Business & Economy - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 7 - 12 of 2422

Kazakhstan-U.S. Relations

Tokayev and U.S. DFC Chief Discuss Critical Minerals, AI, and Possible Kazakhstan Office

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met on June 15 with Ben Black, chief executive officer of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), as Astana seeks to expand economic cooperation with Washington and attract more strategic investment. The DFC, the U.S. government's international investment arm, mobilizes private capital in support of foreign-policy and economic-development priorities. A permanent DFC presence in Kazakhstan would give U.S. investors and Kazakh authorities a more direct channel for structuring and financing projects in priority sectors. Welcoming Black, Tokayev described the visit as a continuation of agreements reached during talks in Washington in November 2025, and an important step toward deepening Kazakhstan's multifaceted partnership with the United States. Tokayev said relations between Astana and Washington had intensified since President Donald Trump returned to office. "We fully support the bold vision and pragmatic diplomatic approach of the U.S. President. Kazakhstan plays an active role in advancing key American initiatives, including the Abraham Accords, the Board of Peace, the TRIPP initiative, and other projects. Together, these efforts have given new momentum to our enhanced strategic partnership, which is stronger today than ever before," Tokayev said. The Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) has become important to Kazakhstan's transport agenda because a southern Caucasus route could broaden options for the Middle Corridor rather than replace existing Azerbaijan-Georgia links. Tokayev added that Kazakhstan's political and economic reforms are aimed at shifting the country from a resource-dependent model to a diversified, knowledge-based economy, and noted that the DFC's investment priorities align closely with Kazakhstan's development agenda. Black thanked Tokayev for the reception and described his meetings with Kazakhstan's business community in Almaty as productive and substantive. Tokayev emphasized the importance of translating political agreements into practical results and reaffirmed Kazakhstan's readiness to implement joint investment projects. The two sides discussed prospects for cooperation in critical minerals, transport connectivity, agriculture, digitalization, and artificial intelligence. They also reviewed the possibility of opening a permanent DFC office in Kazakhstan. The meeting followed several days of U.S.-Kazakhstan critical minerals diplomacy in Astana. The Times of Central Asia reported that the United States convened a C5+1 Critical Minerals Dialogue on June 10, where U.S. Special Envoy Sergio Gor said Washington saw Central Asia as a partner in diversifying access to strategic materials and highlighted the DFC's potential role in critical minerals, telecommunications, and Trans-Caspian infrastructure. David Fogel, Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service, told delegates at the Astana Mining & Metallurgy Congress on June 11-12 that Washington was moving "from dialogue to strategic execution" in the region's critical minerals industry. Fogel noted that the United States had brought an unusually large delegation to Kazakhstan, including representatives of more than 20 U.S. companies and senior officials, underscoring growing American interest in the country's mining, metallurgy, and industrial sectors. Those discussions fit Kazakhstan's attempt to move beyond extraction. Astana is seeking to position its mining sector around processing, technology transfer, and higher-value manufacturing, while linking critical minerals to...

Railway Construction

Balykchy-Cholpon-Ata Railway Construction Begins in Kyrgyzstan

On June 14, Kyrgyzstan launched construction of the new Balykchy-Cholpon-Ata railway, a project aimed at extending rail access along Lake Issyk-Kul’s northern shore and strengthening Balykchy’s role as a transport hub. At present, the railway connecting Bishkek with Lake Issyk-Kul ends in Balykchy, at the western edge of the lake. Passengers traveling onward to Cholpon-Ata, the main resort city on the lake’s northern shore, must continue by road. The new Balykchy-Tamchy-Cholpon-Ata railway will stretch 86 kilometers. The line will pass through the village of Tamchy, home to Issyk-Kul International Airport, and is expected to become part of a multimodal transport and logistics hub on the lake’s shore. The Eurasian Development Bank said in August 2025 that it would provide a $275,000 technical-assistance grant for a preliminary feasibility study for the Balykchy-Cholpon-Ata railway, a project it estimated at about $500 million. At a launch ceremony for the project, President Sadyr Japarov said the project would support the country’s economy, tourism, and transport infrastructure. “Once fully operational, the project will be capable of transporting up to 5 million tons of cargo annually. It is especially significant given the large-scale investment initiatives currently underway on the shores of Issyk-Kul. The new railway will facilitate the delivery of construction materials and other cargo, contribute to the development of the region’s tourism potential, and expand passenger transportation,” Japarov said. Official figures cited at the ceremony showed rail freight volumes in Kyrgyzstan reached 10 million tons in 2025, up 36% about 7 million tons in 2021. Rail passenger journeys over the same period rose from 255,000 to 432,000, an increase of about 70%. The figures point to growth from a low base: 432,000 journeys works out at roughly 1,180 per day nationwide. The project adds to a series of rail and logistics schemes centered on Balykchy. The city lies on the key corridor linking Bishkek with Naryn and the Torugart Pass on the Chinese border. On May 28, the city opened a new international trade and logistics center, Altyn Logistic, aimed at strengthening transport links between China, Central Asia, and wider post-Soviet markets. Balykchy is also the starting point of the Balykchy-Kochkor-Kara-Keche railway, a 186-kilometer line under construction since 2022. The route is expected to connect the northern rail network with Kochkor and the Kara-Keche coal deposit in Naryn region, one of the main coal suppliers for Bishkek’s thermal power plant. Kyrgyz officials have also linked the Balykchy-Kochkor-Kara-Keche line to plans for wider rail integration with the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, which is under construction. If those projects are completed, Balykchy would become a more important junction in a network connecting northern Kyrgyzstan with routes through Naryn, Jalal-Abad, and onward to Uzbekistan. Balykchy also remains the main rail gateway to the Issyk-Kul resort area. The national railway company, Kyrgyz Temir Jolu, has introduced luxury and VIP compartment cars on the Bishkek-Balykchy line, while last year the route was extended to the Balykchy Beach stop, giving passengers direct access to the lakeshore during the summer season. In 2025, the...

