Kazakhstan Featurees - The Times Of Central Asia

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CICA

Kazakhstan Proposes Asian Transport Strategy at Baku Summit

Kazakhstan has proposed a common transport strategy for Asia at a summit in Baku, where Central Asian leaders called for closer economic and technological cooperation. The leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan presented their initiatives on October 15 at the seventh summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). The proposals came amid negotiations to transform the forum into a full-fledged international organization. CICA has particular historical significance for Kazakhstan. The idea of establishing the forum was first proposed in 1992 by Nursultan Nazarbayev, then the country’s president, at the United Nations General Assembly. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called for the development of a CICA Transport Connectivity Strategy. It would examine the potential of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the International North–South Transport Corridor, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as the Middle Corridor, and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a planned transport link through Armenia. The Middle Corridor connects China and Central Asia with European markets through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. The North–South Corridor focuses on freight transportation between Russia, the Caspian region, Iran, and India. For Central Asian countries, developing several routes simultaneously means having more export options and reducing dependence on individual transit routes. Tokayev also linked the prospects for improved transport connectivity to better relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Opening transport links in the South Caucasus could expand shipping options between Asia and Europe, although the specific arrangements for operating new routes have yet to be agreed upon. Another proposal from Kazakhstan is a CICA Water Partnership for joint research, technology exchange, and water conservation. Tokayev also raised the issue of protecting the Caspian Sea. For Central Asia, water management is closely linked to growing demand from agriculture and the energy sector, as well as the effects of climate change. Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov focused on investment and industrial cooperation. He called on CICA member states to pursue more joint projects, invited investment in the Tamchy Special Financial Investment Territory, and proposed developing cross-border digital infrastructure. The country is building the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway to expand its transit connections. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev presented proposals on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI), confidence-building, and climate cooperation. He proposed establishing a CICA expert platform to develop common recommendations and coordinate practical measures on AI. Tashkent is pursuing digitalization domestically and is interested in international standards and technological partnerships. The summit adopted the Baku Declaration and admitted Laos as CICA’s 29th member. The transport proposals came a week after regional leaders agreed to prioritize East–West and North–South transport routes at an October 8 meeting in Avaza, Turkmenistan.

Small Businesses

Almaty Facade Renovations Leave Small Businesses in the Dust

When Gaukhar Osmonalieva rented a space in central Almaty for a pet grooming salon and coffee shop, renovations to the building’s facade were already underway. She was assured the work would be finished soon. Her business opened in August, but instead of a busy street and an outdoor terrace, she found herself surrounded by scaffolding, a torn-up sidewalk, and constant dust. By mid-October, construction was still underway, and the customers she had hoped to attract by choosing the location were coming less frequently. “At one point, the construction workers dug up the entire road, and foot traffic dropped noticeably. We chose this location because it was convenient and had heavy pedestrian traffic, but those are precisely the advantages we have now practically lost,” Osmonalieva told The Times of Central Asia. Almaty is Kazakhstan’s largest city and commercial hub. In 2026, the city launched a large-scale renovation of residential building facades, many dating back to the Soviet era. The original program covered 176 buildings in three central districts – Almaly, Bostandyk, and Medeu. More than 25.8 billion tenge (approximately $57 million) was allocated for the work. Many of the buildings house cafes, shops, and small businesses on their ground floors. [caption id="attachment_58399" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Classes continue as normal at a language school on Abay Avenue as restoration goes on outside.[/caption] City officials promised to update the facades while preserving the buildings’ architectural features. But questions about how the work was organized emerged as early as spring. Local news outlet Vlast found that construction had begun at some sites in March, before public tenders were announced and contracts signed. Under the tender terms, renovating a single building was supposed to take three to five months. By August, only nine of the 178 buildings listed in updated district administration figures had been fully renovated. Authorities in Bostandyk expected to complete most of the work by September, while those in Almaty targeted October. Osmonalieva was initially told the renovations would take three weeks, then that they would be completed by September. After complaining via e-Otinish, Kazakhstan’s government complaints platform, she was given a new deadline: October 15. “But today is already October 12, and judging by the condition of the facade, I wouldn’t say even half the work has been done,” she said. According to Osmonalieva, there are often only three or four construction workers on the building. Tools are left near the entrance, while workers cut cladding materials beside the salon, filling the area with dust. [caption id="attachment_58396" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] A coffee shop on Kunaev Street, with construction materials stacked outside.[/caption] The coffee shop has suffered most. Osmonalieva had planned to open an outdoor terrace, a popular feature in Almaty, where warm weather lasts for several months. But scaffolding made it impossible to set up tables outside. “As a result, we missed the entire season. This had a significant impact on the coffee shop: demand was lower than expected, and we couldn’t reach our planned targets,” she said. The construction has created additional...

