Since the presidency of Nursultan Nazarbayev, official propaganda has maintained that Kazakhstan is Central Asia’s leader in terms of economic development, social sphere, and attraction of foreign investment. But it looks like it is no longer the case, Amirzhan Kosanov, a member of the Public Chamber of the Mazhilis (the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament),
The government of Kyrgyzstan has drafted the country’s National Development Program until 2030 and submitted the document for public discussion. The Program aims to achieve the following targets by 2030: The Program identifies four key areas of development:
The Uzbek Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade has announced the successful bilateral implementation of the necessary procedures for the entry into force of the Protocol on Exemptions from the Free Trade Regime to the Agreement between the Government of Uzbekistan and the Government of Turkmenistan. This agreement outlines the primary directions for long-term trade
In the following article published in the latest issue of OCA Magazine, the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Nick Rowan, analyzes the investment landscape and offers forecasts for the future state of investment in Central Asia and the CIS: Things are moving fast in Central Asia and the former Soviet Union (CIS) countries. The investment landscape has undergone
The newly appointed European Union Special Representative for Central Asia, Ambassador Eduards Stiprais, paid working visit to Turkmenistan on 4-6 March. He arrived in Ashgabat just three days after his appointment, underlining the importance the European Union places on its engagement with Turkmenistan and Central Asia, the EU Delegation to Turkmenistan reported. During his visit,
The UN General Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution on the establishment of the UN Regional Centre for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Central Asia and Afghanistan. The document was initiated by Kazakhstan on behalf of the Central Asian states. 152 UN member states supported the resolution as co-sponsors, which underlines the high significance of
On March 4, the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Adylbek Kasymaliyev visited Dushanbe and held talks with Tajikistan’s Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda. According to the Kyrgyz government’s press service, one of the main issues on the agenda was preparations for the first-ever trilateral summit of the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
KTZ Express, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s national railway company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), and major Chinese operator Yiwu Timex have discussed expanding cooperation in the field of international transportation with a focus on the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) and new logistics services for deliveries to Central Asian countries, the KTZ press
Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov last week met with Zeng Zhaoqiang, the Chairman of the Board of Fujian Hengwang Investment Co., Ltd, one of the leading metallurgical companies in China. The meeting discussed the construction of a metallurgical plant with a capacity of 3 million tons of steel on the territory of the special
On March 1, Laziz Kudratov, the Minister of Investment, Industry, and Trade of Uzbekistan, held a meeting with a delegation led by Afghan Minister of Industry and Commerce Nuruddin Azizi, who was visiting the Termez International Trade Centre in Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya region, at the border with Afghanistan. The meeting discussed trade and economic relations between
On February 26, Olzhas Bektenov, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, met with Nikolai Podguzov, Chairman of the Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Management Board, to discuss further cooperation on joint projects. In 2024, the Bank allocated nearly US $1.4 billion to projects in Kazakhstan. Over the past three years, the Bank’s total investment in the country has reached
The first Uzbekistan Country Platform Roundtable of the year convened on February 25, reaffirming the joint commitment of the government and international partners to advance the implementation of the Uzbekistan-2030 Strategy. Over 90 representatives reviewed the progress made towards green growth and public finance management (PFM) and discussed an assessment of agriculture subsidies, while highlighting
On February 26, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif held negotiations in Tashkent. The leaders agreed to establish the Supreme Council of Strategic Partnership and hold its first meeting next year. The negotiations focused on expanding trade and economic cooperation. It was noted that in
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will build a new border checkpoint, Kazinform reported quoting Kazakh Minister of Transport Marat Karabayev as saying following the meeting of the Kazakh and Kyrgyz prime ministers in Astana on February 24. According to Karabayev, in 2024, the volume of automobile transportations between the two countries reached 2.4 million tons of cargo,
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Alibek Kuantyrov on February 24 held meetings with senior officials from Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Ministry of Petroleum Resources. These discussions as part of the official visit of the Kazakh delegation were aimed to enhance economic and political cooperation between the
In an interview with the Kabar information agency, Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov said that the country’s external debt is “not a problem.” According to Japarov, Kyrgyzstan’s external debt now stands at $4.5 billion. “We are not afraid of the external debt now. Before 2020, we had reasons to worry. In 2020, Kyrgyzstan’s state budget was
The Council of the European Union (EU) has appointed Mr Eduards Stiprais as the new EU Special Representative for Central Asia. Stiprais will take up his duties on 1 March 2025 with an initial mandate of two years, succeeding Terhi Hakala. According to the European Council, the task of the new Special Representative will be to promote relations between
On February 24, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Adylbek Kasymaliyev held talks in Astana. Kasymaliyev is on his first official visit abroad since the appointment as the head of the Kyrgyz Cabinet of Ministers in December, which testifies to Kazakhstan’s importance for Kyrgyzstan. According to
On February 24, the UK announced new sanctions targeting those who continue to aid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions target Russia’s military machine and entities in third countries who support it. In particular, the UK has imposed sanctions on the Kyrgyzstan-based OJSC Keremet Bank for its alleged role in supporting Russia’s war machine. On
A high-ranking delegation of Afghanistan, led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy prime minister for economic affairs, visited Uzbekistan late last week, TOLOnews reported. Mullah Baradar described the visit as productive, stating that during negotiations with Uzbek officials, agreements were reached on expanding trade, importing electricity, exporting Afghanistan’s agricultural products, developing transportation, and constructing a
