The Times Of Central Asia | Eurasian Publication & News Online

Almaty long combined Kazakhstan’s political and commercial functions and established itself as Central Asia’s leading business center. After Astana became Kazakhstan’s capital, the two cities developed increasingly complementary roles, with Almaty remaining the region’s largest business and financial hub while Astana accumulated political, institutional and corporate weight. Kazakhstan’s updated figures...

Migration Policy

Kazakhstan Prepares QazETA Entry Authorization for Visa-Free Travelers

Central Asia Water Cooperation

Water in Central Asia: Can the Five States Reach an Agreement?

Russia’s Return to Afghanistan, New Chinese Jets, and Kazakhstan’s Legislative Election

00:00 / 00:00

Dastan
Short Stories from the Region

Dastan: Sobir Ruziev, Soviet Fencer Who Elevated Uzbek Sport

00:00 / 00:00

Opinions

From Lenin to Kenesary: What Kazakhstan’s Renamed Streets Say About Power

Issatay Minuarov

Opinion: Why Central Asia Cannot Afford to Abandon the Iranian Route

Timur Serikuly

Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan Show What Diplomacy Can Deliver as Vast Rail Project with China Advances

Javier M. Piedra

Uzbekistan’s Heritage Did Not Stop With the Silk Road

Mathieu Lemoine

Opinion: Kazakhstan’s Demining Expertise Could Provide Boost to Afghanistan

Timur Serikuly

Opinion: Uzbekistan Census – When the Village Reappears in the City

Zamirbek Minbaev

Opinion: The Specter Is Back – A Kazakh Warning to America

Askar Alimzhanov

Opinion: The Amu Darya Stress Test – Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and the Politics of Agricultural Adaptation

Zamirbek Minbaev

Opinion: Kazakhstan’s New Income Growth Plan – Administrative Measures Against Market Realities

Igor Klevtsov

Opinion: Central Asia’s Shift from Silk Road Romance to Infrastructure Finance – What the June Forums Are Building

Dr. Magsud Mammadov

UNDP Opinion: Central Asia – Shared Wildlife, Shared Landscapes, Shared Responsibility

UNDP Representatives in Kazakhstan, Katarzyna Wawiernia, Kyrgyzstan, Alexandra Solovieva, Tajikistan, Sudipto Mukerjee, Turkmenistan, Narine Sahakyan, Uzbekistan, Akiko Fujii.

Opinion: Beyond Multivectorism – What Kyrgyzstan’s UN Security Council Win Really Shows

Zamirbek Minbaev

Business & Economy

Middle Corridor

Kazakhstan Transport Sector Needs 57,000 Specialists as Middle Corridor Expands

Kazakhstan is expanding railways and logistics capacity along routes linking China and Europe, but its transport sector has identified a need for around 57,000 specialists. Digitalization is creating demand for 31 new professions. Transport Minister Nurlan Sauranbayev announced the figures at a government meeting on September 8. Around 870,000 people currently work in the sector – nearly one in ten employed people in the country. Locomotive drivers, other drivers, engineers, technicians, logistics specialists, pilots, air traffic controllers, ship captains, and mechanics are among those in particularly high demand. The skills required are also changing. Railways need digital logistics specialists and...

Caspian Sea Middle Corridor

Shrinking Caspian Sea Raises the Cost of the Middle Corridor

Fiscal Policy

Kazakhstan Bond Market Proposed Tax Changes Aim to Attract $3 Billion in Foreign Investment

City Planning

Almaty and Astana Set to Retain Central Asia’s Economic Lead

Finance

Kazakhstan Binance Plan Regional Settlement Hub

Astana Finance Days 2026

S&P Bolsters Kazakhstan’s Standing as Central Asia’s Financial Hub

S&P Global Ratings has improved its assessment of Kazakhstan’s banking industry as Astana Finance Days opens on September 9, lowering the industry risk score for the country’s banking system from 7 to 6 and citing stronger regulation and supervision. According to Kazakhstan’s Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market, the September 4 decision improved the industry risk component of S&P’s Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment, or BICRA. S&P also changed the trend on Kazakhstan’s separate economic risk assessment from stable to positive. S&P’s BICRA framework evaluates banking systems on a scale of 1 to 10, with lower numbers...

