Kazakhstan has launched a major project to build Central Asia’s largest data centre campus in Ekibastuz, aiming to position the country as a regional hub for digital infrastructure with a planned total energy capacity of up to 1 GW.
The number of foreign-owned companies operating in Kazakhstan increased in 2025, reflecting a shift in the country’s external economic ties. Growth was driven primarily by Chinese businesses, whose expanding presence is reshaping the structure of foreign investment.
Kazakhstan says it has allocated $2.2 million to strengthen scientific monitoring of the Caspian Sea amid growing concern over falling water levels, biodiversity loss and rising industrial pressure on the world’s largest inland body of water.
Central Asia’s population could reach 96 million by 2040, according to the head of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), highlighting both the region’s economic potential and the growing strain on infrastructure, trade routes and long-term development models.
Kazakhstan has entered the world’s top 50 economies by GDP in 2026, ranking 50th with a projected nominal output of $320 billion. The result reflects sustained growth, structural reforms and the country’s rising role as a regional economic hub.
Turkmenistan is preparing for a presidential visit to Brussels as the European Parliament considers ratifying a partnership agreement that has been stalled since 1998, with energy cooperation emerging as a key driver of renewed dialogue.
The European Union is preparing a further expansion of its sanctions against Russia, with Central Asia emerging for the first time as a distinct point of focus.
Kazakhstan has significantly expanded its international air connectivity last year, reopening and launching flights to 30 countries according to data released by the country’s transport authorities. By the end of 2025, Kazakhstan was operating 135 international routes.
Agreements signed by the United States, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Washington on 5 February show that the United States is changing how it secures access to strategic raw materials.
Kazakhstan has approved plans for a second nuclear power plant in a significant scaling up of the country's nuclear ambitions. It comes a year after a referendum, which suggested more than 71 per cent support for the project, but which was also accompanied by allegations of irregularities.
Kazakhstan has published a draft of a new Constitution that would mark the most extensive revision of the country’s law since independence. Among the topics up for discussion are an absolute ban on the death penalty and a potential extension of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's time in power.
Tajikistan has announced an unprecedented rise in dust storms. Over the past 12 months, meteorologists recorded 63 such weather events, lasting a total of 216 days, or almost 60 per cent of the year.
Kazakhstan lost around 3.8 million tonnes of oil exports following an attack on facilities of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said, stressing that it is still too early to assess the losses in monetary terms.
The Aerospace Committee of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry has declared 2026 the Year of Visiting Baikonur, marking a strategic shift in how the famous cosmodrome is presented internationally.
Trade turnover between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan reached $33.4m in 2025, almost three times higher than the previous year, according to data from Tajikistan’s Customs Service.
Kazakhstan has joined the first international education programme launched by OpenAI and plans to introduce the specialised artificial intelligence (AI) system, ChatGPT Edu, into its national education framework.
Kazakhstan has begun recalibrating its oil export logistics amid ongoing restrictions affecting the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), a vital conduit for the country’s crude supplies to global markets.
Kazakhstan’s economy is set to slow in the coming years as external conditions deteriorate and geopolitical risks intensify, according to the latest forecast by the World Bank.
Kazakhstan has confirmed that two oil tankers linked to the transport of its crude were attacked in the Black Sea, underscoring the growing security risks surrounding the country’s primary export corridor.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thanked Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for the country’s decision to join the Abraham Accords.
In his traditional New Year interview with the newspaper Turkistan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev set out a broad assessment of Kazakhstan’s current position and future priorities, covering economic performance, global logistics, artificial intelligence, energy security and political reform.
Kazakhstan’s IT exports have reached $700 million, highlighting the accelerating development of the country’s digital economy and its growing integration into global technology markets.
The move is intended to combine digital innovation and long-term infrastructure planning with further modernise urban mobility while strengthening the country’s position as a key transit hub across Eurasia.
Kazakhstan has made a notable advance in the global Government AI Readiness Index, moving up to 60th place out of 195 countries in the 2025.
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