Central Asia could gain up to $640 million a year from closer energy cooperation, but strained electricity grids threaten to limit those gains, with Kazakhstan particularly exposed to regional power shortages and growing pressure on its network.
Türkiye aims to increase bilateral trade with Kazakhstan to $15 billion and expand investment cooperation, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said during talks with his Kazakh counterpart, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who was on an official visit to Ankara.
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has unveiled plans to modernise infrastructure, strengthen trade links and boost electricity production in his annual address to the nation, outlining his economic priorities against a backdrop of global uncertainty.
Kyrgyzstan doubled its petrol and diesel production in the first nine months of 2026, as disruptions at Russian oil refineries strained fuel supplies across Central Asia, highlighting the region’s reliance on Russian energy.
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Belarus are preparing to supply Tajikistan with weapons and military equipment by the end of 2026, as a series of violent incidents raises security concerns along its border with Afghanistan, according to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
Kazakhstan is preparing sweeping military reforms after 14 service members died during exercises in the Caspian Sea. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev approved the plans on 21 October, with major changes to training, oversight and defence capabilities set to begin in 2027.
Member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) prevented 273 terrorist attacks and more than 3,000 crimes linked to terrorism, separatism and extremism in 2025, according to the bloc's regional counter-terrorism body.
Tajikistan and China have launched a high-capacity digital corridor across the Pamir Mountains, creating a direct telecommunications link that could strengthen Tajikistan’s internet connectivity and turn the country into a key transit route for data between Central and South Asia.
Kazakhstan is considering new rules governing the use of artificial intelligence in newsrooms, including requirements to label AI-generated content. The proposal was discussed at the tenth Astana Media Week, which also focused on digital threats and children's online safety.
Kazakhstan’s competition regulator has issued a formal warning to ride-hailing platform inDrive after fares for some journeys reportedly nearly tripled as widespread Yandex outages disrupted taxi services across Central Asia on 11 October.
Russia's TASS news agency is reporting that Russia's defence and digital development ministries are in talks about how to protect data centres, after several Yandex centres were targeted in Ukrainian drone attacks.
Tajikistan has begun the process of leaving the International Criminal Court, citing what it calls growing politicisation and bias in the court’s work.
The preliminary results of an investigation into Kazakhstan's armed forces have emerged. The probe was ordered by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev following the deaths of 14 servicemen during military exercises in the Caspian Sea, which resulted in the arrest of the former naval chief.
Central Asian countries are strengthening sanitary and quarantine controls amid the situation in Russia’s Irkutsk region. Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have introduced preventive measures following the death of an employee of a plague research institute in the city of Shelekhov.
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates are exploring a new railway through Afghanistan that could open another route for Central Asian cargo to Pakistan’s seaports.
Central Asian businesses and experts are proposing closer digital integration across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, with the aim of making it easier for technology companies to operate across a regional market of more than 80 million people.
Kazakhstan and Germany have agreed to expand cooperation in critical minerals, industry, energy and transport, with Astana seeking a greater German role in developing supply chains and higher-value production.
A developing El Niño in the Pacific could become one of the strongest on record, leading to heavier rainfall and a greater risk of severe flooding in parts of Central Asia, while also worsening extreme weather in other parts of the world.
Fourteen Kazakh military personnel died after being swept out to sea during a naval training exercise in the western Mangistau region, authorities said on Thursday.
The EU plans to mobilise up to €12 billion ($13.8 billion) in public and private investment to strengthen the Middle Corridor, a key trade route connecting Central Asia and the South Caucasus with European markets.
Kazakhstan's oil production remains strong, with around 4.4 billion tonnes of recoverable oil reserves - the total volume of oil that can be technically and economically extracted -- while its geological reserves are estimated at 13.2 billion tonnes, according to the country’s Energy Ministry.
Central Asia and South Korea are targeting annual trade of $20 billion by 2030, almost double last year’s record of more than $10 billion, following a proposal at their first leaders’ summit in Seoul.
Kazakhstan and South Korea have agreed to upgrade relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, as the two countries discuss nearly $19 billion in projects spanning energy, critical minerals and infrastructure.
Turkic states are considering the creation of a new law enforcement agency, TURKPOL, as members of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) step up security cooperation.
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