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STATUS OF SMES AND THE CGS IN KAZAKHSTAN2. STATUS OF SMES AND THE CGS IN KAZAKHSTAN
2.1 Overview of SMEs in Kazakhstan
The Government of Kazakhstan has defined an SME as any enterprise with fewer
than 250 employees. The differentiation between small and medium-sized businesses is
based on annual asset values and the number of employees. Small businesses
are those enterprises with annual assets lower than 1 million tenge and fewer than
50 employees. Medium-sized businesses have an asset value greater than 1 million
tenge with fewer than 250 employees.
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In 2016, the number of operating SMEs in Kazakhstan amounted to 1,187 thousand units
by the end of the year. Estimations indicate that the share of registered and operating
SMEs is 79.1%, which employ about 3.1 million people as of 1 January 2017, and the
share of gross value added of SMEs in the GDP of the country was 23.1% in 2016 (Damu
2017). The country lags behind global and regional benchmarks for the contribution of
SMEs to the economy (Figure 1).
The Kazakh National Business Roadmap 2020 explicitly identified the importance of
SME development as a priority to enhance the contribution of SMEs to employment and
output (Shayakhmetova 2018). It viewed the sector as the fundamental factor that
creates jobs and boosts production and planned the policy to be oriented toward
streamlining regulations, increasing access to finance, improving business climates, and
removing barriers. The Business Roadmap 2020 and the Productive Employment and
Mass Entrepreneurship program defined access to financial sources as the main tool for
SME development.
Table 1: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Kazakhstan
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Output by SMEs, Output Share in the Gross National Product of Kazakhstan
Share of GVA of SMEs in GDP,
%
17.3
17.1
16.7
25.9
24.9
23.1
Output by SMEs, KZT Billion
7,604
8,255
9,165
15,568
15,699
16,857
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