Digitalization - The Times Of Central Asia

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Rail Freight

Kazakhstan and Russia Digitalize Rail Freight Transportation

Kazakhstan’s national railway operator, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), and Russian Railways have signed a joint action plan to develop the digitalization of bilateral rail freight transportation. The document was signed on May 28 during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Kazakhstan. According to KTZ, the plan aims to create a unified digital space between the railways of Kazakhstan and Russia. The company said the move would improve the efficiency of transportation processes, speed up cargo handling, and introduce modern digital solutions on international routes. Implementation of the plan is expected to support seamless transit, remove digital barriers, expand electronic document exchange, and develop paperless technologies in freight transportation. The parties also agreed to gradually increase the number of trains passing through nine interstate railway crossings on the Kazakhstan-Russia border. KTZ described the signing as an important step in developing transport and logistics cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia, saying it would also strengthen Kazakhstan’s role as a key economic bridge between Russia and the countries of Central Asia. According to KTZ, rail freight between Kazakhstan and Russia totaled 92.1 million tons in 2025, up 3.5% from 2024. The growth was driven primarily by transit operations. Russian cargo exports through Kazakhstan increased by 16.1% to 17.3 million tons, while cargo exports from Kazakhstan transiting through Russia rose by 20.4% to 21.5 million tons. The growth trend has continued this year. In the first four months of 2026, exports from Kazakhstan, including coal, ferrous metals, and fertilizers, transiting by rail through Russia increased by 70,000 tons to 7 million tons. Russian cargo transported to and through Kazakhstan, including oil products, ferrous metals, grain and food products, exceeded 12 million tons, an increase of about 20%.

Organization of Turkic States

Turkic States Focus on AI and Trade at Kazakhstan Summit

Leaders of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) are holding an informal summit in the city of Turkistan, focused on artificial intelligence, digitalization, and economic integration, as Central Asia gains importance as an alternative trade corridor between Europe and China. The meeting brings together the leaders of Kazakhstan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, along with representatives of observer states. Discussions are centered on digital platforms, joint AI projects, transport corridors, and industrial cooperation. The summit comes amid rapid growth of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as the Middle Corridor, which links China and Europe through Central Asia and the Caucasus while bypassing Russia. According to analysts in Kazakhstan, cargo volumes along the route reached 3.3 million tons in 2024, almost six times the 2021 level. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived in Astana on a state visit ahead of the summit and held talks with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. “Kazakhstan and Turkey are connected by enduring friendship, brotherhood, and eternal partnership,” Tokayev said following the meeting. Erdoğan thanked Kazakhstan for the reception and highlighted the escort provided by Kazakh military fighter jets after his aircraft entered the country’s airspace. According to participants at the OTS business forum, the combined GDP of member states exceeds $2.1 trillion, while their total population stands at 178 million people. Despite increasing political coordination, trade between OTS countries still accounts for only around 7% of their total foreign trade turnover, leaving considerable room for deeper economic integration, analysts say. OTS member states are increasingly seeking to expand cooperation beyond cultural and political ties by focusing on logistics, the digital economy, and joint investment projects. Kazakhstan views the organization as one of the instruments for diversifying its foreign economic relations and expanding its role as a transit hub between Asia and Europe.

