“Kazakhstan today holds leading positions in Central Asia, accounting for more than 60% of all attracted investments in the region. This is direct evidence of international business confidence and the effectiveness of our economic policy,” noted Gabidulla Ospankulov, Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.
Central Asia is rapidly transforming into a region of new opportunities for American business — from energy and critical minerals to digital technologies. Kazakhstan leads this process, accounting for more than half of the region’s GDP and about 75% of U.S. trade with Central Asia.
American companies are actively working in the country: Chevron and ExxonMobil are developing major oil and gas projects, PepsiCo is building a snack production plant, and Meta, Amazon Kuiper, and Goldman Sachs are implementing digital and financial solutions.
Under President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kazakhstan has steadily strengthened its strategic partnership with the United States, focusing on technology, energy transition, and investment. The recent $4.2 billion agreement with Wabtec has become the largest in the global railway industry and a symbol of a new stage in bilateral cooperation. Commenting on the deal, Donald Trump called Tokayev “a highly respected leader” and emphasized that the agreement opens a new page in economic relations between Kazakhstan and the United States.
– President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev recently sat down with top U.S. business leaders in New York. From your perspective, what were the big takeaways from that roundtable, and what kind of impact can we expect from it?
– The President’s participation in the Roundtable was one of the key moments of his visit to the United States. This meeting demonstrated the high level of trust and growing interest of major corporations in Kazakhstan.
Around one table sat the heads of Chevron, ExxonMobil, Boeing, Visa, Mastercard, Meta, Wabtec, Citibank, NVIDIA, Amazon, OpenAI, Shell, Honeywell, PepsiCo, Mars, BCG, Blackstone, and other global companies. In total, more than 150 business leaders participated in the discussion, including over 30 CEOs and Fortune Top-100 representatives – one of the most representative Kazakhstan–U.S. meetings in recent years.
In his remarks, the President emphasized that the strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and the United States is developing consistently and pragmatically. To date, American investment in Kazakhstan’s economy has exceeded $100 billion, and more than 630 U.S. companies are operating in the country.
The main topics of discussion were energy, technology, and sustainable development. Kazakhstan continues close cooperation with Chevron and ExxonMobil on projects at Tengiz, Kashagan, and Karachaganak, where American partners have made a significant contribution to modernizing the industry. The Head of State separately underlined Kazakhstan’s role as the world’s largest producer of uranium, supplying about a quarter of U.S. imports, making the country a strategic player in global energy security.
Critical minerals such as copper, lithium, tungsten, graphite, and rare earth metals were also in focus. Kazakhstan possesses rich reserves of these resources and offers mutually beneficial partnerships in their extraction and processing. The $1.1 billion Cove Capital project will be an important step in building a local value-added chain.
Another outcome of the visit was the $4 billion Wabtec agreement – the largest infrastructure contract in the country’s history. It envisions the production of next-generation locomotives in Astana, job creation, and the development of machine-building expertise. Today, about 80% of land cargo transport between China and Europe passes through Kazakhstan, strengthening the country’s position as a key logistics hub in Eurasia.
Agricultural and digital projects were also discussed. The President invited American companies to take a more active part in agricultural development, citing PepsiCo’s $368 million factory project in Almaty region. In the digital sphere, Kazakhstan is consolidating its status as an IT hub of Eurasia: Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, and Starlink are already operating in the country, while joint initiatives with Amazon and Meta are aimed at developing satellite internet and creating a Kazakh-language artificial intelligence model.
– The President also met directly with several American companies. What concrete results came out of those talks, and how do they fit into the bigger picture of U.S.–Kazakhstan economic ties?
– The President’s working program in New York was indeed intensive. He held a series of meetings with the heads of leading American corporations — spanning energy, transport, digital technologies, finance, and agribusiness. These are companies that are already operating in Kazakhstan or preparing to launch new projects, and their interest in the country continues to grow.
Particular attention was paid to investment, technological partnership, and expanding the presence of American business. The President always stresses: such meetings are not just exchanges of opinion but real tools for launching joint initiatives. They allow cooperation to be built on trust, concrete results, and mutual benefit.
– Central Asia is often described as an emerging frontier for investment. How do you see Kazakhstan’s role in shaping that narrative for global businesses looking at the region?
– Today, Central Asia is indeed attracting global investors’ attention, and Kazakhstan plays a key role here. Our country accounts for more than half of the region’s GDP and 75% of U.S. trade with Central Asia – the figures speak for themselves. Kazakhstan has become the region’s magnet for capital and technology.
According to ESCAP, in 2024 we attracted $15.7 billion in investment – almost double the previous year. Kazakhstan accounts for over 60% of all investment flowing into Central Asia. International ratings confirm this trend: Moody’s upgraded Kazakhstan’s credit rating to Baa1, and IMD ranked the country among the world’s top 35 most competitive economies. All this strengthens investor confidence, with cumulative investments already exceeding $450 billion.
Importantly, the structure of investments is changing. Alongside traditional energy, machine-building, transport, agriculture, medicine, and digitalization are developing actively. This makes Kazakhstan not only the growth engine of the region but also a genuine hub of investment and technology in the heart of Eurasia.
– Critical minerals are a hot topic in Washington, especially given their importance to energy transition and tech manufacturing. Where does Kazakhstan fit into global supply chains for these materials, and how do you see U.S. companies getting involved?
– Kazakhstan possesses one of the richest mineral bases in the region and is already among the world’s top twenty producers of critical materials. Our country holds the bulk of Central Asia’s reserves of copper, titanium, cobalt, and rare earth metals.
We are actively developing projects for the extraction and processing of rare and rare earth elements — key for batteries, electronics, and space technologies. In December 2023, a Comprehensive Plan to 2028 was adopted: it envisages the launch of five new deposits and the introduction of advanced processing technologies.
A special role is played by the partnership with U.S.-based Cove Capital, which is implementing a project on exploration and deep processing of rare earth metals. This is a pilot site where a full value-creation chain is being formed — from extraction to the production of components for high-tech industries. Our goal is to move away from raw material exports toward producing high value-added products. The participation of American companies in this process will help Kazakhstan strengthen global supply chains.
– Kazakhstan is positioning itself as a major transit hub between Asia and Europe. What’s the opportunity here for U.S. investors and companies, particularly when it comes to logistics and infrastructure?
– Kazakhstan today plays a key role in shaping new Eurasian logistics. About 80% of all land cargo transport between China and Europe passes through our territory, making the country a natural bridge between the major markets of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
One of our priorities is the development of the Trans-Caspian route — a shorter and more sustainable path that has already seen cargo volumes double over the past two years. Its potential is estimated at up to 10 million tons per year, and interest in this route is growing monthly.
In addition, we are offering U.S. partners opportunities to participate in the development of Caspian ports, digital cargo tracking systems, and logistics hubs in Türkiye, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. All of this strengthens Kazakhstan’s position as a reliable transit hub and partner to be relied upon in building resilient global supply chains.
