As part of the implementation of the President of Kazakhstan’s instruction to increase the country’s transit potential and bring annual transit cargo volumes to 55 million tons, the Minister of Transport of Kazakhstan on February 16 met with the Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan to discuss expanding cooperation in rail transport, according to the Kazakh
Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov last week signed a decree establishing National Organic Agriculture Day, to be celebrated annually on the last Friday of September. The move reflects Kyrgyzstan’s aspiration to strengthen its position as a leading producer of organic agricultural products in the region. According to the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry,
The well-being of Kazakhstan citizens is declining. This is confirmed not only by the 2% decline in real incomes of working citizens in the fourth quarter of 2025, but also by the growing share of money spent on food, Finprom.kz reported. According to the Bureau of National Statistics, in the third quarter of 2025, Kazakhstan’s
In 2025, Uzbekistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 7.7 percent and exceeded 147 billion dollars. More than half of the economic growth was accounted for by the services sector. In agriculture, the average income per hectare increased from 4,500 to 5,000 dollars, while labor productivity grew by 4.7 percent. This was announced at a
According to the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), mutual accumulated investment between Central Asian countries is rapidly growing. In 2024-2025, it increased by approximately $400 million (+42%), reaching $1.3 billion. Compared to 2020, the volume of mutual foreign direct investment (FDI) has almost quadrupled, reflecting sustainable investment ties within the region. According to the EDB’s report
On February 12, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev listened to proposals on developing the creative economy, modernizing cultural infrastructure, and establishing new creative spaces. In Uzbekistan, the creative economy accounted for 3.7 percent of GDP in 2024, employing more than 319,000 people. The sector’s exports reached $770 million. The fact that more than 60 percent of
Kazakhstan has strengthened its position as a global leader in the export of sunflower oil and millcake, an important component in the production of feed for poultry and livestock. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Kazakhstan is the world’s 8th-largest exporter of sunflower oil and ranks among the top 3 sunflower millcake exporters to the
According to the Committee on Legal Statistics at the Prosecutor General’s Office of Kazakhstan, 3,200 Kazakhstan citizens committed suicide in 2025, a decrease of 5.7% (or 193 people) compared to 2024. This is the lowest figure in recent years, according to analysts of Ranking.kz. Since 2020 the number of suicides has decreased by 9.1%. Suicide
The government in Uzbekistan recommends entrepreneurs not to build new methane filling stations amid problems with supplying methane to existing stations. Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjaev said this at a meeting with entrepreneurs in Karakalpakstan on February 6, Uzbek media reported. According to Khodjaev, even the operating stations currently lack methane. “Currently, permits
On February 9, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed proposals for developing new lands for agriculture. As a result of irrigation and land reclamation efforts over the past five years, 826.5 thousand hectares of land have been brought into agricultural circulation. Of these, 409 thousand hectares were irrigated lands, while a further 418 thousand hectares were developed
Average prices for socially important food products in Kazakhstan increased by 7.1% on-year as of January 28, 2026, and by 0.3% in less than a month since the beginning of the year, according to analysts at Energyprom.kz. The largest increase in prices for staple foods was recorded in Zhezkazgan: by 10.6% year-on-year, followed by Aktau
The published draft of the updated “Uzbekistan-2030” Strategy revises energy sector indicators. The document significantly reduces natural gas production plans for the next five years, Tashkent Today reported. The new target for 2030 has been set at 38.7 billion cubic meters, 37% less than the 62 billion cubic meter plan approved in September 2023. From
In recent years, the livestock sector in Kazakhstan has demonstrated steady growth and currently accounts for approximately 40% of the country’s gross agricultural output. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, in 2025, the number of cattle reached 8.2 million head, an increase of 2.4% on-year. The number of sheep and goats reached 20.6 million head
The phenomenon of “Uzbek-style Onlyfans,” where women earn money by sending erotic photos and videos in exchange for money transfers, is actively discussed on Uzbek social media. According to users, dozens of accounts with explicit avatars offering such content appear daily in Telegram groups, Tashkent Today reports. The scheme is simple: for a certain amount
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, says it is investing in Uzbekistan’s East Can Solutions to develop the country’s first greenfield aluminum can production facility. Based in Tashkent, the plant will supply leading beverage producers with fully recyclable metal packaging to strengthen domestic supply, meet rising market demand, and reduce
For the first time since the pandemic, fewer than 900,000 births were registered in Uzbekistan: 879,600 children were born in 2025, 46,800 fewer than the previous year, marking the second consecutive decline in the birth rate, according to Tashkent Today. The number of deaths reached 177,100, exceeding the pandemic year. The number of marriages fell
On February 3, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a government meeting on the effective use of water resources and the introduction of water-saving technologies in agriculture. Currently, the area of irrigated land in Uzbekistan where water-saving technologies are applied has reached 2.6 million hectares, accounting for 60 percent of the total irrigated area. For comparison, before
Amendments to the Family Code, the Law on Civil Status Acts, and the Law on the Protection of Citizens’ Health have been submitted for public discussion in Kyrgyzstan. The bill, published on the parliament’s website, states that a person’s gender is determined exclusively by biological characteristics recorded at birth in the birth certificate, and it
In 2025 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) invested almost US$2 billion (€1.72 billion) through 120 projects in Central Asia and Mongolia. Uzbekistan was the leading recipient of EBRD funding in 2025 for the sixth year running (over US$ 1 billion, or €880 million). The EBRD provided almost US$ 440 million (€378 million) for
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) has released a new report, The Eurasian Region and Partner Countries in Asia: Analysis of Investment Flows. The report focuses on mutual investments between 13 countries of the Eurasian region (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan) and partner countries in Asia (Afghanistan,
