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Nuclear Disarmament

Central Asian States Call for New Arms Controls as Nuclear Framework Weakens

Foreign ministers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have called for new, verifiable arms control mechanisms to prevent a nuclear arms race, warning that international disarmament efforts are losing ground. In a joint statement issued on September 8 to mark 20 years since the signing of the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, the five governments expressed concern over stalled disarmament, the end of key agreements, and the modernization of nuclear arsenals. They urged nuclear powers to resume negotiations. The statement comes seven months after New START, the last U.S.-Russian strategic nuclear arms treaty, expired on February 5. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said its expiration left the two countries without binding limits on their strategic nuclear arsenals for the first time in more than half a century. President Donald Trump has criticized New START as a “badly negotiated deal” and called instead for a new, modernized arms control treaty that would include China. The ministers also cited the failure of the Eleventh Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which ended without a consensus outcome on May 22. Kazakhstan had already advanced a similar position. As TCA reported, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev used the August 29 anniversary of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site’s closure to call for negotiations among nuclear powers, the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and renewed multilateral action to reduce nuclear risks. Kazakhstan’s connection to the issue extends beyond diplomacy. The Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests at Semipalatinsk between 1949 and 1989. Kazakhstan closed the site in 1991 and subsequently relinquished the nuclear arsenal it had inherited after the Soviet collapse. The regional treaty was signed in Semipalatinsk on September 8, 2006, and entered into force in 2009. It established the first nuclear-weapon-free zone located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere, directly bordering two nuclear-weapon states, Russia and China. That history gives Kazakhstan a distinctive place in regional nuclear diplomacy. Uzbekistan originated the proposal for the zone, presenting it at the UN General Assembly in September 1993. The September 8 statement explicitly acknowledges Uzbekistan’s initiative while crediting all five countries with establishing the zone. The statement also recognizes Kyrgyzstan for initiating the International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness, observed annually on March 5, and Turkmenistan for chairing the December 2024 anniversary meeting in Ashgabat. Kazakhstan has also helped coordinate cooperation beyond Central Asia. In August 2024, it hosted a conference in Astana with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs to strengthen cooperation among nuclear-weapon-free zones, following an earlier meeting in 2019. The five states also renewed their appeal for the United States to ratify a protocol providing security assurances to the region. In May 2014, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States signed the protocol on negative security assurances, committing not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against the five Central Asian treaty members. The other four signatories have ratified it. Washington has not. The request is longstanding. The five governments made the same appeal...

Bilateral Relations

Trade and Migrant Workers Fuel Serbia’s Growing Ties with Uzbekistan

BELGRADE – While seeking to join the European Union – a process that has been going on for nearly two decades – Serbia is also moving to build closer relations with Central Asia. After expanding cooperation with Kazakhstan earlier this year, the Southeast European nation is now looking to replicate that momentum in its relations with Uzbekistan. At first glance, the two countries seem to have little in common. Serbia is a relatively small economy with strong ties to European markets, while Uzbekistan is Central Asia’s most populous nation and one of the region’s fastest-growing economies. Yet the two states are actively expanding their cooperation. On September 8, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his Uzbek counterpart, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, signed a joint statement establishing a strategic partnership between Belgrade and Tashkent. Uzbekistan’s leader’s visit to Serbia comes less than a year after Vucic made his first official trip to the Central Asian state. In the meantime, the Serbian government announced its plans to open an embassy in Tashkent – a move that will undoubtedly further strengthen diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries. While the economy was at the top of the agenda during Vucic and Mirziyoyev’s talks in Belgrade, the meeting also carried significant political importance for the Serbian leader. Mirziyoyev arrived in Serbia on September 7, when thousands of people gathered to attend the funeral of former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic. His death and the public tribute to him have reopened divisions over Serbia’s wartime legacy and further complicated its relationship with the European Union. Vucic had a long-standing reason not to attend the ceremony: he was due to meet Mirziyoyev at the airport. However, multiple opposition figures accused the Serbian leader of using Mirziyoyev’s visit as a justification for staying away, with one alleging that the visit had actually been rescheduled to give him an excuse. The following day, the two leaders, as well as Serbian and Uzbek delegations, signed 20 agreements in various fields, from digitalization and renewable energy to trade, transport, agriculture, tourism, healthcare, and culture. Vucic even hinted that Serbia aims to expand military ties with Uzbekistan. As he stressed, Belgrade plans to develop long-range ballistic missiles over the next year and has invited Uzbekistan to cooperate in this area. Meanwhile, the Southeast European nation is expected to establish direct flights between Belgrade and Tashkent within the next seven to eight months. More importantly, Serbia, which has free trade agreements with the European Union, China, Turkey, the UK, and the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as regional Balkan nations, hopes to strike such a deal with Uzbekistan. According to Jagoda Lazarevic, the country’s Minister of Internal and Foreign Trade, if the process succeeds, Serbia would become the first European country to enter into free trade talks with Uzbekistan. However, bilateral trade between the two nations remains relatively small, reaching $41.8 million in 2025. By comparison, according to data from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade and Integration, trade between the largest Central Asian country...

