Recently, Kazakhstanis have the opportunity to file complaints regarding the actions or omissions of multinational companies, whose activities go beyond one state. This work is regulated by the National Contact Center (NCC).
Thus, every resident of the country can report an offense by an enterprise in the following areas: information disclosure, human rights, labor and industrial relations, environmental protection, consumer interests, science and technology, competition and taxation, bribery, bribery and extortion.
Applications are accepted through the following information channels:
Conclusions, as well as information on the course of consideration of the appeal, are posted on the NCC website. At the same time, NCC guarantees the preservation of commercial information and other aspects important to the parties.
On the activities of the NCC
The National Contact Center (NCC) is a voluntary, non-judicial mechanism for dealing with public complaints against businesses that violate the principles of responsible business conduct in accordance with the OECD Guidelines. This is a platform for constructive dialogue between the parties, discussing problems that have arisen and working out ways to achieve a mutual agreement.
The functions of the NCC in Kazakhstan are assigned to the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
NCC is a collegial advisory body. The Chairman is the Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan R.E.Dalenov. The composition of the NCC consists of representatives of the ministries of national economy, justice, foreign affairs, labor and social protection of the population, NPP Atameken, non-governmental organizations and trade unions.
The NCC Secretariat is the Economic Research Institute Joint Stock Company.
The process of interaction between NCC and citizens of Kazakhstan
The process of considering appeals to NCC consists of three stages:
First step – preliminary evaluation of the appeal.
At this stage, NCC assesses the appeal for compliance with the scope of the Guidelines and NCC's competencies:
Second phase – acceptance of the case for production.
The NCC conducts consultations on the case with government bodies, representatives of the business community, labor organizations, non-governmental organizations, experts, OECD NCPs operating in countries.
Stage three – final assessment of the appeal.
The proceedings at the NCC are completed with the preparation and publication of the Final Assessment of the case.
NCC is the guarantor of openness
Over the past three decades, the international business environment has undergone a number of significant structural changes. Since the turn of the millennium, the driving force behind the global economy has been international investment, through which Governments opened markets and businesses seized new opportunities that led to unprecedented economic growth.
In June 2017, Kazakhstan became an associate member of the Investment Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, became the 48th country to join the OECD Declaration on Multinational Enterprises. As part of joining the Committee, the Government of Kazakhstan has made a number of commitments, including the dissemination of the principles of responsible business conduct in accordance with the OECD Guiding Principles.
The Guidelines are the requirements for responsible business conduct directed by governments to enterprises whose activities in any way extend beyond the borders of one state. It is a collection of principles and standards in a variety of areas ranging from human rights, workers' rights and occupational safety, as well as access to information, taxation and environmental issues.
Today, NCCs operate effectively in 49 countries of the world, which account for about 80% of foreign direct investment. The presence of this body in the state is the guarantor of transparency in the consideration of emerging disputes. An efficient, transparent and popular mechanism of NCC's activities is an important element of an open international investment climate.
More detailed information about the National Contact Center of Kazakhstan can be found on the official website of the Ministry: https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/economy/activities/6109?lang=ru and on the NCC website: http://economy.kz/ru/OESR/Nacionalnyj_kontaktnyj_centr/Ob_NKC/