Foreign Investment

Iran’s Solico Group to Build Major Cheese Plant in Kazakhstan

Iranian food conglomerate Solico Group will build a large cheese production plant in Kazakhstan’s Almaty region, marking a major step in the country’s efforts to expand value-added agricultural processing. Kazakhstan's Agriculture Minister Aidarbek Saparov and Solico Group President Gholam Ali Soleimani signed the investment agreement for the project, which will focus on deep milk processing and industrial-scale cheese production. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 155,000 tons of cheese, with total investment estimated at 35.2 billion tenge, or roughly $70 million, according to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Agriculture. Construction work has already begun at the site in the Almaty region, and the plant is expected to be completed and commissioned in 2029. Saparov said attracting strategic investors into agricultural processing remains one of Kazakhstan’s key economic priorities. “President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has tasked the government with increasing the share of processed agricultural products and developing industries with higher added value,” Saparov said. “Kazakhstan’s dairy sector has significant growth potential. In 2025, domestic production of cheese and cottage cheese increased by 13.1%. This project will significantly expand the country’s processing capacity and create a guaranteed market for local milk producers.” He added that the government was ready to provide comprehensive support for investors in priority sectors of the economy. Soleimani described Kazakhstan as a promising regional hub for food production and said the company was considering additional investments beyond the cheese factory. “We view Kazakhstan not just as a site for a single project, but as a long-term strategic partner. The country has strong agricultural potential, a favorable geographic location, and an attractive investment climate. Alongside the cheese plant, we are also exploring projects in potato processing and baby food production.” The agreement includes a broad package of state incentives, including the provision of engineering infrastructure for the production site. Under the terms of the agreement, Solico Group will create at least 400 permanent jobs, provide training for Kazakhstani specialists, and transfer modern industrial technologies and expertise. The company also plans to allocate about 50 million tenge annually from 2028 to 2038 for social initiatives and support for local communities in the Almaty region. The agreement adds to a series of recent Kazakhstan-Iran trade initiatives. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Astana and Tehran said late last year that they aimed to triple bilateral trade to $1 billion in the coming years. Although some joint Kazakhstan-Iran projects were frozen earlier this year because of military conflict in Iran, economic cooperation appears to be recovering. In May 2026, Kazakhstani vegetable oil producers opened a new export route to Iran via the Caspian Sea.

