Foreign companies have shown strong interest in Kazakhstan ever since the country gained independence in 1991. This is mainly due to its boosting oil output: Kazakhstan's growing petroleum industry accounts for roughly 30 percent of the country's GDP and over half of its export revenues, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Responding to the rising demand for local engineering services, technical assurance and consulting company Germanischer Lloyd (GL) has established its local subsidiary Germanischer Lloyd Industrial Services Kazakhstan LLP.