Gas

Gazprom Central Asia Gas Supplies Rise Nearly 70% in 2026

Gazprom has increased gas supplies to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan by nearly 70% so far in 2026. Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller announced the increase on September 4 but did not disclose how much gas each of the three countries received. The most significant changes are taking place in Uzbekistan. Until recently, the country was a major gas producer and exporter, but in 2023 it became a net importer. Since then, Tashkent has increased purchases from Russia and Turkmenistan. In 2025, Gazprom supplied Uzbekistan with 6.48 billion cubic meters of gas, 15% more than a year earlier. Russian gas reaches the country...

Labor Force

Kazakhstan’s Factory Expansion Faces a Skilled Labor Shortage

Kazakhstan plans to create tens of thousands of jobs at new factories, but lacks qualified workers. Around 200 industrial projects are scheduled to be launched in 2026, followed by new metallurgical, engineering, and chemical plants. The facilities can be built within a few years, but training the staff needed to operate them may take significantly longer. A 2025 estimate suggested the shortage of qualified workers in manufacturing, construction, and engineering-related fields could exceed 100,000. The projects planned for 2026 are worth a combined 1.7 trillion tenge, or approximately $3.6 billion, and are expected to create around 18,000 permanent jobs. The...

Tourism

Kazakhstan Tourism Investment Tops $4.8 Billion as Arrivals Rise

Kazakhstan recorded more than $4.8 billion in tourism investment in 2024 and 2025. Current projects include new hotels and mountain resorts, while the government is upgrading transport links to tourist areas as foreign visitor numbers rise. Investment in tourism reached 947.5 billion tenge ($2.08 billion) in 2024 and rose to 1.26 trillion tenge ($2.75 billion) in 2025. Kazakhstan has 328 tourism projects under way worth about 1.3 trillion tenge, or roughly $2.85 billion. These include new Hilton and Mandarin Oriental properties, as well as an expansion of the year-round Oi-Qaragai mountain resort near Almaty. The government expects the projects to...

Local Politics

Migration Policy

Kazakhstan Prepares QazETA Entry Authorization for Visa-Free Travelers

Kazakhstan is preparing to change entry rules for citizens of countries that enjoy visa-free travel: before their trip, they may be required to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA). The system remains voluntary for now, but legislation already suggests that authorities are preparing for their phased mandatory introduction. The new rules will also affect Russians and citizens of other Eurasian Economic Union countries. An ETA is a form of pre-travel authorization used by a number of countries to screen visa-exempt travelers before arrival. QazETA is the digital platform through which Kazakhstan issues the authorization. It does not replace a visa...

GKNB

Maksat Asanaliyev Approved as Kyrgyzstan Security Service Chief

Akorda

Erlan Karin’s Appointment Links Reform and National Identity

Kazakhstan's Parliament

Kazakhstan’s Kurultai Has Begun Work, but the Intrigue Remains

Opinion

From Lenin to Kenesary: What Kazakhstan’s Renamed Streets Say About Power

Government Appointments

New Kazakhstan Government Retains Core Economic Team

Kazakhstan completed the formation of its first government under the country’s new unicameral parliament on September 3. Olzhas Bektenov remains prime minister and the core economic team will stay in place, but there were changes at the foreign, culture and information, ecology, and emergency situations ministries. The government resigned on August 28 following the election of the Kurultai, Kazakhstan’s new unicameral parliament, which replaced the Senate and Mazhilis. Ministers continued serving in an acting capacity while the new cabinet was formed. On August 31, the Kurultai approved Bektenov’s candidacy for prime minister. He received 137 votes, with seven lawmakers abstaining...

Government appointments

Mukhtar Tleuberdi Returns as Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appointed Mukhtar Tleuberdi as foreign minister on September 2. One of Kazakhstan’s most experienced diplomats is returning to a post he previously held from 2019 to 2023. For the past three years, Tleuberdi has represented Kazakhstan in Austria and at international organizations in Vienna. Tleuberdi replaces Yermek Kosherbayev, who had headed the Foreign Ministry since September 2025. The change comes as a new administration takes shape following the election of the Kurultai. Kosherbayev spent less than a year in the post, but his tenure coincided with an intensification of Kazakhstan’s relationship with the United States. In...

Government

Kazakhstan Vice President and Prime Minister Approved by Parliament

Kazakhstan has begun its first major round of senior appointments since the new unicameral parliament, the Kurultai, started work. On August 31, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appointed Erlan Karin as vice president, retained Olzhas Bektenov as prime minister, and moved Aida Balayeva from the cabinet to the Security Council. Karin, who had previously served as first deputy head of the Presidential Administration, was the most significant appointment. The vice presidency in its current form was established under Kazakhstan’s 2026 constitutional reform. The post itself is not entirely new to the country: it existed during the first years of independence before being...

