On September 25, Chinese investors launched two major agro-industrial projects in Kazakhstan’s Zhambyl region.

FM World Agricultural Machinery, a Chinese company, began construction of an agricultural machinery assembly plant in the industrial zone of Taraz, the regional capital. The facility is expected to produce up to 2,000 units of equipment annually, including eight types of tractors, rice and cotton harvesters, trailed implements, and seeders.

On the same day, Zhongkai Guoyuan (Anhui) Industrial Investment Co. broke ground on a sugar plant with a $200 million investment in the Zhambyl region. The facility will process up to 1 million tons of sugar beets per year, producing between 80,000 and 130,000 tons of sugar. The output is expected to fully meet Kazakhstan’s domestic demand and support exports to Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Russia, and China.

Another project in the region involves Hualing Group Co. Ltd., which plans to build an irrigation systems plant with an annual capacity of 200 sprinklers.

Agriculture has become a key focus in Kazakhstan–China economic cooperation. Speaking at the 8th meeting of the Kazakh–Chinese Business Council in Beijing on September 2, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev highlighted Kazakhstan’s interest in joint agricultural processing and invited Chinese investors to support the production of organic and high-quality livestock products.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) projects that the economies of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan will grow by an average of 6.1% in 2025.

According to the EBRD, the region’s momentum is being driven by strong industrial output, robust domestic demand, higher investment, rising wages, and continued remittance inflows. In 2026, growth is expected to remain positive but moderate to 5.2%. The report warns, however, that volatility in commodity prices, reliance on remittances, and dependence on Russian and Chinese markets pose ongoing risks to stability.

Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s largest economy, is forecast to expand by 5.7% in 2025. Growth has been fueled by increased oil production at the Tengiz field, which boosted industrial activity and wholesale trade. The construction sector grew by 18.4% in the first half of the year, reflecting large infrastructure projects and residential development. Even so, the EBRD cautions that over-reliance on Russian transit routes and global commodity fluctuations could slow growth to 4.5% in 2026.

The Kyrgyz Republic is projected to remain one of the region’s fastest-growing economies, with GDP expected to rise by 9.0% in 2025. The economy expanded by 11.4% in the first half of the year, supported by strong public investment, remittance inflows, and rising wages. Manufacturing, trade, and construction are key drivers, while tourism is growing through new investments. Growth is forecast to ease to 6.0% in 2026 but is expected to remain resilient unless remittance flows decline.

Mongolia’s economy is expected to grow by 5.8% in 2025. A 35.6% rebound in agriculture after two difficult years helped offset slower mining activity and weaker coal prices, while copper production increased.

Tajikistan’s economy grew by 8.1% in the first half of 2025, driven by trade, agriculture, transport, and a doubling of mining output. Remittances rose by 64%, and sharp wage growth boosted household consumption. The EBRD forecasts GDP growth of 7.5% in 2025, moderating to 5.7% in 2026. Continued support from international institutions such as the World Bank and IMF is expected to sustain growth, although reliance on remittances remains a structural vulnerability.

Turkmenistan is projected to grow by 6.3% in both 2025 and 2026, supported by trade, transport, services, and construction. Official data show capital investment up 15.6% year on year.

Uzbekistan’s economy is expected to expand by 6.7% in 2025, backed by strong domestic demand, rising wages, and a 28.7% increase in remittances. Services grew by more than 8%, while industrial output was buoyed by high gold prices and stronger manufacturing in food and metals. Growth is projected to ease slightly to 6.0% in 2026 but will remain supported by diversified manufacturing and stable foreign investment.

A new flotation unit for extracting chromium from industrial waste has been launched at the Donskoy Mining and Processing Plant (GOK) in Khromtau, located in Kazakhstan’s Aktobe region. The initiative, part of the ERG Green program, was developed by Kazchrome, a subsidiary of Eurasian Resources Group (ERG).

Founded in 1938, Donskoy GOK operates the world’s second-largest confirmed chromium ore deposit. Most of its output supplies Kazakhstan’s ferroalloy plants in Aksu (Pavlodar region) and Aktobe. In 2024, the plant reported record output, producing 6 million tons of ore and 1.864 million tons of ferroalloys. The new flotation facility is expected to boost production by processing accumulated industrial waste.

Kazchrome invested more than 20.6 billion tenge (approximately $38 million) into the project. While flotation is commonly used in non-ferrous and precious metals mining, it is rarely applied in the chromium sector. ERG’s Research and Engineering Center patented the process, which enables chromium recovery from ultrafine particles (UFPs) previously considered unprocessable.

“This technology is a clear example of ERG’s approach to combining advanced global practices with in-house solutions,” said Shukhrat Ibragimov, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of ERG. “It reflects our strategy to transform legacy industrial waste into valuable resources.”

The flotation unit marks the second stage of ERG’s environmental program at Donskoy GOK. In 2023, the plant launched a facility utilizing gravity separation to produce concentrate with a chromium content of at least 48.5 percent. The new unit targets ultrafine fractions remaining after gravity processing. The process involves injecting air or gas into water mixed with waste particles. Hydrophobic chromium particles attach to air bubbles, float to the surface as foam, and are collected for further treatment.

According to the company, the facility will process approximately 14.5 million tons of historically accumulated waste. The project aligns with Kazakhstan’s national policy to incentivize recycling of man-made mineral formations (MMF). The government has proposed a tenfold reduction in the mineral extraction tax (MET) for companies engaged in MMF processing, as mining sites are estimated to contain 55-60 billion tons of waste stockpiles.