ASTANA, April 9 (RIA Novosti) - Kazakhstan intends to invest about $10 billion to create a Caspian oil and gas industry center in the country's west, the press office of the Kazakhstan president said on Wednesday.

"The Caspian energy hub will be created in the city of Aktau on the coast of the Caspian Sea. The project aims to develop Kazakhstan's human capital and the economy as a whole through the establishment of an oil and gas industry center in the Caspian region," said a statement released after a meeting between the Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the management of investor companies Gulf Finance House and PFC Energy International.

The project, to be implemented in the next three to five years, will be financed both by the government of Kazakhstan and foreign investors, the press office said.