures related to building the skills of entrepreneurs and SME managers; business advisory and consultancy services; raising the level of workers’ skills in SMEs; improving access to finance; supporting innovation-related activity in SMEs and innovative start-ups; supporting SMEs exporting and innovation; involving SMEs in public procurement; and providing opportunities for women, youth, people with disabilities and the unemployed in entrepreneurship. Recommendations are offered for programme improvements.

The overall focus of this chapter is the adaptation of SME and entrepreneurship policies to regional differences in Kazakhstan. It starts by assessing regional variations in the levels and characteristics of SME and entrepreneurship activities and in the obstacles found in regional business environments. It then assesses how regional government authorities and regional co-ordinating committees help tailor national SME and entrepreneurship development programmes to regional conditions and how coherence is achieved between national and regional level SME and entrepreneurship policy actions. Finally, the chapter examines the issue of simplifying regional business regulation. The chapter offers a number of policy recommendations.

This chapter examines how to make use of opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development through promoting linkages between domestic SMEs and foreign direct investment (FDI) establishments operating in Kazakhstan. It examines the opportunities in terms of the scale and nature of FDI, the types of linkages that the FDI can have in the domestic economy and the types of policy measures that could encourage linkages with SMEs. It examines the relevance of modifying existing FDI policy approaches to put more emphasis on the aftercare of the FDI projects that are attracted and of focusing FDI attraction efforts on FDI with linkage potential and steering it towards the locations with related value chain activities. It also examines proactive policy approaches to broker connections between FDI and SMEs and build SME capabilities to supply FDI in regional clusters, suggesting the creation of linkage development teams in each region. It also examines the scope for involving FDI establishments in the support of SME supply chain building and the relevance of strengthening supply chain finance.