Verizon Business Joins iXLink

Local brokerage companies are flocking to Central Asia to take advantage of potentially lucrative investments amid rising raw material prices. Hyundai Securities said yesterday that it opened a regional office in Kazakhstan last Saturday that will be an outpost for investing in all of Central Asia, a region rich in natural resources.

Ў°Central Asia could become a hot investment destination because of its abundant natural resources and fast-growing economies,Ў± said Son Ki-oung, an assistant manager at Hyundai SecuritiesЎЇ global business department. Ў°Kazakhstan was chosen first because it has fewer government regulations.Ў± Hyundai is considering natural resources development projects in Kazakhstan, which is second in the world in uranium reserves and eighth in oil reserves, Son said.

The brokerage is also reviewing plans to invest in KazakhstanЎЇs social infrastructure projects, he said. Plans to take over a local asset management firm or buy real estate in the country are also being discussed, he said. For many of the same reasons that motivated Hyundai, Daishin Securities set up an office in Kazakhstan at the end of last month.

Rhee Chang-hwa, a Daishin general manager in the business planning department, said yesterday that Daishin was drawn by the potential for fast growth in Central AsiaЎЇs financial industry, particularly in Kazakhstan. Ў°Kazakhstan posted economic growth of more than 10 percent over the past five years through 2006 and attracted more than $10 billion in foreign investment every year,Ў± Rhee said.