Organization of Turkic States

Turkic States to Focus on Artificial Intelligence at Kazakhstan Summit

Kazakhstan will host an informal summit of the Council of Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in the city of Turkistan on May 15, where participating leaders are expected to focus on artificial intelligence, digitalization, and expanding economic cooperation. Held under the theme “Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development,” the summit is expected to become one of the largest regional gatherings of Turkic states in 2026. Heads of state and government from member and observer countries, along with the OTS secretary-general, are expected to attend. According to the organization, participants will discuss the use of AI and digital innovation to stimulate economic growth, modernize public services, and improve regional connectivity. The agenda also includes joint initiatives involving Turkic digital platforms. Ahead of the summit, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey will make a state visit to Astana at the invitation of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The leaders of Kazakhstan and Turkey are scheduled to hold the sixth meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council and discuss the development of bilateral relations. In recent years, the OTS has gradually expanded cooperation beyond its traditional political and cultural agenda to include transport corridors, energy, and the digital economy. The summit in Turkistan is expected to represent an effort to shape a common regional agenda in the field of artificial intelligence. The OTS said holding the meeting in Turkistan, described by the organization as the “spiritual capital of the Turkic world”, symbolizes an attempt to combine shared historical heritage with technological modernization across the region. The organization’s members include Kazakhstan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Observer status is held by Turkmenistan, Hungary, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The economic dimension of the summit also remains central. According to Turkish sources, annual trade turnover between Turkey and OTS member states has approached $17 billion. Turkish exports to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan increased from $6.2 billion in 2021 to $10 billion in 2024. During the same period, imports rose from $4.2 billion to $6.5 billion. In 2025, Turkish exports to OTS countries totaled $9.6 billion, while imports reached $7.3 billion. Kazakhstan remains Turkey’s largest export destination among OTS member states, with Turkish exports to the country reaching $3.2 billion. During the first three months of 2026 alone, Turkish exports to Kazakhstan amounted to approximately $700 million. A Turkish-Kazakh business forum is also expected to take place during Erdoğan’s visit to Astana, with participation from business representatives from both countries and Turkey's Trade Minister Ömer Bolat. The forum is expected to focus on expanding trade and investment ties. As preparations for the summit intensify, Kazakhstan has increased security measures. Additional police forces from neighboring regions have reportedly been deployed to Turkistan, while military aviation training flights began in Astana on May 10 ahead of an aerial demonstration scheduled for May 15. Kazakhstan’s Defense Ministry said the flights would be conducted at safe altitudes and should not significantly affect daily life in the capital.

Investment

Kazakhstan to Improve Investor Protections and Accelerate Digital Reforms

Kazakhstan Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov has instructed government agencies to accelerate the removal of administrative barriers for investors and expand the digitalization of investment procedures amid intensifying global competition for capital. Speaking at a meeting on investor rights protection attended by government officials, prosecutors, business representatives, and the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, Bektenov said improving the investment climate remains a government priority. “Just last week, a presidential decree was signed on improving migration policy, aimed at creating a better environment for attracting investors, entrepreneurs, and highly qualified specialists,” Bektenov said. According to the government, Kazakhstan’s Investment Headquarters reviewed 44 projects worth approximately $25.5 billion during the first quarter of 2026. Prosecutor General Berik Asylov said the number of criminal cases against businesses has fallen fourfold over the past three years. “We are overseeing more than 3,000 investment projects. We maintain direct communication and continuous monitoring with investors and the business community,” he said. According to the Foreign Ministry, investors submitted 273 appeals during the first quarter of the year, with around half resolved positively. The main concerns related to tax administration, customs procedures, and land issues. Baurzhan Yeraly, chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Investors’ Rights under the General Prosecutor’s Office, said the rights of around 600 investors had already been protected this year, with complaints handled directly rather than transferred between agencies. Officials cited several successful cases, including the connection of a major energy project in the Atyrau region to engineering infrastructure and the inclusion of a paper products manufacturer in the national registry of domestic producers. Bektenov criticized what he described as a formalistic approach by some state bodies in dealing with businesses. “Every request from an investor is a signal behind which stand decisions on capital allocation, the launch of new production facilities, and the creation of jobs,” he said. The prime minister warned that officials and managers in the quasi-state sector responsible for bureaucratic delays would face “the strictest measures.” He also pointed to systemic problems, including weak coordination between agencies, delays in public service delivery, and insufficient oversight at the regional level. Particular attention was given to the role of local administrations, which were instructed to supervise key investment projects directly and accelerate the allocation of land, infrastructure, and permits. The government also plans to speed up development of the National Digital Investment Platform. More than 3,000 projects worth around $200 billion have already been integrated into the system, though more than 400 projects have yet to be uploaded. “In the context of global competition for investment, we must ensure a stable and favorable investment climate,” Bektenov said. Asset Irgaliyev, chairman of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms, said the agency is developing a “regulatory intelligence” platform using artificial intelligence to identify excessive requirements and administrative barriers. Authorities also plan to expand the overseas network of Kazakh Invest. According to company head Sultangali Kinzhakulov, representative offices in the United States, Germany, China, Russia, Turkey, Malaysia, and Qatar will operate as “one-stop...

