Kazakhstan’s Shin-Line Group and Japan’s Shigemitsu Industry have agreed to establish a joint venture to develop the Ajisen Ramen restaurant chain in Kazakhstan and across the wider region, Qazinform News Agency cites the Kazakh Agriculture Ministry. Between 2027 and 2031, the partners target to open up to 50 restaurants.
Shin-Line Group President Andrey Shin and Shigemitsu Industry President Katsuaki Shigemitsu signed the agreement at the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Japan. The Ajisen Ramen Central Asia joint venture will oversee regional management, franchising, production, and product adaptation.
Kazakhstan will serve as the operational, logistics, and production hub, with future expansion into Central Asia, the EAEU, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe. The network expansion is scheduled for 2027-2031. The first flagship Ajisen Ramen restaurant is expected to open in Almaty.
A centralized kitchen factory will be built at Shin-Line’s site in Baiserke, Almaty region, to supply the network. Production will be localized with halal-compliant raw materials. As part of cooperation, Japanese production technologies, standards, and recipes will be introduced and adapted to the local market.
The project is expected to attract investment and create new jobs in Kazakhstan. Earlier, Kazakhstan and Japan signed 60 commercial agreements worth more than 3.7 billion US dollars, including projects to introduce advanced Japanese technologies into production.