Kazakhstan has confidently established itself as a leading investment center in Central Asia
Kazakhstan has confirmed its status as the main investment hub and significant capital donor in Central Asia, attracting a record $9.4 billion in mutual investments, as reported by Zakon.kz.
According to the recent "Monitoring of Mutual Investments" (MMI) by the Eurasian Development Bank, the republic not only accounted for more than a third of the total capital growth in the region but also ranked second after Russia in terms of exported investments.
Investment activity in Eurasia shows unusual resilience: by mid-2025, accumulated foreign direct investments (FDI) are expected to reach a record $48.4 billion, despite a global decline projected at 11% in 2024.
The private sector has become the main driver of growth, with its share increasing to 72%, and the total volume of FDI amounting to $34.7 billion.
Kazakhstan as an industrial magnet
The growth rate of Kazakhstan's economy is nearly twice the average for the region. While the overall dynamics of mutual investments in Eurasia stood at 6.4%, the accumulated investments in the Kazakh economy increased by 11.2% by the end of the first half of 2025.
Kazakhstan attracted $9,415 million in investments from its regional partners, second only to Uzbekistan, which received $10.7 billion (22.3% of the total volume in the region).
The increase in capital in Kazakh projects amounted to nearly $1 billion, accounting for more than a third of the total growth of mutual investments in Eurasia. The main source of capital remains Russia, with a share of 78.6% of the total volume.
Moving away from "oil dependency"
A key conclusion from the analysis is a significant change in the structure of investments. In 2024-2025, Kazakhstan is rapidly replacing raw material capital with industrial capital.
The EDB highlights the following trends:
- The manufacturing industry has become the leader with an inflow of $0.84 billion; the agro-industrial complex also demonstrated growth of $0.34 billion.
- There is a sharp decline in accumulated FDI in the raw materials sector by $0.5 billion.
Thus, Kazakhstan is actively increasing the inflow of investments through industrial projects, raising the share of the manufacturing sector in the structure of accumulated investments from 16% to 23%, while the share of the raw materials sector decreased from 50% to 39%.
Thus, the republic has confidently established itself as a key exporter of capital, ranking second among investment donors in the region after Russia. Kazakhstan directed $3,249 million to the economies of neighboring countries, including Russia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.
Kazakhstan, together with Russia and Azerbaijan, is creating a solid foundation for investment activity. These three countries account for about 60% of all mutual investments.
The MMI analysis by the EDB indicates radical changes in the investment model. For the first time in the history of monitoring, there is a predominance of investments in new enterprises (greenfield projects), whose share has reached 40%, while the share of "buy and expand" projects (brownfield) has decreased to 39%.
Overall, investment flows into Central Asia are becoming increasingly active. By mid-2025, intra-regional investments are expected to reach $1.3 billion, increasing by 42% compared to 2023 and nearly three times relative to the level of 2016.
Approximately 80% of all intra-regional investments are concentrated in sectors such as construction, manufacturing, and the financial sector, reflecting the region's transition to a more diversified model.
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