Business & Economy - The Times Of Central Asia

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Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

How Almaty and Astana Built Central Asia’s Deepest Business Ecosystem

Every region has cities that pull people and money toward them. New York, London, Dubai, and Singapore became places where ambitious people went to make careers, companies went to find talent, and investors went to put money to work. Once that concentration takes hold, it feeds on itself. More companies create more jobs, more talent attracts more companies, and banks, lawyers, consultants, airlines, schools and restaurants grow around them. Central Asia has developed its own version of that gravitational pull. Almaty has long been the region’s main commercial center and was Kazakhstan’s capital until 1997. It remains effectively tethered to Astana by intense passenger traffic and the constant movement of businesspeople, officials and professionals between the two cities. Astana has grown around government, international finance, technology and diplomacy. Together, they function as a two-city economic and political engine. The numbers explain much of this. The Times of Central Asia’s Central Asia Balance Sheet puts Kazakhstan at $306.2 billion of the five Central Asian economies combined $543.4 billion in GDP, or 56.4%. Its share of accumulated foreign investment is even larger. The Balance Sheet puts Central Asia’s inward foreign direct investment (FDI) stock at $235.6 billion at the end of 2025, of which Kazakhstan held $156.4 billion, or 66.4%. FDI stock represents capital accumulated over years rather than announced agreements or one unusually strong year of inflows. Almaty and Astana Play Different Roles Almaty accounted for 22.7% of Kazakhstan’s GDP in 2025 and Astana another 12.3%, putting their economies at roughly $69 billion and $38 billion respectively. Together they produced around $107 billion. Almaty is Kazakhstan’s main business and financial center. Kazakhstan’s largest banks, investment firms, multinational offices, lawyers, accountants and consultants are concentrated there. The Globalization and World Cities research network (GaWC) placed Almaty in its Gamma+ group in 2024, alongside Austin, Antwerp, and Kuwait City. GaWC bases the classification on the networks of major international business-service firms, offering a measure of how closely a city is connected to the global corporate economy. Consistent with that ranking, multinational companies have also chosen Almaty as a base for regional operations. Mars runs its eleven-country regional headquarters from Almaty, covering all five Central Asian states, the South Caucasus, Belarus, Mongolia, and Turkey. Mastercard describes Almaty as a regional hub and the heart of its consulting operations for the CIS, Central and Eastern Europe. Kazakhstan is unusual in Central Asia in having two major hubs. In functional terms, Astana complements Almaty much as Washington D.C. complements New York: Almaty is the deeper commercial center, while Astana concentrates government, sovereign institutions, diplomacy, and national policy. Astana has also developed regional corporate operations of its own. Alstom runs its Western and Central Asia cluster from the capital, and Mercuria opened a regional office there in 2026 headed by its CEO for Central Asia and the Caspian region. U.S. rail company Wabtec has made Astana a regional locomotive production and engineering base, reinforced by its $4.2 billion agreement as Kazakhstan expands its Middle Corridor links to...

Astana Finance Days 2026

Astana Finance Days: Rewiring Finance at Institutional Scale – The Case for Deeper Financial Markets

