Conscious growth

We are pleased to present you the Kazakhstan edition of the 21^st Annual Global CEO Survey 2018, conducted with editorial support from Forbes Kazakhstan. This time, more than 1,350 CEOs from 86 countries took part in the survey, including 61 CEOs working in Kazakhstan.

We named the Kazakhstani CEO Survey “Conscious growth”, which reflects the generally positive forecast for business development in our country.  It is pleasant to note the optimistic mood of the CEOs regarding the growth of the local and global economy. Nine out of ten CEOs expressing confidence that their companies’ revenues would increase in the next 12 months, based on organic growth.

Companies today have to handle a very wide range of challenges to ameliorate business threats. Kazakhstani CEOs are concerned about the availability of key skilled workers, the pace of technological change, cyber threats, and commodity price volatility.

Collaboration with the government takes a special place in our survey. Kazakhstani respondents noted the importance of improving the investment attractiveness of the country and ensuring the supremacy of law in all spheres of state activity.

Peter Foster of Air Astana and Mikhail Lomtadze of Kaspi Bank were named the leaders of the local business community in our survey this year. Many respondents also mentioned Umut Shayakhmetova, the CEO of Halyk Bank. Colleagues pointed to the visions of those leaders, their adaptability to a changing business environment, and their daring when it came to implementing new technology solutions.