AKSAI, Western Kazakhstan Oblast, 21 February 2003 -- Leading Western Kazakhstan companies including existing and potential vendors of the Karachaganak Integrated Organisation, are taking part in a technical ISO seminar being held today at KIO's training centre in Aksai.

The seminar was developed by MacGregor Energy Services, a leading international oil and gas consultancy. The programme covered the latest ISO requirements and other international standards, particularly those related to welding and mechanical works.

As KIO vendor development and qualification manager Giamil Bunkheila noted, "Within its Vendor Assistance Programme, KIO provides education support to Kazakh companies that are interested in co-operation. This seminar is the continuation of a series of countrywide business awareness seminars started by KIO in 2002. To date, more than 100 companies have taken part."

Some participants including BurlinGasStroy, TemirAli, Zenit have already had a considerable experience of working with KIO. According to Dmitry Starkov, director of AsiaSpetsStroy, "Seminars like this are in great demand as they help suppliers achieve compliance with international quality standards, which is one of the pre-requisites for Kazakh companies for their future entry to the international market".

Undoubtedly, there is a potential for achieving that - in 2002 Kazakh companies received almost two thirds of all the new KIO contracts amounting to some $ 160 million. By the end of the main stage of the Karachaganak project development the total amount of contracts granted to Kazakh companies will total $1,3 billion.