Kairat
Kelimbetov
Former Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan; Founding Governor of Astana International Finance Center
Kairat Kelimbetov is a former Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan and was the Founding Governor of Astana International Financial Center (AIFC), founded in 2015. AIFC is a regional financial hub for Central Asia, the Caucasus, EAEU, the Middle East, West China, Mongolia, and Eastern Europe. It serves as a financial, investment, and business platform for onboarding major regional development institutions, funds, banks, brokers, corporations, projects, and advisors.
Dr. Kelimbetov founded AIFC after 20 years in senior leadership positions in government, ministries, central bank, sovereign wealth fund, and regional and international initiatives of Kazakhstan. His career spans a broad range of responsibilities from initiation and execution of crucial development reforms, the transformation of macroeconomic, monetary, and fiscal policies, founding and management of major institutions, improvement of regulatory and investment climate, designing and implementation of nation-wide investment strategies and regional development policies, structuring and restructuring major state and corporate transactions, including listing and raising equity through capital markets, debt and bond issuances, strategic and tactical allocation of state assets, public-private partnerships.
Having stepped down from public service, Dr. Kelimbetov continues to advise regional governments and businesses on public policy, corporate strategy, and investments.
Dr. Kelimbetov read Computational Mathematics at Moscow State University (1993) and completed the Pew Economic Freedom Fellows Program at Georgetown University in 1999. He earned a Ph.D. at the Faculty of Economics, Moscow State University, a Doctor of International Relations at the Geneva School of Diplomacy in 2009, and a Master of Studies at the University of Cambridge in 2017.
Besides his professional achievements, Dr. Kelimbetov authored dozens of articles, including the co-authorship of The Perfect Storm book on sustainable development. He is an honorary professor and academic council member at several regional universities.