Kazakhstan drove 55 percent of the investment growth across Central Asia, highlighting its leading role in attracting foreign capital to the region, Alexander Zaboev, head of the Eurasian Development Bank ’s Center for Integration Studies said, Qazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Kazakhstan provided 55 percent of the growth in total investment in Central Asia. This shows that Kazakhstan is an anchor country for the region, Zaboev said at the ITS Ideas 2026: Markets in Motion conference. He noted that Kazakhstan continues to play a leading role despite the rapid growth in investment attracted by other Central Asian nations, including Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
According to Zaboev, Kazakhstan remains a key destination for foreign investment and has strong long-term investment appeal for international investors. The structure of foreign investment in the region is also changing. While a significant share of investment was previously concentrated in the raw materials sector, capital is increasingly flowing into higher value-added industries, including manufacturing, electricity, transport and the agro-industrial sector.
This is a global trend and shows that Central Asia is changing qualitatively. The region has new needs: it needs more electricity, power plants need to be modernized, and transport infrastructure needs to be developed. All of this attracts investment because international investors see not only a favorable investment climate but also the potential of specific markets in the region, Zaboev said.
Investment ties between Central Asian countries are also growing. Zaboev said this is particularly evident in the expansion of Kazakhstan’s investment in neighboring countries. Kazakhstani companies are implementing projects in Uzbekistan, while Uzbek capital is gradually entering the Kazakhstani market.
This shows that the countries within the region are also beginning to trust each other, he said. Among the largest Asian investors in Central Asia, Zaboev highlighted China, the Gulf countries, Türkiye, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia. Three countries - China, the UAE and Türkiye - account for around 80 percent of all foreign investment that has come to Central Asia, and this is largely connected with the market of Kazakhstan, he added.
Earlier, Qazinform reported the Kazakh Government had announced the formation of a pool of 215 investment projects totaling 78.6 billion US dollars, marking the start of a new investment cycle.