Education

School Digitalization in Turkmenistan Increases Workload for Teachers

The rollout of electronic gradebooks in Turkmenistan, intended to streamline teachers’ work, has had the opposite effect, with educators reporting increased workloads, technical issues, and tighter oversight. As part of a broader push toward digitalization, authorities have required school staff to use the eMekdep system to record grades, manage lesson plans, and generate analytics. According to its developers, the platform enables work “anytime, anywhere” and is designed to reduce paperwork. Teachers, however, say the reality is far less efficient. Electronic journals can only be filled out with a stable internet connection, which remains unreliable even in the capital. “If two people log into our school’s network at the same time, it crashes,” a teacher in Ashgabat said. As a result, many educators are forced to rely on mobile data or home internet at their own expense, an added burden given their relatively low salaries, which range from $175 to $275 per month. Teachers also report contributing financially to school needs, including repairs and equipment, and, in some regions, even covering costs related to hiring cotton pickers. The main challenge, however, is not financial but administrative. Paper gradebooks have not been phased out, leaving teachers to maintain three parallel records: an official paper journal, a working notebook, and the electronic system. This duplication significantly increases the risk of errors. To save data, many teachers first record grades by hand and later transfer them into the system at home, a process that often leads to delays and inaccuracies. Given that the majority of teachers are women, many must also balance these demands with family responsibilities. At the same time, oversight has intensified. Moderators at both school and district levels monitor how teachers fill out gradebooks. Discrepancies between paper and electronic records require written explanations. Deadlines for entering data have also been tightened from up to 10 days previously to just two days, with the possibility of further reduction to 12 hours. Schools may be reprimanded if teachers fail to meet these deadlines. Technical problems remain a major issue. Users report software bugs that can cause pages to take up to 30 seconds to load. “In that time, it’s faster to mark grades for an entire class with a pen,” one teacher noted. Earlier reports have highlighted broader restrictions on access to certain services and efforts to control alternative communication channels, including the confiscation of Starlink satellite internet equipment. In such conditions, digital solutions remain heavily dependent on infrastructure that often struggles to handle the load.

Middle Corridor

Middle Corridor Countries Approve 2026 Plan, Focus on Digitalization and Container Growth

On April 24, Astana hosted a meeting of the Board and General Assembly of the international association “Trans-Caspian International Transport Route.” The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor, is a multimodal transport corridor linking China and Europe through Central Asia and the South Caucasus, offering an alternative to routes that pass through Russia. The meetings were attended by representatives of TITR member countries, Kazakhstan, China, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, as well as participants from several European countries, including Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Romania, and international partners such as Singapore. The participating countries approved a detailed work plan for 2026, with a key focus on the digitalization of transport processes. Participants agreed to implement electronic document management using digital signatures and to establish direct data exchange between customs authorities and other stakeholders involved in cargo transportation. According to Kazakhstan's national rail company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), these measures are expected to reduce transit times and improve transparency along the route. The plan also envisages an increase in container traffic, including the transit of 600 container trains from China through Kazakhstan this year. Coordination between ports and terminals on the Caspian Sea will also be strengthened. Overall, the plan is aimed at reinforcing the TITR as a key transit corridor between Asia and Europe. In the first quarter of 2026, Kazakhstan recorded a significant increase in container train traffic along the TITR, underscoring the country’s growing role in Eurasian logistics. A total of 125 container trains transited through Kazakhstan via the corridor, marking a 34.4% increase compared to the same period in 2025. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, freight volumes transported along the Middle Corridor through Kazakhstan have grown more than fivefold over the past seven years, increasing from 0.8 million tonnes to 4.5 million tonnes annually.