Future Is Not Just AI: What Will Actually Drive Central Asia?

By Aida Haidar  in Business,Editor’s Picks on 6 May 2026

ALMATY — Central Asia is growing fast: Kazakhstan is expanding at around 5%, and Uzbekistan is exceeding 6%. Yet beneath these headline figures lies a more familiar economic reality, where exports remain heavily concentrated in commodities, productivity outside resource sectors is still limited, and much of the growth continues to …

KCSD Opens Direct Market Access to Middle East for Kazakh Investors

By Ayana Birbayeva  in Business on 6 May 2026

Kazakhstan Maintains Lead in Trade with China Across Central Asia

in Central Asia on 6 May 2026

IFC: Damu Guarantee Funds Expand Access to Finance for Enterprises

By Staff Report in Business on 6 May 2026

Kazakhstan Moves Toward More Predictable Investment Environment

By Dana Omirgazy in Business on 6 May 2026

Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov: Wrestler Who Became National Symbol

By Ayana Birbayeva  in Editor’s Picks,Nation on 6 May 2026

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Editor's Picks

Future Is Not Just AI: What Will Actually Drive Central Asia?

BY Aida Haidar 

ALMATY — Central Asia is growing fast: Kazakhstan is expanding at around 5%, and Uzbekistan is exceeding 6%. Yet beneath...

Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov: Wrestler Who Became National Symbol

BY Ayana Birbayeva 

ALMATY – Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov entered Kazakhstan’s history in 1980 as the first ethnic Kazakh to win an Olympic gold medal....

ADB Sees Central Asia as Key to Regional Power Grid in $70 Billion Push

BY Assel Satubaldina

SAMARKAND – Central Asia could become a key node in a regional power grid, said Leah Gutierrez, director general of...

‘Going Green’ is Not Western Conception: Ecology is Part of Kazakh Cultural Heritage 

BY

What does it mean to be in harmony with nature? The recent Regional Ecological Summit, which took place April 22-24...

Tokayev Highlights AI Ambitions at GITEX Forum, Meets Global Tech Leaders

BY Ayana Birbayeva

ALMATY – Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev outlined the country’s ambition to become a fully digital state within three years as...

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BY Aiman Nakispekova

ASTANA – Kazakhstan has set an ambitious goal of becoming an international aviation hub, with several of its major airports...

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BY Aida Haidar

ASTANA — Kazakhstan’s mining sector sits on a paradox. It holds some of the world’s most strategically relevant mineral reserves,...

Kazakhstan Pushes for Full AI Transition to Avoid Economic Stagnation

BY Dana Omirgazy 

ASTANA — Kazakhstan must rapidly shift to a fully integrated, data-driven economy powered by artificial intelligence, as failure to do...

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Editor's Picks

Future Is Not Just AI: What Will Actually Drive Central Asia?

BY Aida Haidar 

ALMATY — Central Asia is growing fast: Kazakhstan is expanding at around 5%, and Uzbekistan is exceeding 6%. Yet beneath...

Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov: Wrestler Who Became National Symbol

BY Ayana Birbayeva 

ALMATY – Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov entered Kazakhstan’s history in 1980 as the first ethnic Kazakh to win an Olympic gold medal....

ADB Sees Central Asia as Key to Regional Power Grid in $70 Billion Push

BY Assel Satubaldina

SAMARKAND – Central Asia could become a key node in a regional power grid, said Leah Gutierrez, director general of...

‘Going Green’ is Not Western Conception: Ecology is Part of Kazakh Cultural Heritage 

BY

What does it mean to be in harmony with nature? The recent Regional Ecological Summit, which took place April 22-24...

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Opinions

‘Going Green’ is Not Western Conception: Ecology is Part of Kazakh Cultural Heritage 

BY

What does it mean to be in harmony with nature? The recent Regional Ecological Summit, which took place April 22-24...

In the Rhythm of Samskara: Middle Powers’ Values for Values-Based World Order 

BY Miras Zhiyenbayev

The crisis of the world order is usually described as a crisis of rules. That is only half true. It...

OSCE, Kazakhstan, and Central Asia: a Partnership for Ecological Resilience

BY Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu

I am delighted to be back in Astana this week. At the kind invitation of President Tokayev, I’m pleased to...

Tashkent Int’l Financial Center Advances Investment Reform with Legal Certainty and Enforceability

BY Sobir Kurbanov

Uzbekistan’s launch of the Tashkent International Financial Center (TIFC) marks an ambitious and strategically important step in its ongoing economic...

Progress Isn’t Perfect, And That’s What Makes It Human

BY Ayana Birbayeva 

There is a certain expectation we carry when we think about technological progress. It is often imagined as a straight...

From Tradition to Transformation: Rethinking Volunteering in Central Asia

BY Haoliang Xu, Toily Kurbanov

There is a word in Kazakhstan—Asar. It describes a simple but powerful idea: when someone is in need, the community...

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Kazakhstan Was Launchpad for First Human in Space, What Comes Next?

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Opinions

‘Going Green’ is Not Western Conception: Ecology is Part of Kazakh Cultural Heritage 

BY

What does it mean to be in harmony with nature? The recent Regional Ecological Summit, which took place April 22-24...

In the Rhythm of Samskara: Middle Powers’ Values for Values-Based World Order 

BY Miras Zhiyenbayev

The crisis of the world order is usually described as a crisis of rules. That is only half true. It...

OSCE, Kazakhstan, and Central Asia: a Partnership for Ecological Resilience

BY Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu

I am delighted to be back in Astana this week. At the kind invitation of President Tokayev, I’m pleased to...

Tashkent Int’l Financial Center Advances Investment Reform with Legal Certainty and Enforceability

BY Sobir Kurbanov

Uzbekistan’s launch of the Tashkent International Financial Center (TIFC) marks an ambitious and strategically important step in its ongoing economic...

More stories

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