FIDE Chess Olympiad

Samarkand Expects Record Turnout for Chess Olympiad

Samarkand is preparing to host the largest Chess Olympiad yet, with organizers expecting 398 teams as Uzbekistan stages the tournament for the first time in Central Asia. The 46th Chess Olympiad opens on September 15 at the Silk Road International Tourism Center and runs until September 27, with the first round to be played on September 16, according to the official schedule. Organizers say 208 teams will compete in the Open section and 190 in the women’s competition. The expected field of 1,974 players includes 240 grandmasters. More than 4,000 guests are expected when coaches and delegation members are included. That turnout would exceed the 374 teams recorded by FIDE at the 2024 Budapest Olympiad. Both sections will be contested over eleven rounds, with four players competing for each team in every match. Teams may also register one reserve player. The Olympiad dates back to 1927. Its arrival in Samarkand brings the competition to a historic Silk Road city whose center is inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Uzbekistan enters the Open competition as the third seed, according to the organizers’ figures based on average team ratings. The United States leads the seedings, ahead of defending champions India. The U.S. team includes Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, and Levon Aronian, while Hans Niemann is set to make his Olympiad debut. Vincent Keymer will represent Germany, and France’s squad includes Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. For Uzbekistan, Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov bring top-ten credentials to the home challenge. Sindarov is fourth in FIDE’s September rankings, while Abdusattorov is seventh. The rankings cited by the organizers also place Nodirbek Yakubboev 39th and Shamsiddin Vokhidov 61st, giving the main squad four players among the world’s top 100. Former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov has also been named in the main Open lineup. His inclusion adds experience to a squad built around Uzbekistan’s younger grandmasters. The hosts will field three teams in each section, opening places for emerging players. Nilufarkhon Imomkuziyeva and Khumoyun Begmurodov, both 16, are among those making their Olympiad debuts. In the women’s competition, Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova is set to represent Uzbekistan after playing for the United States at the 2024 Budapest Olympiad. Nafisa Muminova, Uzbekistan’s first woman grandmaster, will serve as captain. The organizers cite Afruza Khamdamova’s position at 26th in the women’s world rankings, with Tokhirjonova 80th. Uzbekistan’s women have climbed 17 places since 2025 to 21st in FIDE’s federation rankings, while the Open side has risen 15 places to sixth. India is the top seed in the women’s competition. Kazakhstan’s lineup includes three-time women’s world blitz champion Bibisara Assaubayeva, who also won Norway Chess Women 2026, securing the title in Oslo with a round to spare. Ukraine’s first board will be 16-year-old Anastasiia Hnatyshyn, who won the European Women’s Championship in June after entering the tournament as the 76th seed. Samarkand will also host the third FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities from September 10 to 18. Organizers expect a record 41 teams, compared with 26 at the inaugural event in...