Gold Mining

Kazakhstan Registers Five New Gold Deposits as Jewelers Seek Raw Materials

Citing World Gold Council data, Azamat Panbayev, chairman of the Industrial Committee at Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Construction, said Kazakhstan ranked 14th globally in gold production last year. He was speaking at the VII Forum of Gold Producers of Kazakhstan held as part of the international Astana Mining & Metallurgy Congress 2026. “The gold mining industry remains one of the strategically important sectors of industry and makes a significant contribution to the country’s economic development,” Panbayev said. “Kazakhstan has a substantial mineral resource base: 374 gold deposits with total reserves of 2,369 tons are currently listed on the state balance sheet. Last year alone, five new deposits with reserves of around 98 tons of gold were added to the state register.” According to the Ministry of Industry and Construction, Kazakhstan produced 71.2 tons of refined gold in 2025, while investment in precious metals production reached $202.6 million, up 38% from the previous year. Gold refining in Kazakhstan is carried out by Tau-Ken Altyn LLP, the country’s only specialized state refinery and a subsidiary of National Mining Company Tau-Ken Samruk JSC. The Astana-based plant purchases doré, a semi-refined alloy containing gold and silver, from gold mining companies and sells gold refined to 99.99% purity. However, only 5% of the raw materials purchased by jewelers in Kazakhstan come from the Astana refinery, said Kanat Baitov, executive director of the Dragnet Association. He estimated that more than 50% of the industry’s raw materials market remains in the shadow economy. “We mine 70 tons of gold every year. If even 20 tons, or at least 5 tons, of that were used for jewelry production, the industry would have real potential,” Baitov said. Kazakhstan has introduced a VAT exemption for jewelers purchasing granulated gold from the state refinery, according to Baitov. “They are ready to supply not only granulated gold but, over time, if volumes increase, they are also prepared to supply alloys to the domestic market and could produce ready-made assay standards for jewelers,” he said, referring to Tau-Ken Altyn. He noted that jewelers would only be able to benefit from the new tax incentives for purchasing raw materials from the state plant if they increased procurement volumes. Currently, by his estimate, purchases do not exceed 30 kilograms per year. He added that such practices could eventually raise questions from the state regarding the origin of the raw materials used by jewelers in Kazakhstan. Zhaniya Dabyr, co-owner of the jewelry company Kazakhyuvelir, said the industry faces several challenges. These include high raw material costs, limited access to financing, the shadow market, insufficient government support, weak promotion in foreign markets, and limited tax incentives. “We propose expanding the mechanism for selling gold to domestic manufacturers and introducing a more flexible system of installment payments, fixing the gold price on the purchase date, as well as considering discounts for domestic producers and additional preferences for export-oriented companies,” Dabyr said. Kazakhyuvelir also proposed creating a digital accounting system for the jewelry market that would cover manufacturers...

AIRUN CEO Chingiz Arziev on Building Kyrgyzstan’s Sovereign AI

The Times of Central Asia was delighted to interview Chingiz Arziev, CEO of AIRUN a Kyrgyzstan-based company developing AI infrastructure for the Kyrgyz language. AIRUN’s technology includes a large language model, speech recognition, text-to-speech tools, AI translation, and digital avatars designed for use in government, education, media, business, and public services. Chingiz Arziev spoke to TCA about the challenge of building AI for a low-resource language, why digital sovereignty matters for Kyrgyzstan, and how the company hopes to take its experience to other countries facing similar language and technology challenges. TCA: To begin with, can you tell us a little about yourself: where you grew up, what you studied, and how you first became interested in technology? Chingiz Arziev: I was born and raised in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. My interest in technology started very early. Around the age of nine, I discovered design software: Photoshop, Illustrator, and CorelDRAW. I was not only learning how to use them, but also comparing their interfaces and trying to understand what made one product more intuitive than another. At around 14, I became interested in motion design, 3D graphics, and digital sculpting. I studied Adobe After Effects, Blender, and ZBrush. Whatever software I was learning, I was always interested in the same thing: user experience. Already by the age of 16, I had started learning HTML and CSS to begin building websites and landing pages. Looking back, the common thread has always been understanding how technology works and how it can solve real problems for people. TCA: Was there a particular moment when you realized that artificial intelligence could become a serious field for you personally? Chingiz Arziev: I have always been drawn to advanced engineering and emerging technologies. In 2015, I became deeply involved in the blockchain space. The architectures, protocols, and decentralized systems being developed at the time felt completely new and inspiring. But even that did not compare to what happened during the AI boom of 2022. I still remember the day I sent my first prompt to ChatGPT. For me, that was the moment everything changed. I immediately saw the direction technology would take over the next 20 years. After that, I spoke about artificial intelligence everywhere. I talked about how AI would transform industries, reshape professions, automate routine work, and fundamentally change the labor market. Many friends and colleagues thought I was exaggerating. But I had spent years following companies such as Boston Dynamics, Tesla, Unitree, and DJI. Because of that, I saw a broader picture. Artificial intelligence would not develop in isolation. It would advance alongside robotics, autonomous systems, and automation. After sending that first prompt to ChatGPT, I knew I wanted to dedicate my career to artificial intelligence. TCA: How did the idea for AIRUN first come about, and what problem were you trying to solve? Chingiz Arziev: For countries with low-resource languages, the need for sovereign AI has existed for a long time. The challenge was never the idea itself. The challenge was execution, expertise, infrastructure, and...

Aviation

Turkish Airlines to Fly Daily to Dushanbe

Turkish Airlines will increase flights between Istanbul and Dushanbe from five to seven days a week, according to Turkey’s ambassador in Tajikistan. “Starting on August 3, daily Dushanbe–Istanbul flights will be available, further strengthening connectivity between Turkey and Tajikistan,” Ambassador Umut Acar said on Facebook. The development comes amid signs of domestic growth in commercial aviation in Tajikistan, whose national carrier, Somon Air, said last month that it was expecting the delivery of new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in the next few months. In April, Shohin Airlines, a new private airline registered in Tajikistan, said it was in the final stage of acquiring four planes from the Airbus A320neo line of aircraft. In 2025, civil aviation authorities in Tajikistan lifted many market restrictions under a new government policy. The move was aimed at encouraging competition, leading to better prices for passengers, more efficient service, and route diversification.