Digitalization - The Times Of Central Asia

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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.

Education

Kazakhstan to Launch Digital Schools Project

Kazakhstan will launch a pilot digital schools project, Qazaq Digital Mektebi, in September 2026, aimed at reducing disparities in educational quality between rural and urban schools. The initiative will target under-enrolled schools in seven regions, according to the Ministry of Education. The project provides for the use of AI technologies to support the teaching of natural sciences, mathematics, and humanities. The approach is intended to help students learn more independently while increasing engagement in the learning process. The pilot phase will be implemented in the North Kazakhstan, Kostanay, Akmola, Pavlodar, West Kazakhstan, Aktobe, and East Kazakhstan regions. Authorities are currently assessing schools’ technical readiness and digital infrastructure. Based on the pilot’s results, the government plans to develop a national educational platform offering digital content tailored for rural schools. The ministry is also considering integrating domestic IT solutions, including the Qalan.kz platform, which incorporates gamification and artificial intelligence elements and has more than 800,000 users. The project is a resident of the technology park Astana Hub. The ministry expects the initiative to improve access to quality education in rural areas and to form part of the country’s broader digital transformation strategy. The Times of Central Asia previously reported that Kazakhstan is accelerating the adoption of digital technologies across key sectors, including education.

Agriculture

Kyrgyzstan Establishes State-Owned Company to Implement Satellite Technologies in Agriculture

The Kyrgyz authorities are taking a step towards the digitalization of agriculture and natural resource management. The country’s Cabinet of Ministers has decided to establish a state-owned company, Kyrgyz Sputnik, which will focus on the use of satellite data in key economic sectors. The new entity will be created as an open joint-stock company with 100% state ownership. Its founder will be the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry. Kyrgyz Sputnik is expected to serve as a tool for expanding the use of aerospace data in natural resource management. The company’s infrastructure will be located in the city of Karakol in the Issyk-Kul region. The creation of Kyrgyz Sputnik is intended to lay the groundwork for developing national expertise in space technologies and strengthening the country’s technological independence. The authorities view the project as a long-term investment in sustainable development, security, and the growth of an innovation-driven economy. At the same time, Kyrgyzstan has already begun implementing satellite solutions in agriculture. According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture Asel Kenenbaeva, the ministry is cooperating with international operators that provide high-resolution satellite imagery. Kenenbaeva said such data can be used to monitor crop conditions and cultivated areas, as well as oversee pasture use. It can also help analyse water resources and detect plant diseases. The information obtained will be made available to farmers, enabling them to assess the condition of their fields in near real time and receive recommendations on cultivation and fertilisation.

Rail cargo

Navigation Seals in the EAEU: Digital Modernization or a New Barrier for Kazakhstani Businesses?

Since February 2026, the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Belarus, and Russia, have begun the phased introduction of a navigation seal system to track cargo shipments. The mechanism is designed to increase transit transparency, strengthen control over the movement of goods, and speed up logistics operations. However, business representatives warn that the new system could lead to higher logistics costs and create additional administrative barriers for carriers. Against the backdrop of the launch of the project’s first phase in Kazakhstan, debate is growing over whether digitalization will deliver the expected benefits, or become another source of pressure on the market. New Transport Control System The agreement on the use of navigation seals in the EAEU was signed by the heads of state on April 19, 2021, and ratified by Kazakhstan in 2023. The document provides for the tracking of goods transported through the territories of two or more member states of the union. In Kazakhstan, amendments were introduced to national legislation to implement the agreement, the information systems of controlling authorities were modernized, and pilot projects were conducted in both road and rail transport. Under a resolution of the Government of Kazakhstan dated September 10, 2024, the national operator of the transport tracking system is the Institute of Space Technology and Technologies LLP, which operates under the Aerospace Committee of the Ministry of Digital Development. By decision of the Eurasian Economic Commission’s Collegium dated September 23, 2025, phased transport tracking using navigation seals began on February 11, 2026, for goods transported between EAEU countries. In 2025, the national operator, together with the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan, conducted a pilot project on the use of navigation seals in transit transportation. Testing took place at road border crossings and along railway routes. The main objective was to test procedures for installing and removing seals, as well as to verify the interaction between government information systems and the Transit platform. As a result of the pilot project, more than 890 shipments involving 1,757 vehicles were tracked, and a total of 1,637 navigation seals were installed. The devices were used at key road checkpoints and along the railway route between Altynkol and Saryagash stations. Based on the results, authorities concluded that the system was technically and organizationally ready for large-scale implementation. How “Digital Seals” Work According to Osken Toishibekov, director of the Institute of Space Technology and Technologies, the system is based on the Transit information platform, which connects carriers, operators, and government agencies. He explained to The Times of Central Asia that a navigation seal is a device equipped with an electronic module and a sealing element with satellite navigation capabilities. It enables the location of a vehicle to be tracked via GPS, with data transmitted to the system through mobile networks. The device records attempts to open or damage the seal, break the sealing cable, interfere with the equipment, or trigger other abnormal events. All information is automatically transmitted to the...