Contemporary Art

From Bukhara to Venice: How Uzbekistan Is Building a Contemporary Art Scene

Uzbekistan has long known how to attract foreign visitors with its past – Samarkand, Bukhara, the Silk Road, and Islamic architecture. Now the country is trying to interest the world in what it is creating today. In just a few years, Uzbekistan has launched the Bukhara Biennial and established a national pavilion at the Venice Biennale. On September 6, the country’s first permanent center for contemporary art opened in Tashkent. The Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent (CCA Tashkent) occupies a 1912 industrial building that once served as a diesel station and tram depot. French architecture firm Studio KO preserved its industrial character while incorporating local materials and craft techniques. Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, chairperson of Qatar Museums, attended the opening. Three days earlier, Qatar Museums and the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation launched a five-year collaboration covering exhibitions and artist residencies, professional development for museum specialists, and work with Islamic heritage. For the young Tashkent center, this offers a route into established international museum networks. Over the past two decades, Qatar has built one of the Middle East’s most prominent museum networks. The connection with Doha could give Tashkent access to artists, curators, and museum networks developed over years. [caption id="attachment_55705" align="aligncenter" width="819"] Image: ccat.uz[/caption] The Foundation Behind the Push One organization stands behind several of Uzbekistan’s major contemporary art projects: the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF). It organizes the Bukhara Biennial, oversees the new center in Tashkent, and presents the country’s national pavilion at the Venice Biennale. The foundation was established in 2017 and now operates within the Presidential Administration. It is headed by Gayane Umerova, who also leads the administration’s Department of Creative Economy and Tourism. The foundation’s projects have also received support from Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of the Presidential Administration. That context helps explain where the funding and scale come from. Contemporary art in Uzbekistan is developing with direct state support, while exhibitions and biennials have become part of a broader effort to reshape the country’s cultural image abroad. Bukhara provided the first major test. In 2025, the ancient city hosted its first contemporary art biennial, Recipes for Broken Hearts. Works were installed among madrasas, mosques, and other buildings in Bukhara’s historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to the organizers, the biennial drew more than 1.8 million visitors over its run. It was an unusual experiment for the region: contemporary art was not separated from the architecture that has drawn tourists to Bukhara for decades, but placed directly inside it. Tashkent is trying something different. Here, artists now have a permanent space where they can not only exhibit but also work. [caption id="attachment_55708" align="alignnone" width="1024"] ccat.uz[/caption] From Uzbek Ceramics to Kimsooja The center’s inaugural exhibition is called Hikmah – “Wisdom.” Curated by the center’s chief curator, Sara Raza, it explores craft, memory, material, and knowledge passed between generations. Among the participating artists is Shokhrukh Rakhimov, who grew up in a family of Uzbek ceramicists. His work continues that tradition...

Labor Force

Kazakhstan’s Factory Expansion Faces a Skilled Labor Shortage

Kazakhstan plans to create tens of thousands of jobs at new factories, but lacks qualified workers. Around 200 industrial projects are scheduled to be launched in 2026, followed by new metallurgical, engineering, and chemical plants. The facilities can be built within a few years, but training the staff needed to operate them may take significantly longer. A 2025 estimate suggested the shortage of qualified workers in manufacturing, construction, and engineering-related fields could exceed 100,000. The projects planned for 2026 are worth a combined 1.7 trillion tenge, or approximately $3.6 billion, and are expected to create around 18,000 permanent jobs. The next wave of projects will require several thousand more workers. Seven new projects in ferrous metallurgy are planned for 2027–2028, creating more than 3,500 permanent jobs. Another six facilities in non-ferrous metallurgy are planned for the same period, creating more than 800 jobs. Behind those plans are facilities producing steel and ferroalloys, copper and aluminum products, trucks, road machinery, and chemicals. Kazakhstan is seeking to process more of its own raw materials domestically and export products with higher added value. For an economy that remains heavily dependent on oil, metals, and other commodities, the success of that policy will shape its prospects for further diversification. The Asian Development Bank has identified higher productivity and stronger human capital as important conditions for that transition. In March 2025, National Engineering Academy President Bakytzhan Zhumagulov said the shortage of qualified workers in construction, manufacturing, engineering and technical fields could exceed 100,000. Meanwhile, in April 2026, Science and Higher Education Minister Sayasat Nurbek warned that the gap between the specialists being trained and the needs of the economy was widening. The Ministry of Labor has pointed to another imbalance: on the Enbek electronic labor exchange in May 2025, demand for workers with mid-level qualifications exceeded supply by 16%. Tomorrow’s Factories and Today’s Labor Market The government is already trying to reshape vocational education. In 2025, 70% of state-funded college places were allocated to technical fields, including mechanical engineering, transportation, energy, IT, and construction. Kazakhstan operates a system for forecasting the economy’s labor needs, estimating demand by occupation, region, and industry several years ahead, taking into account both newly created jobs and the need to replace people leaving the labor market. These projections are intended to guide state-funded education and vocational training. The potential scale of future demand is substantial. A forecast published in 2025 estimated that the economy would require around 1.6 million workers over the following six years, including about 900,000 people with technical and vocational education. Demand for workers in skilled trades alone was estimated at more than 400,000. Construction, agriculture, and manufacturing were expected to be among the main employers. Yet the current labor market still reflects a fairly traditional pattern. Kazakhstan has a short-term vocational training program for unemployed people. Employers submit requests for the specialists they need and guarantee employment, while the state pays for their training. More than 11 billion tenge, approximately $23 million, was allocated to the...

