Itis possibletoincreaselocalcontentinprocurementofgoods, worksandservicesof oil and gas operators and contractors, when all the stakeholders have a hand on this. Itistheopinionofthe representative of concern office in Kazakhstan.
“What is the local content? Wedefineitas total expenses that remain in the countryand are spent todevelopbusiness, human capital, job creation, which will contribute to the growth of Kazakhstan’s economy”, – Zarina Bakenova, Head of Government and External Relations at Shell Kazakhstan, said in her speech at the Kazakh-British Business Forum in Atyrau on April 29.
Accordingtoher, it doesn’t matter if the company has local or foreign founders. More importantly, it is operating and creating value and real jobs, and improvingthe working skills in our state.
Thecompaniesshouldcontributetoindustrial and human resources development, establishment of local enterprises that will be a part of a cyclical turnaround.
“There may be high costs at the initial stage, but we should assistin establishing local enterprises that will be competitive in the medium and long term. They should be competitive in the future not only in relation toforeign suppliers in Kazakhstan, but also internationally”, – Shell Kazakhstan representative believes.
According to expert opinion, the government should work continuously to improve administrative procedures and legislation, establishfavourable business climate in order to support business development. Oil and gas operators and their contractors should review their supply chains in order to attract more new participants, new entrepreneurs.
It is necessary to attract investments in local enterprises, but again, provided that these enterprises undertaketo reach their own competitiveness.
One of the conditions for successful implementation of the task is to reduce the cost and improve the loan capital availability, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.
The expert noted that all this is possible, and Shell has a positive experience in resolving local content issues in the Sultanate of Oman.
Shell Kazakhstan representative toldabout the petrochemical laboratory established jointly with KazMunayGas NC JSC.
“Today, not only the North Caspian project and KMG units, but also large oil and gas projects of the post-Soviet countries use the services of this laboratory,” -ZarinaBakenova says.
According to the company, Shell operates in various industries in Kazakhstan, including geological exploration and oil and gas production, hydrocarbons transportation and petroleum products marketing. ShellofficesarelocatedinthecitiesofNur-Sultan, AktauandAtyrau.
Currently, Shell is involved in three projects: the North Caspian Sea Production Sharing Agreement (NCS PSA) (16.81% participation share), the PSA for developing “Zhemchuzhina” license area in the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea (55% participation share) and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (participation share 5.4%).
We should note that, according to Entrepreneurship and Industrial and Innovative Development Agency of Atyrau region, 88 enterprises with the participation of British capital are operating in the region today.
In the I quarter of 2019, the trade volume between the Atyrau region and the United Kingdom exceeded $90.5 mln., in physical terms it reached more than 4.9 mln.tons. At the same time, the trade turnover amounted to $45.7 mln., or more than 1.8 mln.tons, in the corresponding period in 2018. Within this, exports amounted to $3.8 mln., and imports – $86.7 mln.