Kazakhstan needs deeper financial markets and a system less dependent on banks, senior financial officials told Astana Finance Days on September 9, 2026. Speakers at the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) explored how digital finance could support that shift during the plenary session, "Innovation at Institutional Scale: Rewiring the Architecture of Finance." The turnout was standing-room only. Over the next fifty minutes, the panelists discussed Kazakhstan’s ambitions as a financial hub and the conditions needed to advance them. Moderator Sallianne Taylor, Bloomberg's EMEA Head of Government Relations, opened by asking what is fundamentally changing in the architecture of global finance, and what it means for Kazakhstan. There were five panelists: Timur Suleimenov, Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan; Renat Bekturov, Governor of the AIFC; Timur Turlov, Chief Executive of Freedom Holding Corp.; Sergio Mello, Global Head of Stablecoin Solutions at Anchorage Digital; and Balaji Srinivasan, founder of Network School and bestselling author of The Network State. The Governor's Priority: Stability Before Speed Governor Suleimenov began by naming "geopolitical tension" as the backdrop to today's discussions. "This is the elephant in the room, which we cannot ignore," he said, without further comment. He then described trade and finance flows as changing fundamentally, pointing to "division across the Atlantic. We're seeing trade wars, semi-trade wars across the world." He explained that "finance has always been a partner with trade, investment and finance." That atmosphere of uncertainty "reshapes financial flows," he said. Turning to technology, he noted that "with the invention of blockchain, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and everything in between, the traditional financial system has started to undergo very fundamental change. I think we're still in the rule-setting phase." As a result, he said, "There is no set of global rules for decentralized finance, for digital finance, crypto finance. Many countries are looking to strike the right balance between the traditional financial institutions such as banks or commodities or securities markets, and the new ways of doing finance that the market is offering." For Kazakhstan specifically, he argued the moment favors the country rather than threatens it. "I think for Kazakhstan, it's more of an opportunity," he said, pointing to its standing as the region's largest economy by GDP and GDP per capita, and its position as "the biggest financial system, the best financial system, the most capitalized" in Central Asia. That confidence carried into the moderator's next question: "As a central banker, how do you balance innovation with preserving that financial stability and trust?" Suleimenov called it "a never-ending story," then offered the line that framed the whole session: "When you see something new, and you don't have the rules for it, of course you have to evaluate it based on its merits and based on principles rather than rules, and then you come up with rules." He was candid about the risk that comes with new financial technology, but just as quick to put it in proportion. "What we've been seeing in Kazakhstan, I mean, it's 90% positive," he said, acknowledging...

Logistic Hub

$100 Million Kyrgyzstan Logistics Center Planned Near China Border

Kyrgyzstan plans to establish a logistics center near its border with China, with up to $100 million in investment to be attracted for the project. The center would help connect Chinese freight with routes through Uzbekistan and Afghanistan toward Pakistan, giving landlocked Kyrgyzstan another possible route to South Asian ports. On September 10, Kyrgyzstan’s National Investment Agency and local company Textile Trans signed a memorandum on establishing the Sary-Tash international transport and logistics center. The project also includes plans for a textile manufacturing cluster. Sary-Tash is located in the Alay Valley in southern Osh Region, around 70 kilometers from the Irkeshtam border crossing with China. It sits on the Osh-Sary-Tash-Irkeshtam road and at a junction with routes toward Tajikistan. The planned center is intended to handle cargo moving along the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan route, with possible onward access to Pakistan. It would include warehouse and transshipment facilities, along with customs services and a digital system for monitoring cargo. The Osh-Sary-Tash-Irkeshtam corridor is also included in Kyrgyzstan’s draft Logistics Framework Map for 2026–2030, which was released for public consultation in August. The plan also covers the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, which is being built along a separate route through Torugart, Arpa, Makmal, and Jalal-Abad. The Sary-Tash project comes as Bishkek looks for shorter trade routes to South Asia. On September 2, during Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan signed a Transit Trade Agreement. The agreement is intended to make trade and transit between the two countries easier. Kyrgyzstan has identified the Pakistani ports of Karachi, Port Qasim, and Gwadar as possible gateways to international markets. Trade between the two countries remains limited. During talks with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Sharif said the two sides wanted to raise annual bilateral trade from about $16 million to $200 million within two years. Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan do not share a border. One possible route runs through Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, while another passes through China. Bishkek tested the China route in April 2026. A truck traveled about 3,300 kilometers from Bishkek through the Torugart crossing into China, then continued via Kashgar and the Karakoram Highway before crossing the Khunjerab Pass into Pakistan and reaching Karachi. That route bypasses Afghanistan and gives Kyrgyzstan direct road access to Pakistan’s seaports. Sary-Tash lies on a different road toward China, near Irkeshtam. The planned logistics center would allow goods to be stored and transferred there before continuing along regional transport routes. The announced $100 million is not secured financing. The memorandum says the project aims to attract investment of up to that amount. No construction timetable or opening date has been announced.

Banking

Uzbekistan Pitches Decades of Tax Breaks to Financial Firms

Uzbekistan is offering qualifying financial firms nearly half a century of tax exemptions to set up in Tashkent. The goal is to attract private capital into an economy where state-owned banks still control most banking assets. On September 10, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev appointed his daughter, Saida Mirziyoyeva, to head the planned Tashkent International Financial Centre, Reuters reported. She has led the presidential administration since 2025. Mirziyoyev announced the project at June’s Tashkent International Investment Forum, promising free capital movement alongside tax incentives. Its legal framework would draw on English common law principles, as is the case with Kazakhstan’s Astana International Financial Centre. Who Gets the Tax Breaks? Under the founding law, qualifying participants would receive income and social tax exemptions on financial services income until January 1, 2076. Eligibility requires an actual economic presence in the center and compliance with its rules. The income incentives exclude members of multinational groups with annual revenues of at least €750 million in two of the preceding four fiscal years. Those firms face a domestic top-up tax. The offer is therefore less generous for large multinational groups. A global bank would need a commercial reason to enter Uzbekistan beyond the prospect of a lower tax bill. Most of the foreign businesses operating in Uzbekistan are already concentrated in Tashkent. Almost 63% of the country’s foreign-invested enterprises were based in the capital as of June 1, 2026. Financial firms entering the city would therefore have an existing customer base to pursue, although the numbers alone reveal little about demand for particular services. The domestic banking market does offer scope for competition. In its 2026 assessment, the IMF reported that nine state-owned commercial banks accounted for 63% of banking assets. It also noted delays in privatizing two large banks and urged the authorities to withdraw directed and preferential lending. The center could attract private lenders and help more Uzbek businesses obtain loans. However, simply moving existing deals there to reduce tax bills would do little to expand access to credit. Astana’s Head Start Kazakhstan has operated its financial center since 2018. Its AIFC Court sits outside the national judicial system and uses procedures based on English common law. Businesses can also agree to bring disputes there even when those disputes originate outside the center. The court works directly with Kazakhstan’s authorities to enforce its judgments, and says its first ruling resulted in full payment through private bailiffs. That gives prospective users a concrete example of how a commercial judgment can lead to the recovery of a debt. Uzbekistan’s law likewise provides for an independent commercial court and nationwide recognition of its final judgments. It requires judgments to be published within 30 days, subject to limited confidentiality protections. For lenders, that could reduce uncertainty about committing money to an unfamiliar market. Tashkent would still need to establish a record of decisions and enforcement comparable to the experience available in Astana. The law allows 12 months to adopt essential operating rules, extendable by six months. Activation then requires...

Construction

Tajikistan Plans to Build Central Asia’s Tallest Building

Construction has begun in Tajikistan on what authorities say will be the tallest building in Central Asia, part of a massive development involving international design and engineering firms that is expected to alter Dushanbe’s skyline. The planned 77-floor Dushanbe Tower will be in a complex in the Shohmansur district of the capital that includes five high-rise towers and office, entertainment, and residential areas, according to Tajikistan’s presidential office. It said more than 2,000 local construction workers will be involved in the Dushanbe Mall project, which is slated for completion within five years. “In general, this will be the tallest structure in the region,” the presidency said. While the official statement used the term “structure,” it’s possible that the Dushanbe Tower would not be taller than several other structures, including telecommunications towers, in the region. However, it would be the tallest conventional building if its height projections are borne out. The presidency said the height of the Dushanbe Tower will be 340 meters. Amir Holding, a Dushanbe-based real estate development group leading the Dushanbe Mall project, notes a height of 359 meters on its website. RMJM, a global network of architects and other professionals that was founded in Scotland, says it is designing the skyscraper and that it will be 400 meters high. Completed in 2022, the 311-meter Abu Dhabi Plaza in Astana, Kazakhstan, is currently the tallest building in Central Asia. TAS International Group, a construction company within Amir Holding, is involved in the project. In a statement, the parent company described the development as “a landmark urban intervention addressing the city's shortage of high-quality residential, commercial, hospitality and retail infrastructure,” but did not disclose the project’s cost. “Positioned within a rapidly growing market, it responds to increasing demand for premium real estate and establishes the foundation for Dushanbe's first central business district,” the developer said. The project includes a lake and extensive green space, according to designers. The Dushanbe Tower will be “immersed” in the park, offering “a new blueprint for sustainable urbanism in Central Asia,” according to RMJM. It said the goal is to make “greenery an integral, authentic part of the urban experience.” Companies from Uzbekistan are also contributing to the Dushanbe Mall project, showing that “Central Asian countries are working together not only in politics and trade, but also on major construction and infrastructure projects,” said MTRK, Uzbekistan’s state broadcaster. The Shohmansur district, where the project is being built, is in the Gissar Valley. Dushanbe is in an earthquake-prone region, and a LinkedIn recruitment post for an engineer on the Dushanbe Tower project says the job involves advanced analysis of seismic loads in what it describes as a “9-ball zone.” Dushanbe already has a shopping center called Dushanbe Mall or City Plaza, which opened in 2016 and is not connected to the new project. President Emomali Rahmon and his son, Dushanbe Mayor Rustam Emomali, laid the foundation stone for the new project on September 3.

Astana Finance Days 2026

From Transit to Capital: What Investors Were Looking for in Kazakhstan at Astana Finance Days

On the second day of Astana Finance Days, Kazakhstan was trying to answer the question that follows almost every discussion about new railways, power plants, data centers, and factories: where will the money come from? International banks, asset managers, and stock exchanges gathered in Astana, and the conversation quickly reached a point – foreign capital is interested in the country, but its domestic stock market remains too small for many large investors. From Transit to Transactions The title of the first major discussion of the second day – “From Transit to Transactions” – neatly captured the idea. Kazakhstan already earns money from its position between China and Europe and is investing billions in railways, ports, and energy infrastructure. Now Astana wants financial transactions to move alongside the freight, and some of that capital to remain in the country. The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), where the forum is being held, was created partly for that purpose. It is a separate financial jurisdiction within Kazakhstan, with its own regulator, court, and legal framework based on the principles of English common law. According to the center, by June 2026 its platform had helped attract $25.3 billion in investment to Kazakhstan, while the number of registered companies had exceeded 5,800. But the presence of international companies does not necessarily mean they are ready to invest. Jad Ellawn, Managing Partner for the Middle East at Brookfield, one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers, began with three conditions. “The fundamental principles for an investor looking to enter a country consist of three components. First is having the proper legislation. Second is respect for capital: a country needs to demonstrate that capital is important to it not only domestically, but beyond its borders. Third is scalability,” he said. “In addition to energy resources, Kazakhstan has many other natural resources, and your country is the ninth-largest country in the world. This means you have many potential industries that you could develop, unlike the Gulf.” Yilmaz Kocagoz of Goldman Sachs, one of the largest U.S. investment banks, looked at Kazakhstan through the lens of manufacturing and infrastructure. “For Kazakhstan to diversify its economy beyond commodities, it needs to develop manufacturing and infrastructure,” he said. Kocagoz also pointed to Kazakhstan’s relatively low government debt burden. For an investor, that means a smaller share of the country’s future revenues is already committed to servicing a large public debt. Nurlan Zhakupov, the CEO of Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, put a price tag on the country’s investment program: more than 100 projects worth $105 billion. “We see demand from local businesses and enormous interest from foreign partners. We are also seeing growing consumption of electricity and natural gas, as well as demand for the transportation of electricity, oil, gas, and petroleum products,” Zhakupov said. He ended with an invitation: “Overall, Kazakhstan currently has a good business climate, and now is a good time to enter the Kazakh economy.” The next discussion in the same building helped explain why that does...