Articles by Aida Haidar 

ASTANA – Director and Partner of Slovenian engineering company RIKO Janez Škrabec has been coming to this part of the world for nearly four decades. His first visit to the Soviet Union was in 1988, when Kazakhstan belonged to a completely different political and economic reality. Today, he is returning to Astana, which is increasingly…

ASTANA – What if a song, a game, a digital creator or a piece of intellectual property could be treated not only as a cultural product, but as an investable asset? For Kazakhstan’s emerging creative economy, that shift in thinking could be as important as the creative output itself. The question was at the center…

ASTANA – We want to take it out of the unregulated area and make it work, because it works whether we want it or not,” National Bank Chairman Timur Suleimenov said during the plenary session Rewiring the Architecture of Finance at Astana Finance Days 2026 on Sept. 9, capturing the regulatory dilemma at the center…

ASTANA — The United States should establish permanent normal trade relations with Kazakhstan and offer greater economic opportunities rather than pressure the country to choose between Washington, Moscow and Beijing, Congressman Jimmy Panetta said during a Hudson Institute discussion on Sept. 2, as Washington weighs how to deepen its economic and strategic engagement with Central…

ASTANA – Central Asia and the Western Balkans may be geographically distant, but they are not economically or strategically disconnected. Their positions between major European and Eurasian markets create opportunities that have yet to be fully developed, according to Prof. Dr. Zijad Bećirović, director of the International Institute for Middle Eastern and Balkan Studies (IFIMES)…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s cashless economy is entering a new stage as virtual cards become more common among active users and QR payments overtake bank cards at point-of-sale terminals. The shift suggests that digitalization is no longer simply about replacing cash with cards, but increasingly about replacing the physical card itself with a smartphone-based payment interface.…

ASTANA — As competition between the world’s major powers increasingly reshapes trade routes, energy flows and diplomatic alignments, Kazakhstan’s strategic value may lie not in choosing sides, but in remaining able to connect several sides at once, experts said at a policy discussion in Astana. The discussion on Aug. 21, organized by the CFive Intellectual…

ASTANA — For decades, Kazakhstan’s connectivity strategy was measured in highways, railways and pipelines. Today, that vision is expanding. As global competition increasingly depends on the movement of data alongside the movement of goods, the country is investing in a new layer of strategic infrastructure — one designed not to carry cargo, but information. Among…

ASTANA — People in Kazakhstan consumed an average of 1.5 kilograms of sugar per person per month in 2025, a level that has barely changed since 2023, according to the Bureau of National Statistics. But while household consumption has remained stable, domestic production has fallen sharply, leaving imports to supply most of the market.  Average…

ASTANA — The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) has directed a cumulative $2 billion toward sustainable development projects and expanded its green investment portfolio to $1.08 billion in 2025, according to the bank’s Sustainability Report presented during its Annual Meeting and Business Forum on June 26 in Almaty. The report highlighted the bank’s growing role in…

ASTANA — Central Asia’s next logistics challenge is no longer building highways. It is ensuring that roads, railways, ports, warehouses, customs systems and digital platforms operate as a single, seamless network. That was the central message from a panel discussion on transport connectivity held during the Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Annual Meeting on June 25,…

ASTANA — Kazakhstan has officially been recognized as free of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) across its livestock sector, becoming the only country in Central and Eastern Asia with the designation, a development expected to strengthen the country’s agricultural exports and international market access. Minister of Agriculture Aidarbek Saparov announced the achievement during a June 5 government…

ASTANA — Fans of Kazakh singer Dimash Qudaibergen from around the world are continuing to launch charitable, environmental and cultural initiatives inspired by the artist’s work and public outreach, according to DimashNews. These projects span several countries and range from fundraising campaigns to reforestation efforts and cultural exchange programs. In the Czech Republic, members of…

ASTANA — Kazakhstan will continue increasing oil production under the latest OPEC+ agreement, according to the Kazakh Energy Ministry. The announcement follows a virtual meeting of seven OPEC+ countries, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman on June 7, which agreed to gradually raise production as part of a coordinated effort to support…

ASTANA — Kazakhstan plans to commission 8.4 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2035 as part of its low-carbon development strategy, Kazakh Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said during the Baku Energy Week on June 2, the ministry’s press service reported.  Speaking at a plenary session, Akkenzhenov said Kazakhstan is pursuing a dual-track energy strategy focused…

ASTANA — President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev reviewed progress on the development of Alatau City on June 2, describing the project as a “city of accelerated development” and outlining a broad agenda aimed at turning it into a major center for investment, innovation and logistics, according to Akorda press service.  Tokayev was briefed on ongoing construction, investment…

There are songs that don’t just become popular. Instead, they settle into the bloodstream of a country. Over time, they stop belonging to the artist and start belonging to people. They become something close to an unofficial national language of feeling. For Batyrkhan Shukenov, or Batyr, as he was known at home and far beyond,…

ALMATY — In emerging markets, companies have increasingly been able to reach billion-dollar valuations without ever proving that they can compete globally, raising a more uncomfortable question for regions like Central Asia, where total GDP remains under $500 billion and domestic markets are relatively small: what actually separates a company that is valuation-rich from one…

ALMATY — Central Asia is growing fast: Kazakhstan is expanding at around 5%, and Uzbekistan is exceeding 6%. Yet beneath these headline figures lies a more familiar economic reality, where exports remain heavily concentrated in commodities, productivity outside resource sectors is still limited, and much of the growth continues to be driven by the state…

ASTANA — Kazakhstan is no longer aiming simply to feed itself. It is positioning its agricultural sector as a regional export engine, according to Vice Minister of Agriculture Yerbol Taszhurekov, speaking at a thematic session on the second day of the Regional Ecological Summit (RES-2026) on April 23.  Taszhurekov framed the shift in blunt economic…

ASTANA — Kazakhstan’s tourism story is increasingly being written not in cities, but in landscapes. From alpine trails near Almaty to the desert plateaus of Mangystau, the country is seeing a clear shift: nature is no longer a backdrop—it’s the main draw. According to data reported by Kazinform, both international arrivals and domestic travel are…

ASTANA — War in the Middle East is sending economic shockwaves into Central Asia, exposing the region’s vulnerability to global disruptions even as oil exporters like Kazakhstan see short-term gains, said Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Middle East and Central Asia Department Jihad Azour, presenting the IMF’s April 2026 Regional Economic Outlook Update…

ASTANA — Kazakhstan has climbed into the top seven of the world’s leading women’s national tennis teams, according to the latest rankings of the Billie Jean King Cup, the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation’s press service reported on April 14.  The Kazakh team rose from ninth to seventh place following a decisive 3-1 victory over Canada, the…

ASTANA – When Yuri Gagarin lifted off on April 12, 1961, from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan became the starting point of the space age — though not yet a space power in its own right. The date would later be marked as Cosmonautics Day, anchoring the country’s place in global space history. Kazakhstan has long been…

ASTANA — Kazakh citizens are increasingly placing their money in Middle Eastern financial hubs, with Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) emerging as the top destinations, according to new data from the State Revenue Committee, Kazinform reported on April 8.  As of the end of 2024, citizens of Kazakhstan declared 7,082 bank accounts in…