Opinion: Over the Past Eight Years, New Uzbekistan Has Absorbed Over $113 Billion in Foreign Investments
On the eve of the 34th anniversary of our country’s independence, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund finalized the 2025 consultations under Article IV of the IMF Agreement. The Fund’s main conclusion is that Uzbekistan’s economic outlook remains positive amid continued progress in the transition to a market...
Kazakhstan Tops Central Asia for GDP per Capita, Surpassing Russia and China
Kazakhstan has emerged as the regional leader in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, overtaking both Russia and China, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). IMF data shows that in 2025 Kazakhstan’s GDP per capita reached $14,770, compared to $14,260 in Russia and $13,690 in China. Within Central Asia,...
Uzbekistan Targets Premium Global Brands with U.S. Cotton Imports
Uzbekistan, one of the world’s largest cotton producers, may begin importing cotton from the United States, a move that has prompted public debate. Inomjon Abdurakhmonov, Head of the Foreign Trade Department at the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade, explained that the decision is aimed at helping Uzbekistan secure a...
Kazakhstan Presses Oil Giants as Kashagan Revenues Face Scrutiny
The media in Kazakhstan is once again debating the revision of production sharing agreements (PSAs) with foreign companies in the country’s major oil consortia. PSA LLP, the state-owned operator authorized by the Ministry of Energy to represent Kazakhstan’s interests in the North Caspian Production Sharing Agreement, has released new data...
A Tale of Two Mountain Climbers in Asia: One Prevails, Another Succumbs
The line between triumph and disaster is sometimes thin in the world of mountain climbing. On Aug. 11, Eduard Kubatov of Kyrgyzstan reached the summit of K2 in Pakistan without supplemental oxygen, part of his bid to climb the 14 mountains internationally recognized as “eight-thousanders,” or peaks that are more...
World Bank: Central Asia’s Growth to Slow but Remain Resilient
Central Asia is set to remain one of the world’s fastest-growing regions, although its economic momentum is expected to moderate in the coming years, according to the World Bank’s Spring 2025 Europe & Central Asia Economic Update. The region posted a growth rate of 5.5% in 2024, with projections of...
Trump–Putin Talks in Alaska: What Could They Mean for Central Asia?
As U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, located just outside of Anchorage, Alaska, hopes and anxieties are reverberating across Central Asia. Trump has signaled that securing a ceasefire in Ukraine is his top priority, warning of “very severe consequences” for...
Kazakhstan Confirms Detention of Military Attaché Worker in Poland
Defense officials in Kazakhstan said on Wednesday that Polish security agencies have detained a worker in the Kazakh military attaché´s office, two weeks after the Polish government announced the arrest of a military intelligence officer from a post-Soviet country who is suspected of espionage. “The International Relations Center of the...
Sunkar Podcast
Astana International Forum 2025: Rethinking Global Dialogue