Global Power Rankings

Kazakhstan Ranks 34th, Uzbekistan 71st Among World’s Most Powerful Countries

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were the only Central Asian countries included in World Population Review’s 2026 ranking of the world’s 100 most powerful countries, placing 34th and 71st, respectively. Kazakhstan ranked immediately ahead of Egypt (35th), and also placed above the United Arab Emirates (37th), South Africa (38th), Norway (39th), Saudi Arabia (40th), Pakistan (42nd), and Iran (46th). Among former Soviet republics, Russia ranked higher, in 11th place, while Ukraine came in 51st and Belarus 57th. Uzbekistan placed below Cambodia (69th) and Oman (70th), but ahead of Sri Lanka (72nd), Estonia (75th), Kenya (77th), Algeria (79th), and Armenia (80th). World Population Review attributes the ranking to the Best Countries study by U.S. News & World Report. The assessment considers perceptions of countries’ economic and political influence, military strength, international alliances, and leadership. Kazakhstan’s international standing is supported by its established energy and mining industries and extensive diplomatic relationships. The country is the world’s largest uranium producer, accounting for approximately 40% of global mine output in 2025. It also exported 78.7 million tons of oil that year, supplying international energy markets through an extensive network of pipelines and commercial partnerships. Its multivector foreign policy has allowed Astana to maintain relationships with Russia and China while expanding economic and political cooperation with the United States, Europe, and other partners. Kazakhstan’s uranium industry illustrates this approach, with established customers and industrial partnerships spanning several competing geopolitical blocs. Kazakhstan’s existing railway network, connections with China, and Caspian ports also support its role in international trade between Asia and Europe. The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, commonly known as the Middle Corridor, carried approximately 4.1 million tons of freight in 2025, including around 77,000 twenty-foot equivalent units of container traffic. Uzbekistan’s $147 billion economy in 2025 was larger than those of Oman ($110 billion), Sri Lanka ($109 billion), and Kenya ($136 billion), all ranked in the same range. Algeria, despite an economy approaching $287 billion and its role as a major natural gas supplier to Europe, ranked eight places below Uzbekistan. Beyond economic size, Uzbekistan has an established position in global mineral markets. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, it was the world’s fifth-largest uranium producer and ninth-largest gold producer in 2024, accounting for 6.6% and 3.9% of global output, respectively. These industries provide an important source of international economic engagement, alongside a domestic market of approximately 39 million people. The ranking’s top 10 were China, the United States, India, Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Italy. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan did not appear among the 100 countries listed.

