OBS_VALUE: The issuance of the work permits is subject to observation of a ratio between local and foreign employees of the same category: citizens of the RK must comprise not less than 70% of the total amount of the employer's personnel for such categories as executives and managers, and 90% - for specialists. For intra-corporate transferees, the ratio is 50% vis-a-vis the local personnel for managers and specialists categories, while executives are exempt from this requirement. Exemptions are also made for independent service suppliers. As from 2017, representative offices and branches of foreign legal entities with less than 30 employees are exempt from this requirement as well. Foreign qualified workforce quota is annually calculated as a percentage of the local workforce. For 2022, the upper cap for this quota comprised 0.31% of the RK’s total working population (same as in 2021). For 2023, quota is set at 0.24% (Постановление Об установлении квоты на привлечение иностранной рабочей силы для осуществления трудовой деятельности на территории Республики Казахстан на 2023 год, № 540, adopted on 30 December 2022, https://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/V2200031589). Also, the law on Industrial Policy, enacted in December 2021, expanded support to local industries and replaced “local content” provisions with a newly defined concept of “in-country value”.