EDB Boosts Investment in Kazakh Projects

In 2024, the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) will invest no less than $1 billion in Kazakhstan, with priority sectors listed as transportation, industry, energy and environmental improvements, agribusiness, and the construction and modernization of social infrastructure. The announcement was made during a meeting on March 18th between Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov and Nikolai Podguzov, Chairman of the EDB Management Board. EDB is an international financial institution whose members include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Podguzov reported that last year, the EDB financed several investment projects in various sectors of Kazakhstan’s economy, including the construction of a polypropylene plant, the procurement of diesel locomotives, and the development of wind farms in the Kostanay region. Kazakhstan’s share of the EDB’s annual investment surged from 48.5% in 2022 to 59% in 2023. The prime minister stressed the significance of investment in large-scale infrastructure initiatives recently listed by Kazakhstan’s president as the development of roads, housing construction, utility upgrades, and gasification of cities and villages. “The bank should prioritize major infrastructure projects,” stated Bektenov. “We are ready to enhance cooperation with the bank on mutually beneficial terms.”