BI Group: How Process Holds the Key to a Company’s Success guide, Kazakhstan housing market, Property developer

BI Group: How Process Holds the Key to a Company’s Success

16 January 2024

The multifaceted developer BI Group has a 28-year history in construction, in addition to being recognized as a leader in the primary housing market in Kazakhstan. This is evidenced by the holding’s frequent appearance on ENR’s Top-250 Global Contractors list, the definitive rating of international construction companies, where they placed 194th in 2022. BI Group promotes the concept of integrated development of territories and land for residential areas, and also plans to reach a new threshold – the construction of entire cities.

In its undertakings BI Group actively makes use of IT technologies, innovative methods of interaction with customers, and modern tools to create a hospitable corporate culture. The company adheres to the principles of ESG: E – environment, S – society, G – governance. By following this set of rules the developer makes a significant contribution towards sustainable development. This is a promising direction for construction and has become imperative for large companies. The principles mainly contribute to preserving the heritage of nature, the establishment of competent communication with employees and society as a whole, and responsible corporate governance in doing business.

ESG Principles

The principles of ESG are embedded in each project BI undertakes, and shape its activities as a whole. Regarding Environment, BI Group is actively developing Green Energy projects within the framework of apartment building construction, residential complexes, and other infrastructures. The developer builds houses in compliance with “environmental laws,” as well as using energy-saving technologies that help cut down on the demand for electricity and effectively retain heat in residential premises. This not only reduces the burden on the environment and its resources, but also on the residents’ wallet. Livable properties save tenants money. Currently, the holding is actively working on a methodology for calculating such environmental and financial indicators, as well as certifying said methodology.

The promotion of healthy Society is also clearly visible in BI Group working methods. The company takes responsibility for the social security and professional development of its employees. Thus, almost the entire management team of the company has an MBA degree thanks to corporate policy. This is not an initial requirement when applying for a job, but rather the acquired qualifications of a worker while working in the holding company. Career growth in the company is handled in a very interesting way: in order to move up a step, an employee must prepare a successor to take their place. This preparation means not just an introduction to current affairs, but training over the course of a year, within which time the new applicant will develop the necessary competencies for the present position. In this way, the company nurtures its experts and attracts new staff, providing very high employment retention. A large-scale holding company, which is scaling up its operation on a near daily basis, needs large human resources.

The last factor, Governance, concerns sustainable growth. It is expressed in the constant internal work of the company to adjust the vertical of power structures and build business processes in such a way that, regardless of who is managing it, the company can respond to whatever challenges are presented by market and the economy as a whole.

International Annual Audited Financial Statements

BI Group has presented open, transparent financial statements for many years. Being among the largest enterprises in the construction business, the holding implements projects of impressive scale: the construction of dams, bridges, various infrastructures, international and domestic transport avenues, for example, the 6-lane highway between the cities of Kazakhstan. These are capital-intensive projects that require huge sums, which the company draws not only from its own profits, but also achieves with the help of investors. However, any potential investor will want to get acquainted with the internal workings of the company first. In order to facilitate the work of auditors, financial analysts, and the government when deciding on the choice of a supplier, the management of BI Group decided to submit an annual audited report to the “Big Four.” Namely, KPMG, an international auditing and consulting corporation.

For three consecutive years, the corporation has been auditing BI Group’s financial statements, checking all of their documents, and confirming the financial viability of the company, as well as the transparency of its transactions and operations. BI strives to reach a new echelon of work with the support of more robust financial structures, such as investment funds, Development banks, International financial organizations, and so forth. Such a path is more than possible thanks to their transparent financial reporting.

New Markets, Foreign Experience

Looking forward, the holding company is exploring new markets. Having become a leading developer in Astana and Almaty, BI Group has not stopped. In 2019, the developers entered the Shymkent market. In June of the same year, they entered into a partnership agreement with the Greek company Archirodon. This joint venture will involve projects in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries, heavy industry, energy, offshore projects, water treatment plants, and desalination plants in Kazakhstan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia and Eastern European countries.

In 2020, BI Group was represented abroad in Tashkent. Together with the local developer Murad Buildings, they formed a joint construction company called NRG. Already in 2023, BI Group has entered the Uzbek market as an independent player. BI Group has chosen a familiar nearby market with understandable conditions and subjects., but also one which is developing quite rapidly and is ready for the innovative solutions offered by the Kazakhstan developer. The BI management decided to make their first major foreign project the development of the housing market in Uzbekistan.

The developer also notes that in terms of scale and development potential, Uzbekistan is in no way inferior to any of their neighboring countries, and perhaps even surpasses them. The country is actively attracting investments. CEO of BI Group, Askhat Omarov, shared: “business will not go anywhere it isn’t profitable.” In turn, Kazakhstan remains a recognized leader for Central Asia, a driver of industry. Therefore, the entry of a Kazakhstani holding company with an established name and reputation into the neighboring market will be warmly received.

Plans

The construction holding sets itself ambitious, but feasible plans. According to the strategy and the planned course of development, the company intends to enter the TOP 100 construction companies in the world soon, reaching a turnover of $2 billion.

In addition, BI Group plans to continue to follow the course of integrated development of territories and land, and will also improve and promote the concept of building neighborhoods in the form of bigvilles (a city within a city). The holding is the first developer to put forward the idea of creating such an ecosystem, where residents can meet all of their needs within the boundaries of their residential quarter. Examples of such works are bigvilles in Astana: MoD, GreenLine, Nexpo, Jetisu, Capital Park and many others, including in Almaty, Atyrau and Shymkent.

Digitalization remains a major priority in BI’s development. They plan to improve the IT technologies used in the planning and construction of their facilities, as well as improve its own BI Service, which serves residents of the holding’s apartment buildings and allows customers to remotely complete any and all daily tasks.

Author: Svetlana Serebryakova

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