City Planning

Almaty and Astana Set to Retain Central Asia’s Economic Lead

Almaty long combined Kazakhstan’s political and commercial functions and established itself as Central Asia’s leading business center. After Astana became Kazakhstan’s capital, the two cities developed increasingly complementary roles, with Almaty remaining the region’s largest business and financial hub while Astana accumulated political, institutional and corporate weight. Kazakhstan’s updated figures put Astana’s growth at about 10% and Almaty’s at about 5%. Together, the two cities generated roughly $107 billion in 2025. Together, they have become a two-city engine anchoring much of Central Asia’s commerce. Almaty and Astana benefit from an economic scale unmatched elsewhere in Central Asia. Kazakhstan alone accounts for more than half of the region’s GDP and roughly two-thirds of its inward FDI stock, according to TCA’s Central Asia Balance Sheet. That scale helps generate the fiscal resources needed to build and maintain the municipal infrastructure that supports business activity. Kazakhstan also has Central Asia’s most developed capital markets. The combination of the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) in Almaty and the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and Astana International Exchange (AIX) in Astana gives companies access to equity, debt, institutional investors and financial infrastructure at a scale no other market in the region currently matches. Kazakhstan is also the only Central Asian country with an investment-grade sovereign rating, lowering the country-risk premium and helping reduce financing costs for companies and projects relative to lower-rated regional markets. These advantages have been reinforced over decades. Almaty and Astana have long served as regional bases for major global companies, creating an established ecosystem of corporate management, finance, professional services and skilled labor. That track record, in turn, strengthens their ability to attract further investment and regional headquarters. Tashkent and Bishkek are also growing rapidly Then there is Tashkent. Uzbekistan’s political and commercial capital had an economy of about $29 billion in 2025, about 40% the size of Almaty’s and three-quarters that of Astana. Tashkent has also experienced rapid growth, with its economy growing by 11.3% in real terms in 2025, according to preliminary national figures. Tashkent benefits from Uzbekistan’s demographic scale. The country’s population is almost twice Kazakhstan’s, giving its capital access to a much larger domestic market and labor pool. But that scale also raises the need for sustained job creation and continued investment in housing and infrastructure. If productivity and investment fail to keep pace with population growth, the demographic advantage could increasingly act as a constraint rather than help Tashkent close the gap with Almaty and Astana. Almaty and Astana, meanwhile, generate substantially more economic output per resident. In 2025, Gross Regional Product (GRP) per capita was approximately $29,900 in Almaty and $23,700 in Astana, compared with about $9,300 in Tashkent, using reporting-year average exchange rates. These figures measure output per resident, not labor productivity, household income or living standards. Like Tashkent, Bishkek combines the roles of political capital and principal economic center. On the reporting years used here, however, its economy is only about 30% as large. Its economy grew by 15.8% in 2024, according to Kyrgyzstan’s...