Economy
Business and investment
Central Asia’s critical minerals race: the deals outpace the mines
Central Asia keeps signing minerals deals with the West; China keeps taking the minerals. The gap now is bankability, power and processing.
Trans-Afghan railway advances as Russian Railways joins the feasibility study
The railway is sold as Central Asia’s own outlet to the sea. Its newest study partner is Russian Railways.
Kazakhstan and the EU line up a Middle Corridor push before a 23 June meeting
Container traffic through Kazakhstan jumped by a third in the first quarter, and Brussels is leaning in before a high-level corridor meeting on 23 June.
Mongolia is building a railway straight into China's steel industry, and it knows exactly what that means
83 million tonnes of coal exported to China in 2024. A new cross-border railway under construction since April 2025. $1.5 billion in additional annual revenue projected. The numbers are compelling. The dependency is real.
Uzbekistan breaks ground on a new Tashkent international airport this month
The current airport handles 14 million passengers a year and is at capacity. The new facility is designed for 30 million. Construction starts June 2026.
EBRD and Kazakhstan sign a new five-year cooperation agreement in Riga
The enhanced partnership framework runs to 2030. Private sector development, low-carbon transition, and Middle Corridor infrastructure are the three priorities.
Tencent is now a Kaspi.kz shareholder: what a $518 million bet on Kazakhstan means
The deal closed in April. The implications are still unfolding. China's largest consumer tech company has a stake in Kazakhstan's dominant super app.
EBRD Annual Meeting opens in Riga: what Central Asia is watching
The bank's 35th gathering runs 5 to 7 June. The Governors' plenary is 6 June. The updated Regional Economic Prospects drop 7 June. Central Asian finance ministers are in the room.
What GITEX in Astana revealed about Central Asia's tech ambitions
600+ exhibitors, 60 countries, 10,000 professionals over three days. Kazakhstan hosted the first GITEX Central Asia & Caucasus. The event closed 4 June.
Uzbekistan's trade deficit hit $6.4 billion in four months. The headline is misleading
Total turnover reached $26.3 billion, up 5.8%. Exports fell 16.8%. But strip out gold, which Tashkent paused for six months, and the picture looks different.
Cyprus on the Middle Corridor: Tokayev recruits a Mediterranean shipping hub
A Kazakhstan-Cyprus Business Forum in Astana. An EU-Kazakhstan transport seminar the same day. Both pointed at the same 23 June meeting.
What the EBRD is bringing to Riga, and what Central Asia should watch
The Bank's 35th Annual Meeting opens Thursday. For the region, three things matter: the new Regional Economic Prospects, the Aktau port investment, and the signal on Trans-Caspian financing.
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BTK goes full throttle: the upgraded Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway enters operation
Capacity jumped from 1 to 5 million tonnes a year. The Middle Corridor's western spine is no longer a bottleneck.
The level of the delegation is the message
Central Asia is in St. Petersburg this week, but not equally. What each country’s roster says about where the relationship with Russia actually stands
Mongolia vs Rio Tinto: the copper mine at the centre of the world
Oyu Tolgoi is producing record copper, heading for fourth place globally, and generating a political crisis. Ulaanbaatar wants a renegotiation. Rio Tinto cannot afford to walk away.