Political Parties

Tokayev Dissolves Kazakhstan Local Councils Ruling Party Merger

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree on October 12 terminating the powers of maslikhats, the country’s local representative assemblies. Snap elections must now be held by December 12. The move follows a decision in June 2026 to merge the Amanat party into the newly established pro-presidential Adilet party, which won August’s parliamentary elections. Most incumbent local deputies, however, were elected in 2023 under the Amanat banner, raising questions about their mandates as the party is absorbed into Adilet. Why Questions About Legitimacy Arose Tokayev first raised the prospect of early elections on September 24, speaking at the inaugural session of the Halyq Kenesi, or People’s Council of Kazakhstan. “The overwhelming majority of maslikhat deputies were elected from the Amanat party. That party no longer operates independently, having merged with the Adilet party,” Tokayev explained. He said the merger would soon raise questions about the legitimacy of much of the country’s local representative bodies once the legal procedures were completed. Under Kazakh law, deputies can lose their seats if the party through which they were elected ceases to exist. However, the decision to merge the parties did not, by itself, end their mandates. From Nur Otan to Adilet Amanat was previously known as Nur Otan and had been the main political support base of Kazakhstan’s first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Founded in 1999, the party underwent several name changes. The most recent came in March 2022, following the January unrest, when mass protests escalated into the largest political crisis in Kazakhstan’s post-independence history. Amanat voted on June 12 to join Adilet, which approved the merger two days later. The new organization inherited its regional branches, administrative apparatus, and extensive network of activists. Adilet itself had been registered only on June 1, just weeks before the merger. Adilet was headed by Aibek Dadebay, who had previously led President Tokayev’s administration. Following the August parliamentary elections, he became chairman of the Kurultai, Kazakhstan’s new unicameral parliament. In the August 23 elections, Adilet won 71.17% of the vote and 110 of the 145 parliamentary seats. Four other parties crossed the 5% electoral threshold but secured only 35 seats between them. Maslikhats and the New Parliamentary System Maslikhats are elected at the regional, city, and district levels. They approve local budgets, review territorial development programs, and hear reports from executive officials. In cases provided for by law, deputies may initiate a vote of no confidence in an akim, the head of a local administration. Kazakhstan, however, remains a unitary state with a strong presidential chain of command. The heads of regions and major cities are appointed by the president. Following constitutional reform, the Senate and Mazhilis were replaced by the unicameral Kurultai. On October 7, its deputies voted to establish a Council for Cooperation with Maslikhats. According to deputy Amirbek Ospanbekov, local representative bodies work directly with residents, understand regional conditions, and encounter the practical consequences of laws passed by parliament. The council is expected to involve maslikhat representatives in drafting legislation and gathering information...

Innovation Rankings

Central Asia in the Global Innovation Rankings: Supercomputers, Engineers, and the Economics of Government Ambitions

In the Global Innovation Index (GII), published on September 29 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Kazakhstan climbed eight places to rank 73rd among 139 economies. Uzbekistan ranked 77th and Kyrgyzstan 92nd. Tajikistan placed 112th, while Turkmenistan was not included in the study. The overall rankings, however, conceal some interesting details. Uzbekistan ranks second worldwide in the share of graduates in science and engineering. Kyrgyzstan ranks second in labor productivity growth, while Tajikistan leads in utility model applications relative to the size of its economy. Utility models are a simpler form of patent protection, usually for smaller inventions. Such strong results in individual indicators stand in contrast to the countries' relatively modest overall rankings. Part of the explanation lies in the study's methodology. WIPO evaluates education and scientific capacity alongside infrastructure and investment. It also considers business activity and research output. A country may train large numbers of engineers or register technical innovations while lagging in research output and investment, with limited commercial activity. For Central Asia, the rankings also offer a way to compare economic performance with the scale of governments' technological ambitions. Kazakhstan: Supercomputers in Search of Customers In recent years, Kazakhstan has assembled an impressive portfolio of digital projects. The Alem.Cloud and Al-Farabium supercomputers, along with the Data Center Valley project in Ekibastuz, are intended to improve the country's computing infrastructure. The Alem.ai artificial intelligence (AI) center and the KazLLM and AlemLLM large language models are designed to develop its AI capabilities. Training opportunities are also expanding through AI-Sana and Tomorrow School, with TUMO Astana offering education in AI and other digital fields. However, the wider use of AI remains relatively modest. The Digital Qazaqstan strategy through 2029 cites figures for the second half of 2025 showing that generative AI adoption in Kazakhstan stood at 13.7%, compared with a global average of 16.3%. Kazakhstan ranked 24th in the United Nations (UN) E-Government Development Index in its 2024 survey but 73rd in the 2026 GII. Kazakhstan's digitalization model has long centered on government services. The country's high position in the UN study reflects this focus. Commercial technologies present a more complicated picture: here, the government must rely on research teams, private developers, investors, and customers willing to pay for their services. The arrival of supercomputers expands the country's technical capabilities. How extensively they will be used outside government projects remains to be seen. Uzbekistan: Engineering Education and IT Services Exports The country has long focused on workforce development for the IT industry. An export-oriented digital services sector is growing around IT Park. Foreign companies are operating in the country, while training programs in programming and AI are expanding. Tashkent intends to support its workforce development policies with domestic computing infrastructure. Under the AI development strategy adopted in 2024, Uzbekistan plans $50 million in AI infrastructure spending and the training of one million specialists. AI laboratories are also planned at 15 universities. A smaller supercomputer is already operating, and preparations are underway to acquire a more powerful system....

