Over 23.5 thou entrepreneurial projects received support from Damu Foundation in 2019
The amount of loans financed under the Damu Foundation programs exceeded 600 billion tenge, with the number of subsidy projects increasing by 80% compared to last year, Gaukhar Bubribayeva, Chairwoman of the Board of the Damu Entrepreneurship Development Foundation, said, Strategy2050.kz reports.
“Last year, much attention was paid to improving the conditions for creating and running a business and developing the entrepreneurial potential of Kazakh residents,” Gaukhar Bubribayeva said.
The Damu Foundation is the core national development institution providing state support to micro, small and medium-sized businesses by the means of soft loans, subsidized interest rates, loan guarantees, online training and client support, and financial institutions.
2019 saw the launch of the program for crediting priority projects “Economics of Simple Things”, the approval of the state program “Business Road Map 2025”, and the improvements to a number of state programs that provide support for business development.
“The Damu Foundation acts as one of the main financial operators of state support measures. In general, under soft loan programs through second-tier banks, the IFI and leasing companies, 61 thousand borrowers were funded for a total loan amount of 2.2 trillion tenge. In 2019, 18.7 thousand projects were funded in the amount of over 228 billion tenge,” the Damu Foundation Board’s Chairwoman said.
She went on to say that the Foundation is currently implementing support programs for the manufacturing industry at the expense of the National Fund of Kazakhstan, the Enbek state program for the development of productive employment and mass entrepreneurship, programs to support SMEs, including women’s entrepreneurship thanks to the funds attracted from the ADB, EBRD, regional financing programs, together with the Governor’s Offices, and other programs to support SMEs, using own and borrowed funds.
The number of projects that received subsidized interest rates in 2019 for all programs increased by 80% compared to 2018 and reached 2 641 projects for loans worth 269.8 billion tenge, and the amount of loans increased by 36%. Total 15.5 thousand projects worth 2.8 trillion tenge were supported in subsidizing the interest rate.
“In 2019, for all guarantee programs, the number of projects also increased by 38% compared to 2018 and amounted to 2,673 projects. The amount of loans amounted to 102.7 billion tenge, and that of guarantees amounted to 40.4 billion tenge,” she said.
In 2019 the Foundation provided support to around 23.5 thousand projects of entrepreneurs, and financed the total loans under the Foundation’s programs exceeded 600 billion tenge.
She also pointed out that during the past year 67.5 billion tenge was attracted, including 35.3 billion tenge from the ADB, as well as 8 memorandums of international cooperation were concluded.
“The Foundation’s preliminary information indicates the customers supported released goods worth 5,550 billion tenge and paid taxes worth over 450 billion tenge in 2019,” she said.
In 2020, the Foundation identifies several key areas of development, including further support of SMEs with an emphasis on entrepreneurs in micro and small businesses by bringing soft loans as part of state support measures (increase in the number of IFI partners, planned funding amount of 4 billion tenge); expanding the guarantee instrument by expanding the product line through the IFI, introducing new types of guarantees for leasing and factoring transactions, Regional Guarantee and others; introduction of alternative financing mechanisms, including through the repurchase mechanism of securitized securities; opening financing under the Islamic window; holding the 6th ULTTYQ ÓNIM exhibition of Kazakh manufacturers in May 2020; raising funds from external sources in the amount of up to 50 billion tenge for the development of SMEs; further cooperation with international financial organizations and organizations supporting entrepreneurship.
The Foundation’s activities aim at expanding micro, small and medium-sized businesses, creating new industries, import substitution, expanding the processing potential and creating new jobs. In total, the Damu Foundation has supported 85 thousand projects in the amount of loans of 5.3 trillion tenge.
