As advanced economies face shrinking native populations and demographic aging, foreign-born workers are increasingly powering economic growth, spurring investment, and lifting labor productivity, according to a study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). A powerful driver of productivity and investment Analyzing net immigration across 38 OECD nations…
Plans are underway to tokenize the Iconic Tower complex, valued at up to $50 million, and the Birlik logistics center, valued at up to $10 million, in the new city of Alatau, Kazakhstan’s flagship urban development project, by the end of 2026. The initiative aims to turn ownership rights in these…
Kazakhtelecom, Kazakhstan’s largest telecommunications operator and part of the Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund, has disclosed changes in its shareholder structure for the first six months of 2026. The key development was an increase in Samruk-Kazyna’s stake from 79.2% to 89.5%. At the same time, a U.S. investment fund became a…
How people feel about their jobs may seem personal, but across millions of workers it becomes a crucial economic signal. A recent ranking by World Population Review highlights how emotional connection at work varies dramatically around the globe, often confounding traditional economic expectations. The data proves that national wealth and…
Chinese marketplaces have become the fastest-growing segment of Kazakhstan’s e-commerce market, with purchase volumes on popular platforms Temu and 1688.com increasing more than tenfold in recent years. At the Central Asia Fintech Summit 2026 in Almaty, Mastercard presented a study of Kazakhstan’s e-commerce market. According to the payments company, e-commerce…
Kazakhstan and Ethiopia will explore the possibility of establishing a hub for supplying Ethiopian tea, coffee and flowers to Kazakhstan and other markets. The agreement was reached by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed during a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New…
Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, plans to purchase two hotels to accommodate IT specialists from countries whose citizens face difficulties obtaining visas to the U.S. and European Union, according to Nurlan Zhakupov, CEO of the fund. «We are implementing a project called NetworkSchool. We will open a network school in…
Kazakhstani industrial company SP BKM signed an agreement with India-based International Tractors Limited to assemble and produce tractors. The agreement is worth $120 million. During the Kazakhstan-India Business, Trade and Investment Forum, SP BKM and Indian agricultural machinery manufacturer International Tractors Limited reached an agreement to assemble and locally produce…
Driven by the global artificial intelligence boom, Kazakhstan’s government is spearheading an ambitious initiative to build a competitive data center industry almost from scratch, leveraging the country’s cheap coal-fired power generation. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev designated 2026 as the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, setting off a wave of sweeping…
Retail investing in Kazakhstan is no longer a niche market. In the first quarter of 2026, the KASE Index gained 10.0% to 7,734.60 points, while retail investors accounted for 43.5% of equity trading volume. The market includes brokers licensed by the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market…
Choosing the right college major has become a high-stakes decision in an era of rising tuition costs and rapid technological change. A recent ranking by World Population Review highlights how the shifting economy is changing the value of traditional degrees while elevating alternative career paths. Today, the strongest prospects often…
Kazakhstan recorded 637.2 billion tenge (approximately $1.4 billion) in investment in trade and related sectors from January to July 2026, up 22.3% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Trade and Integration. The strongest investment growth was recorded in the North Kazakhstan, Karaganda, Kostanay, Abai and Mangystau regions, as well as…
Chinese robot-maker Unitree Robotics made a blockbuster debut on Shanghai’s STAR Market on Wednesday, with shares surging more than 600% in early trading, the BBC reported. The company, officially Yushu Technology Co. Ltd., was founded in 2016 in Hangzhou and builds humanoid and quadruped robots, robotic arms and sensors. It…
The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) has added digital assets to the list of eligible investment instruments under its Investment Tax Residency Programme (ITRP). Foreign investors can now qualify for a long-term investor visa and tax residency in Kazakhstan by investing in digital assets through AIFC-licensed platforms. Previously, participants in…
Chinese companies are considering establishing production facilities in Stepnogorsk, Akmola region, for drones, light two-seat helicopters and renewable energy equipment. The projects are part of a package of joint Kazakhstan-China initiatives involving a total of $70 million in investment. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the Akmola region administration,…
The Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK) is exploring financing options for building and opening a Lotte hotel in Almaty. The bank has reported that the tourism project is now in the document-collection phase ahead of its initial review. Project ownership The project’s borrower is Sensata Invest. The company is jointly…
Lotte Rakhat plans to expand its exports to the Persian Gulf and Caucasus, Chairman Akhmed Akhrarov said. «Currently, Lotte Rakhat products are supplied to Russia, Central Asian countries, China, Mongolia, Afghanistan and Germany. We continue to expand our sales geography while exploring new promising markets, including the Persian Gulf and…
Scammers in the crypto industry are increasingly using a scheme known as a «honeypot,» which allows investors to easily purchase a token but makes it impossible to sell, Binance Kazakhstan told Kursiv.media. As a result, the asset’s value appears to rise on the investor’s screen, but the investor can no…
Kazakhstan currently has nine billionaires, according to Forbes. Below is an updated infographic highlighting Kazakhstan’s richest people and their key assets. The visual was compiled by Nurasyl Abdrazakuly, a Kazakh data scientist and frequent collaborator on our infographics. As in the previous infographic, each billionaire is shown alongside the logo…
A factory producing humanoid and educational robots will be built in Almaty, becoming the first overseas manufacturing facility for Chinese robotics company UBTECH Robotics. Agreement signed in Shanghai According to the Almaty akimat (mayor’s office), the agreement was signed during a business forum in Shanghai attended by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart…
Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), the national railway operator and a subsidiary of Samruk-Kazyna, plans to list its common shares and global depositary receipts (GDRs) on the Astana International Exchange (AIX), the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), according to a document the company published following…
Chinese company Wuhan Xiangyu Dingsheng Construction Engineering plans to build a greenhouse complex for growing flowers and ornamental trees in Kazakhstan’s Turkestan region, according to the regional administration. The project also includes a dedicated retail center for flowers and ornamental plants. Regional officials said the project is expected to support…
This week, Kazakhstan’s National Bank will lift the requirement for quasi-state-owned companies to sell 50% of their foreign currency earnings on the domestic market, a measure introduced last year to support the tenge. National Bank Governor Timur Suleimenov said the requirement was adopted as a temporary anti-crisis measure when the…
The current tariffs for biogas power plants in Kazakhstan are discouraging investment and delaying the launch of new projects, according to Evgeny Churdalev, CIS sales director at Jenbacher & Waukesha Gas Engines. According to Churdalev, the maximum auction price for electricity generated by biogas power plants is 32.23 tenge ($0.068)…