Artificial Intelligence

Kazakhstan’s AI Strategy: Eurasia’s Emerging Digital Power

Astana hosted AI & Digital Bridge 2026 on October 1–3, and NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang is scheduled to visit the capital on October 23 for a fireside chat with Zhaslan Madiyev, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development. Speaking to The Times of Central Asia earlier this month, Madiyev described a strategy that goes beyond building data centers. Kazakhstan’s digital development builds on capabilities it already has (a mature digital-government system, an established energy and industrial base, cross-border fiber and data-transit infrastructure, and a growing technology sector) to move beyond carrying data and exporting raw materials toward processing more data and producing more technology at home. The push aligns with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s call for Kazakhstan to become a fully digital nation, with artificial intelligence (AI) integrated across the economy. Digital Services and Startup Growth Madiyev began with what Kazakhstan already does, describing the country as known for advanced government technology, or GovTech. He cited Kazakhstan’s 24th-place ranking in the United Nations E-Government Development Index. More than 90% of public services are available online, around 90% of transactions are cashless, and approximately 40 personal documents have been digitized, he said. Digital documents have the same legal standing as physical ones, allowing people to use their phones when traveling, visiting banks, or accessing government services. An important part of that development was opening the government’s digital platform to banks rather than keeping public services within a single government application. Banks including Kaspi, Halyk, and Freedom can integrate those services into platforms customers already use, helping expand adoption and making services easier to access. Madiyev cited vehicle purchases and re-registration completed through an application in three to five minutes, mortgage approvals within a day, and a digital process that helps mothers register newborns and receive eligible benefits directly into their bank accounts. The aim is to organize services around people’s life events, with one completed process triggering the next rather than requiring separate applications to different institutions. He also pointed to Astana Hub, which has more than 2,500 registered startups and information technology (IT) companies exporting services to more than 100 countries. Its network extends across Kazakhstan and into Silicon Valley, Shanghai, and Dubai, with further expansion planned in Southeast Asia and Europe. Those overseas locations provide working space, access to investors, and acceleration programs to help companies enter international markets. A venture fund-of-funds, predominantly financed by the private sector and standing at approximately $115 million at the time of the interview, is intended to increase the financing available to regional startups. Madiyev said companies may need to raise capital six or seven times on the way to becoming unicorns, making access to successive funding rounds important. Connectivity That Serves the Region Kazakhstan already carries international traffic. Kazakhtelecom’s 2024 annual report records 200 gigabits per second (Gbps) of Europe–Uzbekistan transit capacity and 100 Gbps on the Europe–Kyrgyzstan route, while the Internet Society rates Kazakhstan’s upstream connection diversity as “Very Good.” Kazakhstan’s international internet capacity stood...