Sports Funding

Kazakhstan Olympic Delegations Capped After Spending Audit

Kazakhstan has limited the number of sports officials who can be included in official Olympic delegations. The new rules follow an audit of spending on the Tokyo Olympics, where Kazakhstan’s delegation included more support staff than athletes, and auditors found there were no uniform rules for determining how many accompanying personnel were actually necessary. Kazakhstan sent 95 athletes and 101 accompanying personnel to the Tokyo Games. They included 62 coaches, 20 medical staff, nine administrative staff, and other personnel. The Supreme Audit Chamber examined the delegation as part of its audit of spending on preparations for the Games. Auditors found...

International Affairs

Nuclear Disarmament

Central Asian States Call for New Arms Controls as Nuclear Framework Weakens

Foreign ministers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have called for new, verifiable arms control mechanisms to prevent a nuclear arms race, warning that international disarmament efforts are losing ground. In a joint statement issued on September 8 to mark 20 years since the signing of the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, the five governments expressed concern over stalled disarmament, the end of key agreements, and the modernization of nuclear arsenals. They urged nuclear powers to resume negotiations. The statement comes seven months after New START, the last U.S.-Russian strategic nuclear arms treaty, expired on February 5. UN Secretary-General...

Central Asia - Afganistan

Afghanistan Critical Minerals: Can Central Asia Help Unlock Them?

South East Asia

Kazakhstan Laos Seek to Link Transport Corridors Through China

Uzbekistan-India Relations

Uzbekistan India Trade Target Rises to $5 Billion as Uranium Cooperation Expands

Fertilizer Plant

Kyrgyzstan Fertilizer Plant Opens With $260 Million Chinese Investment

Bilateral Relations

Trade and Migrant Workers Fuel Serbia’s Growing Ties with Uzbekistan

BELGRADE – While seeking to join the European Union – a process that has been going on for nearly two decades – Serbia is also moving to build closer relations with Central Asia. After expanding cooperation with Kazakhstan earlier this year, the Southeast European nation is now looking to replicate that momentum in its relations with Uzbekistan. At first glance, the two countries seem to have little in common. Serbia is a relatively small economy with strong ties to European markets, while Uzbekistan is Central Asia’s most populous nation and one of the region’s fastest-growing economies. Yet the two states...

Jackson-Vanik Amendment

Kazakhstan Takes Center Stage in U.S. House Critical Minerals Hearing

Kazakhstan’s growing role in global critical-mineral supply chains came into sharp focus on Capitol Hill on September 2. During a nearly four-hour hearing of the full U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, lawmakers and expert witnesses repeatedly presented the country as a major resource producer, an established U.S. supplier and a strategically important partner in Central Asia. The hearing, titled "Strategic Partnerships to Secure Critical Resources and Supply Chains," covered a broad range of issues, including domestic mining, processing capacity, Africa and trade policy. Kazakhstan nevertheless emerged as one of the hearing’s most frequently cited country examples. Three of the...

Central Asia-U.S. Relations

In Bishkek, Gor and Daines Put Business First

U.S. Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor and U.S. Senator Steve Daines used their visit to Bishkek this week to put business squarely at the center of Washington's engagement with Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, with discussions focused on investment, trade, infrastructure and practical steps for turning ideas into deals. Gor and Daines arrived for the opening of the World Nomad Games to cheer on the U.S. team, a visit that coincided with the SCO Summit on its 25th anniversary. The Games were only part of the visit. Much of the agenda focused on economic engagement. They were...

С5+Korea

What to Expect from the First Central Asia South Korea Summit

The first summit of Central Asian and Republic of Korea leaders will take place in Seoul on September 16-17. Behind the diplomatic novelty of the meeting is a highly practical agenda: South Korea is seeking more resilient sources of critical minerals and new manufacturing partnerships, while Central Asian countries are looking for technologies and investment to process raw materials within the region. The summit continues a trend that has taken shape in recent years. Central Asia is building relations with major external partners through regional formats while preserving national sovereignty and avoiding the creation of supranational institutions. This approach is already...

Life & Culture

Cultural Heritage

The Art of the Witty Reply: How Uzbek Askiya Works

Imagine two people standing before an audience. One throws out a joke. The other has only a few seconds to grasp the meaning, pick up the wordplay, and fire back – preferably with something even sharper. The first responds again. Hesitate, miss the implication, or simply fail to make the audience laugh, and the round is lost. That is how askiya works – a traditional Uzbek contest of wit in which the conversation cannot be scripted in advance. In 2014, UNESCO inscribed askiya on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. But the genre lives on beyond...

Direct Flights

Uzbekistan Announces Direct Flights to Mauritius, Starting in December

Cinematography

“It’s a Fantasy About Those Who Could Have Prevented the Tragedy”: Shugyla Yeshen on Kazakhstan’s New Cinema

World Nomad Games

Kyrgyzstan Beats Kazakhstan 12-0 to Win World Nomad Games Kok Boru Gold

World Nomad Games

A Little Bit of America at the World Nomad Games

FIDE Chess Olympiad

Samarkand Expects Record Turnout for Chess Olympiad

Samarkand is preparing to host the largest Chess Olympiad yet, with organizers expecting 398 teams as Uzbekistan stages the tournament for the first time in Central Asia. The 46th Chess Olympiad opens on September 15 at the Silk Road International Tourism Center and runs until September 27, with the first round to be played on September 16, according to the official schedule. Organizers say 208 teams will compete in the Open section and 190 in the women’s competition. The expected field of 1,974 players includes 240 grandmasters. More than 4,000 guests are expected when coaches and delegation members are included....

Contemporary Art

From Bukhara to Venice: How Uzbekistan Is Building a Contemporary Art Scene

Uzbekistan has long known how to attract foreign visitors with its past – Samarkand, Bukhara, the Silk Road, and Islamic architecture. Now the country is trying to interest the world in what it is creating today. In just a few years, Uzbekistan has launched the Bukhara Biennial and established a national pavilion at the Venice Biennale. On September 6, the country’s first permanent center for contemporary art opened in Tashkent. The Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent (CCA Tashkent) occupies a 1912 industrial building that once served as a diesel station and tram depot. French architecture firm Studio KO preserved its...

Chess

Leaked Recording Stirs Controversy Ahead of FIDE Presidential Election in Samarkand

An audio recording attributed to Russian chess organizer Mark Glukhovsky has surfaced online ahead of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) presidential election in Samarkand. In the recording, the speaker makes derogatory remarks about Uzbeks and Uzbek officials and appears to discuss bribery as one of the tactics used during the 2018 FIDE election campaign. Glukhovsky has acknowledged that a private conversation was secretly recorded but maintains that the material released online was edited and partly reworked using artificial intelligence. The Ukrainian Chess Federation published the audio on its Facebook page. Its full context and authenticity, including whether it had been...

Obituary

Sobir Ruziev, Soviet Fencer Who Elevated Uzbek Sport, Dies at 73

He was once described as Uzbekistan’s chief musketeer. Born in what was the Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, Sobir Ruziev moved to Tashkent, was selected as a teen-ager by a fencing coach and rose to the top of the sport as a Soviet athlete, earning a silver medalist in the team foil category in the 1980 Moscow Olympics and coming fourth in the individual competition. He later helped to build sports institutions in an independent Uzbekistan. On August 22 of this year, Ruziev’s death was announced by the National Olympic Committee of Uzbekistan. The committee, which noted he was one of...

Justice

Illegal Migration

Uzbekistan Proposes Up to 15 Years in Prison for Organizing Illegal Migration

Uzbekistan wants to introduce a separate criminal offense for organizers of illegal migration, carrying penalties of up to 15 years in prison. The proposal comes at a time when large numbers of Uzbeks continue to work abroad, with Russia still the largest destination, even as conditions for migrant workers there become increasingly restrictive and risky. The draft amendments are open for public discussion until September 8. They would create a new criminal offense for organizing or assisting illegal migration for financial gain, including arranging unlawful border crossings or transit through Uzbekistan. Penalties would start at three to five years in prison...

Bloggers’ Rights

Uzbekistan’s New Bloggers’ Council Has No Confirmed Leader

Cybersecurity

Kazakhstan Examines Data Leak Claim Involving 15 Million People

Bride Kidnapping

Bride Kidnapping in Central Asia: Why the Practice Persists Despite Tougher Laws

Gulnara Karimova

Swiss Court Fines Lombard Odier $3.7 Million in Karimova Money-Laundering Case

Psychology

Psychologists in Kyrgyzstan Face New Regulation Push

Parents in Kyrgyzstan have been contacting member of parliament Elvira Surabaldieva with a basic question: the person counseling their child online calls themselves a psychologist, but are they actually qualified? There is currently no unified system through which families can check. The authorities now want to establish uniform rules for psychologists for the first time. The bill is being prepared by member of parliament Elvira Surabaldieva. The initiative followed requests from parents and other citizens who wanted to verify the qualifications of people offering psychological services online. According to Surabaldieva, some begin providing consultations after two- or three-month courses, while...

Kamchybek Tashiyev

Kyrgyz Prosecutors Seek Nine-Year Prison Terms for Tashiyev and Seven Others

Kyrgyz prosecutors are asking an appeals court to send former security chief Kamchybek Tashiyev and seven other defendants to prison. A lower court convicted all eight in July of preparing to seize power by force, but allowed them to remain free on probation. The appeal is being heard by the Bishkek City Court, with the hearing taking place behind closed doors. Prosecutors are challenging the sentences handed down by the trial court. The “Letter of 75” case arose from an open letter signed on February 9 by 75 politicians, former officials, and public figures. The authors called for an early presidential...

Islam and National Identity

Dombra Dispute and Niqab Bans Fuel Religious Debate in Central Asia

Standing before a court in Aktobe in June, 35-year-old Azat Konys apologized to “the entire Kazakh people” for insulting one of the country’s most cherished cultural symbols. Two months earlier, during a TikTok livestream, he had declared the dombra forbidden under Islam, compared the two-stringed instrument to part of the devil’s anatomy and called clerics from Kazakhstan’s official Islamic authority “dogs of hell.” Konys asked the court not to imprison him. The judge instead sentenced him to three years and six months for inciting religious and national hatred. The controversy began when Konys cited the Hanafi school of Sunni Islamic...

Kyrgyz-Uzbek Border

Kyrgyzstan Uncovers Suspected Smuggling Tunnel on Uzbek Border

Authorities in Kyrgyzstan have uncovered an underground tunnel on the border with Uzbekistan that is believed to have been built for smuggling goods, 24.kg reported, citing the Batken Regional Department of Internal Affairs. According to the police, officers from the department responsible for combating extremism and illegal migration received information that an underground passage was being constructed to move goods illegally across the border. During an inspection of an abandoned house on Mamazhanov Street in the village of Chechelik, Kadamjay District, investigators discovered a tunnel leading toward neighboring Uzbekistan. According to the regional police department, the tunnel is approximately 12...

Environment

Glacier Melt

Kyrgyzstan Drafts $850 Million Climate Adaptation Plan Through 2035

Kyrgyzstan has put a national climate adaptation plan through 2035 out for public consultation as shrinking glaciers and changing river flows threaten water supplies, agriculture, and hydropower. Published on September 3, the draft sets out measures including climate-risk mapping, better monitoring, and improved warning systems for droughts, floods, and mudflows. The risks extend beyond Kyrgyzstan, as rivers rising in its mountains feed water systems shared across Central Asia. The draft National Adaptation Plan remains subject to public consultation and government approval. Its preliminary cost for 2026–2035 is estimated at 74.5 billion som, with more than half expected to come from...

Glaciers

Tajikistan Glacier Mudflows Warning Issued as Climate Risks Grow

Semipalatinsk Test Site

Tokayev Calls for Nuclear Talks 35 Years After Semipalatinsk Closure

Aral Sea

Aral Sea Restoration Could Prevent 605 Million Tons of CO2 Emissions

Aral Sea

Kazakhstan’s North Aral Recovery Anchors Broader Environmental Push

Central Asia Water Cooperation

Water in Central Asia: Can the Five States Reach an Agreement?

Central Asia is entering a period of growing water stress, as climate change makes supplies less predictable while demand continues to rise. Populations are growing, economies require new energy and industrial capacity, glaciers are shrinking, and agriculture continues to consume most of the available water. The region’s two main rivers – the Amu Darya and Syr Darya – cross national borders, making it impossible for any one country to solve the problem on its own. After decades of disputes, Central Asian states are increasingly trying to manage water jointly. In 2026, that cooperation has produced further practical steps, from plans...

Methane Emissions

Turkmenistan Methane Emissions Under Scrutiny After 192 UN Alerts

UN satellite monitoring has identified Turkmenistan as one of the world’s most serious methane hotspots, with 192 alerts for the country issued over the past year. Three of the six largest leaks detected globally by the system over the past six months were in Turkmenistan, as were nine of the top 50. Eight major leaks have since been stopped after repairs. For Ashgabat, however, the issue is also taking on commercial significance: new EU rules are gradually linking access for imported gas to the European market with its methane footprint. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has confirmed eight cases...

