ABAYEV
FAX: [1] (202) 232-5845
consulate(s): New York
telephone: [1] (202) 232-5488
chancery: 1401 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador John M. ORDWAY
embassy: 99/97A Fumanova, Samal-2, Almaty, 480099
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [7] (3272) 50-48-02
FAX: [7] (3272) 50-48-84

Flag description:
sky blue background representing the endless sky and a gold sun
with 32 rays soaring above a golden steppe eagle in the center; on
the hoist side is a "national ornamentation" in gold

Economy Kazakhstan

Economy - overview:
Kazakhstan, the largest of the former Soviet republics in
territory, excluding Russia, possesses enormous fossil fuel reserves
as well as plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals. It also
is a large agricultural - livestock and grain - producer.
Kazakhstan's industrial sector rests on the extraction and
processing of these natural resources and also on a growing
machine-building sector specializing in construction equipment,
tractors, agricultural machinery, and some defense items. The
breakup of the USSR in December 1991 and the collapse in demand for
Kazakhstan's traditional heavy industry products resulted in a
short-term contraction of the economy, with the steepest annual
decline occurring in 1994. In 1995-97, the pace of the government
program of economic reform and privatization quickened, resulting in
a substantial shifting of assets into the private sector. Kazakhstan
enjoyed double-digit growth in 2000-01 - and a solid 9.5% in 2002 -
thanks largely to its booming energy sector, but also to economic
reform, good harvests, and foreign investment. The opening of the
Caspian Consortium pipeline in 2001, from western Kazakhstan's
Tengiz oilfield to the Black Sea, substantially raised export
capacity. The country has embarked upon an industrial policy
designed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the
oil sector, by developing light industry. Additionally, the policy
aims to reduce the influence of foreign investment and foreign
personnel; the government has engaged in several disputes with
foreign oil companies over the terms of production agreements, and
tensions continue.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $105.5 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
9.2% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita: