Kazakhstan Business & Economy - The Times Of Central Asia

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CERN

Kazakh Scientists to Gain More Opportunities to Work at CERN

Kazakhstan is preparing an agreement with CERN that would give its scientists more opportunities to participate in experiments and undertake research internships at one of the world’s leading particle physics centers. The talks come as the country begins developing nuclear power plants and faces a growing need for highly qualified physicists and engineers. The prospect was discussed at a meeting between Kazakhstan’s acting Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek and CERN Director-General Mark Thomson. The two sides have already prepared a draft protocol expanding their 2018 cooperation agreement. The proposed mechanism would allow Kazakh scientists to undertake research internships and participate in CERN projects through the Scientific Internships program of Kazakhstan’s Center for International Programs. CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, was founded in 1954. Its vast scientific complex is located near Geneva on the border between Switzerland and France. It is home to the Large Hadron Collider, a 27-kilometer particle accelerator, used by physicists to accelerate particles to nearly the speed of light, collide them, and study the fundamental structure of matter. The ATLAS and CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider led to the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, one of the most important breakthroughs in modern physics. CERN has 25 Member States and another 11 Associate Member States. Kazakhstan belongs to neither group. Its cooperation with the organization is based on the 2018 agreement. The draft protocol is intended to create a more formal mechanism for Kazakh researchers to participate in CERN research. For Kazakhstan, training scientists and engineers has become more pressing following the decision to develop nuclear power. In an October 2024 referendum, 71.12% of those who voted supported the construction of a nuclear power plant. In June 2025, Russia’s Rosatom was selected to lead the consortium building the country’s first nuclear power plant near the village of Ulken on the shore of Lake Balkhash, about 400 kilometers from Almaty. Kazakhstan has since expanded those ambitions. A nuclear industry strategy approved in April 2026 calls for at least three nuclear power plants to be operating by 2050. China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has been selected to lead the development of Kazakhstan’s second nuclear power plant. Plans for a third plant are also being developed, although the technology and contractor have not yet been definitively determined. Buying reactors alone will not be enough – the country also needs its own specialists. Kazakhstan is already allocating dedicated places under the international Bolashak scholarship program to train nuclear energy professionals, while local universities are launching programs for future nuclear power plant employees. Bolashak is a state-funded program that pays for Kazakh citizens to study at universities abroad. While CERN does not train nuclear power plant operators, working at the center can give physicists and engineers experience with particle accelerators, sophisticated detectors, computing systems, and international scientific experiments. For Kazakhstan, this offers an opportunity to develop its own scientific expertise in parallel with training personnel specifically for nuclear power plants.

Agriculture

Weather Boosts Early Kazakhstan Grain Harvest

An unusually hot summer has led to an earlier grain harvest in Kazakhstan. Farmers have already collected 7.7 million tons of grain from roughly a third of the country’s grain-growing area, almost twice as much land as had been harvested at the same point last year. The first batches of wheat are also showing noticeably better quality – an important factor for Kazakhstan’s grain exports to Central Asia and other markets. By this point in 2025, farmers had collected 3.9 million tons of grain, compared with 7.7 million tons this year. The government said in mid-August that warm weather had brought the harvest forward, adding that newer farm machinery and modern farming technology had helped farmers increase the pace. It is still too early to say whether Kazakhstan will repeat its record harvest of 2025. Last year, the country produced more than 27 million tons of grain, including 20.3 million tons of wheat. Expectations for this year had been more cautious. Dry conditions in central and eastern Kazakhstan raised concerns about a smaller crop, and some industry experts suggested production could fall by 15%-20% from last year. The early results, however, suggest the wheat may be of better quality. Of the soft wheat already delivered to grain elevators and tested, 78% has been classified as Grade 3 and another 14% as Grade 4. Grade 5 and ungraded wheat account for 7%. Grade 3 wheat is suitable for flour and bread production. The early figures compare favorably with last year, when 53% of soft wheat was classified in Grades 1-3 and 35% as Grade 4. Gluten levels, another measure of wheat quality, are also strong. Of the wheat tested, 56% has a gluten content above 28%, while another 19% is in the 25%-27% range. That promises to be a boon for exports. Kazakhstan is a major supplier of grain and flour to Central Asia, and also sells to Afghanistan, China, and other markets. A larger share of higher-quality wheat gives exporters more opportunities to sell into higher-value markets. Kazakhstan is also changing what it grows. The government has been reducing the area planted with wheat and encouraging farmers to grow more oilseeds and other more profitable crops. In 2025, the oilseed harvest reached a record of nearly 5 million tons. This year’s oilseed harvest is only just beginning, with 244,000 tons collected so far. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 98% of grain and oilseed crops are currently in good or satisfactory condition. With 35.5% of the grain-growing area harvested so far, the early results point to better wheat quality, but the final size of the crop will depend heavily on the harvest in Kazakhstan’s main grain-producing regions in the north.

KazMunayGas

KazMunayGas Yuan Bond Offering Nearly Triples in Size

Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company KazMunayGas (KMG) has raised CNY 3.5 billion ($490 million) through its latest Chinese yuan-denominated bond issue, nearly three times the size of its first such offering last year. It is the first time the company has issued a ten-year bond in yuan. The U.S. dollar remains dominant in KMG’s debt portfolio, but the company is increasingly turning to Chinese capital markets as another source of financing. KMG closed the order book on August 26 after two days of investor meetings in Hong Kong. The bonds are known as Dim Sum bonds – yuan-denominated bonds issued outside mainland China, primarily in Hong Kong. The company will place CNY 1.5 billion of five-year bonds with a 2.3% coupon and a 2.45% yield, as well as CNY 2 billion of ten-year bonds with a 2.8% coupon and a 2.98% yield. The coupon is the annual interest rate KMG will pay, while the yield reflects the return investors can expect if they hold the bonds to maturity, taking into account the price they paid. The bonds are due to be formally issued and on September 2. Demand exceeded the offering by more than seven times. At its peak, the order book topped CNY 25 billion. According to KMG, it was the largest order book in the history of Dim Sum bond offerings by issuers outside mainland China and Hong Kong. Investors included banks, insurance companies, hedge funds, and sovereign investment funds. Moody’s assigned the bonds a Baa1 rating, in line with KMG’s own credit rating. Strong demand allowed the company to lower its borrowing costs. When KMG began taking investor orders, it was initially offering interest rates of around 2.95% for the five-year tranche and 3.45% for the ten-year tranche. The final coupons fell to 2.3% and 2.8%, respectively. KMG describes the borrowing cost as historically low for the company in the Eurobond market. For KMG, the Chinese currency debt market remains a relatively new source of financing. Its first Dim Sum issue took place in October 2025. The company then placed CNY 1.25 billion of five-year bonds with a 2.95% coupon and a 3.15% yield. Demand totaled around CNY 3.8 billion. For KMG, the yuan still represents a small part of its debt portfolio. At the end of 2025, 69% of the company’s total debt was denominated in U.S. dollars. Total debt stood at $6.97 billion, down 7.8% year-on-year in dollar terms. Net debt fell from $2.21 billion to $742 million, or by roughly two-thirds. The dollar-heavy structure also reflects the company’s business: a significant share of KMG’s oil revenues is generated in U.S. dollars, which helps offset some of the currency risk from its dollar-denominated debt. The two Dim Sum offerings therefore point more to diversification of funding sources than to a shift in the company’s primary debt currency. KMG said proceeds from the new issue would be used to finance its major investment program. Among the company’s largest projects is the construction of the Silleno polyethylene...

Investments

Kazakhstan Investment Portfolio Hits $78.6 Billion – But How Much Is Secured?

Kazakhstan is trying to change not only how much investment it attracts, but where that money goes, directing more capital toward manufacturing, deeper processing of raw materials, and high-tech projects. The main test will be whether announced projects and memorandums turn into financing, construction, and production. Kazakhstan has assembled an investment portfolio of 215 projects worth a combined $78.6 billion, seeking to attract capital into raw-material processing, new manufacturing, and digital infrastructure. However, almost 60% of the announced amount is tied to projects still under development, while about $30 billion – more than a third of the entire portfolio – is associated with the planned Data Center Valley in Ekibastuz. The government presented the new investment cycle on August 31. If all the projects are implemented, they are expected to create more than 88,000 jobs. But the full $78.6 billion is far from guaranteed. Of the 215 projects, 93 worth $32.2 billion are under implementation, while another 122 worth $46.4 billion are still under development. The government has not specified the extent to which either category has already received financing or investment. A separate investment-agreement mechanism is available for major projects worth more than 32 billion tenge (about $69 million). Since its launch in 2021, Kazakhstan has signed 66 such agreements worth more than 17.8 trillion tenge ($38.5 billion), including 25 worth approximately 4.4 trillion tenge ($9.5 billion) as of August 2026. An investment agreement and inclusion in the Kazakh Invest portfolio therefore do not mean the same thing. AI Project in Ekibastuz Tops Investment Ladder The largest component of the new portfolio is far removed from Kazakhstan’s traditional investment projects. Data Center Valley is being developed near the Ekibastuz GRES-1 power station to accommodate large-scale computing capacity, cloud services, and artificial intelligence infrastructure. The authorities estimate expected investment at about $30 billion. That represents roughly 38% of the entire $78.6 billion portfolio. The area allocated for the future zone has been expanded from an initial 200 hectares to 1,400 hectares, while available power capacity is expected to increase gradually from 300 MW to 1 GW. The $30 billion figure, however, represents expected investment rather than the cost of projects that have already secured financing. The largest specific package announced so far came in June, when the Kazakh government, U.S.-based Firebird, and NVIDIA signed agreements on artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure worth $10 billion. Firebird is the investor and NVIDIA the technology partner. The plan calls for a computing cluster of around 100,000 advanced GPUs. The first phase is scheduled to launch in 2027. The authorities expect the complex, once fully operational, to generate at least $3 billion in annual export revenue. Another potential participant emerged in late August. Singapore-based Energy Capital Global is considering a separate AI campus with an initial IT load of about 100 MW and the potential to expand to 1 GW. The project’s cost has not yet been disclosed. Petrochemicals Remain Second Center of Gravity Despite the emphasis on technology, Kazakhstan’s largest industrial projects remain closely...

Education Ban Mo

Kazakhstan to Open First Ban Mo Workshop as China Expands Industrial Training

China is expanding another dimension of its presence in Kazakhstan – training specialists for industry. The country’s first Ban Mo Workshop will open in Almaty, where students will be trained to work with modern manufacturing technologies and equipment. Ban Mo is a Shandong-backed vocational education initiative designed to link technical training with the needs of companies operating overseas. The center will be established at Satbayev University in partnership with Shandong University of Engineering and Vocational Technologies, after an agreement was reached during a visit by a Kazakh delegation to Shandong Province. The workshop aims to give students practical experience with industrial equipment while still at university. Satbayev University explicitly links the program to the needs of companies developing manufacturing operations in Kazakhstan. “It is important to us that future engineers work with modern equipment while they are still studying, participate in technology projects, and gain hands-on experience in production. The Ban Mo Workshop will allow us to train students with the technologies and real-world needs of our industrial partners in mind,” said Sapar Shalabayev, vice rector of Satbayev University, in the university’s announcement of the project. The wider industrial context is particularly visible in the automotive sector. Astana Motors Manufacturing Kazakhstan, a car plant that opened in Almaty’s industrial zone in September 2025, can produce up to 120,000 vehicles a year, with welding, painting, and assembly carried out at the site. The plant makes Chery, Changan, Haval, and Tank vehicles for Chinese manufacturers. Against this backdrop, Chinese education projects address a very practical need: along with production lines and equipment, new factories need local specialists who know how to operate them. Ban Mo is a relatively new Shandong model for taking vocational education overseas. The province launched its overseas Ban Mo College initiative in 2023, with programs based on cooperation between educational institutions and companies with operations abroad. The name combines two figures from ancient China: Lu Ban, the legendary craftsman and inventor associated with building and engineering, and Mozi, a philosopher whose work encompassed logic, optics, mechanics, and military engineering. Together, the two figures represent the combination of practical craftsmanship and technical knowledge that the program seeks to promote. One of the first overseas projects was Ban Mo College in Zambia, established with the participation of Weihai Vocational College, Copperbelt University, and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation. An agreement to establish it was signed in January 2024, and an official launch ceremony was held in July that year. The program combines vocational skills, Chinese-language instruction, and training for industry. Its focus is construction engineering, with students moving between university study and practical training linked to the Chinese company’s operations in Zambia. For Kazakhstan, this model is not emerging in a vacuum. The country already has three Luban Workshops, part of a better-known Chinese vocational education initiative. The first opened in 2023 at East Kazakhstan Technical University, followed by centers at Eurasian National University in Astana and ALT University in Almaty. For Kazakhstan, this model offers a way to train...

Middle Corridor

Middle Corridor Must Cut Delays, TITR Chief Tells TCA

The Middle Corridor has spent the past several years attracting freight away from longer or politically sensitive routes between Asia and Europe. Now its operators must make it function as a single, reliable corridor. “Reducing transit time is achieved not through a single solution, but through the consistent modernization of all key links along the route, from ports and terminals to railway infrastructure and digital tools,” Nurgul Zhakupova, Secretary General of the International Association “Trans-Caspian International Transport Route,” told The Times of Central Asia. [caption id="attachment_54935" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Nurgul Zhakupova, Secretary General of TITR. Image courtesy of the subject[/caption] Known internationally as the Middle Corridor, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) connects China with Europe through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, with onward connections through Turkey. Freight traffic has risen sharply since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine increased demand for routes bypassing Russia. According to official figures, container traffic grew by 36% in 2025 to around 77,000 TEUs, although total freight volume slipped to about 4.12 million tons from 4.48 million tons in 2024. The World Bank estimates that freight volumes along the Middle Corridor could triple and transit times could be halved by 2030 if the necessary investments and reforms are made. The European Union and international financial institutions have meanwhile committed to mobilizing €10 billion for sustainable transport connectivity in Central Asia, with the aim of developing a route capable of linking Central Asia and Europe in around 15 days. For Zhakupova, that means tackling bottlenecks across several countries at the same time. Building a faster railway in Kazakhstan achieves little if cargo then waits for a ship on the Caspian, becomes stuck at a border, or encounters another congested section farther west. [caption id="attachment_54945" align="aligncenter" width="1535"] Infographic: TCA[/caption] Infrastructure Races to Catch Up One immediate challenge is expanding infrastructure fast enough to accommodate container traffic and anticipated future freight growth. Kazakhstan launched the second Dostyk-Moyynty railway line and the Almaty bypass in 2025. Construction of the Moyynty-Kyzylzhar line and modernization of other sections are continuing. The Dostyk-Moyynty project alone stretches 836 kilometers and is expected to substantially increase rail capacity on the China-Kazakhstan axis. One of the Middle Corridor’s most difficult bottlenecks is not on land, but on the Caspian Sea. Growing traffic requires more vessels, while falling water levels and adverse weather complicate port and shipping operations. KTZ Express plans to acquire six multipurpose dry cargo container vessels: four are to be built by China’s Jiangsu Haizhongzhou Shipping Industry and two by the Baku Shipyard. Kazmortransflot is building two container vessels in partnership with Abu Dhabi Ports Group, while Azerbaijan is also considering expanding its fleet with ferries and roll-on/roll-off vessels for wheeled cargo. “Additional limiting factors remain the falling level of the Caspian Sea and adverse weather conditions. In this regard, a range of measures is also being implemented at the ports of Aktau, Baku, and Kuryk to minimize the impact of these factors on the stability of transportation,” Zhakupova told TCA. In Kuryk,...