Opinion

Can Uzbekistan’s Green Transition Offset Its Gas Decline?

Uzbekistan faces a widening energy gap. Natural gas production peaked in 2008 and, after a partial recovery in the late 2010s, has fallen sharply. Official figures show output dropped from 61.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2018 to 41.5 bcm in 2024. Production fell another 15% year on year in the first quarter of 2026. The gap is already being filled from abroad. Russian gas deliveries rose 15% in 2025 to nearly 6.5 bcm, while Uzbekistan also imports gas from Turkmenistan. Renewable electricity cannot replace every household or industrial use of gas. It can reduce the volume burned in power...

Desertification

UN Desertification Forum Highlights Central Asian Land Degradation

Mongolia is hosting a United Nations (UN) conference on combating desertification this month, with delegates from Central Asian countries discussing cooperation on the challenges of climate change, water scarcity, and sustaining vast ecosystems such as the Eurasian steppes. Bakhodur Sheralizoda, chairman of Tajikistan’s Committee for Environmental Protection, was among speakers appealing for more regional and international cooperation in the face of land degradation, desertification, and drought. While the meeting in Ulaanbaatar is aimed at the protection of rangeland and grassland ecosystems, Sheralizoda also noted the importance of preserving mountain ecosystems such as those that cover most of Tajikistan’s territory. He...

S&P Bolsters Kazakhstan’s Standing as Central Asia’s Financial Hub

Latest

Features

Features

Russia’s Return to Afghanistan, New Chinese Jets, and Kazakhstan’s Legislative Election

Latest

Dastan: Sobir Ruziev, Soviet Fencer Who Elevated Uzbek Sport

Russia’s Return to Afghanistan, New Chinese Jets, and Kazakhstan’s Legislative Election

Dastan: Sobir Ruziev, Soviet Fencer Who Elevated Uzbek Sport

Opinions

Opinions

Issatay Minuarov

Timur Serikuly

Javier M. Piedra

Mathieu Lemoine

Timur Serikuly

Zamirbek Minbaev

Askar Alimzhanov

Zamirbek Minbaev

Igor Klevtsov

Dr. Magsud Mammadov

UNDP Representatives in Kazakhstan, Katarzyna Wawiernia, Kyrgyzstan, Alexandra Solovieva, Tajikistan, Sudipto Mukerjee, Turkmenistan, Narine Sahakyan, Uzbekistan, Akiko Fujii.

Zamirbek Minbaev

Business & Economy

Business & Economy

Kazakhstan Transport Sector Needs 57,000 Specialists as Middle Corridor Expands

S&P Bolsters Kazakhstan’s Standing as Central Asia’s Financial Hub

Gazprom Central Asia Gas Supplies Rise Nearly 70% in 2026

Kazakhstan’s Factory Expansion Faces a Skilled Labor Shortage

Kazakhstan Tourism Investment Tops $4.8 Billion as Arrivals Rise

Local Politics

Local Politics

Kazakhstan Prepares QazETA Entry Authorization for Visa-Free Travelers

New Kazakhstan Government Retains Core Economic Team

Mukhtar Tleuberdi Returns as Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister

Kazakhstan Vice President and Prime Minister Approved by Parliament

Kazakhstan Olympic Delegations Capped After Spending Audit

International Affairs

International Affairs

Central Asian States Call for New Arms Controls as Nuclear Framework Weakens

Trade and Migrant Workers Fuel Serbia’s Growing Ties with Uzbekistan

Kazakhstan Takes Center Stage in U.S. House Critical Minerals Hearing

In Bishkek, Gor and Daines Put Business First

What to Expect from the First Central Asia South Korea Summit

Life & Culture

Life & Culture

The Art of the Witty Reply: How Uzbek Askiya Works

Samarkand Expects Record Turnout for Chess Olympiad

From Bukhara to Venice: How Uzbekistan Is Building a Contemporary Art Scene

Leaked Recording Stirs Controversy Ahead of FIDE Presidential Election in Samarkand

Sobir Ruziev, Soviet Fencer Who Elevated Uzbek Sport, Dies at 73

Justice

Justice

Uzbekistan Proposes Up to 15 Years in Prison for Organizing Illegal Migration