BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. The upcoming EU
– Central Asia Economic Forum, set to take place on November 26,
2025, in Tashkent, will serve as a key platform for deepening
economic cooperation between the European Union and the Central
Asian countries.
This forum continues the series of meetings initiated in 2021 in
Bishkek and in 2023 in Almaty, with a focus on improving the
business climate, enhancing transport and trade connectivity,
promoting regional integration, developing skills, and establishing
sustainable value chains for critical resources. The forum will
include participation from EU representatives, government officials
from Central Asia, members of the private sector from Europe and
the region, international financial institutions, and other
international organizations. For Kazakhstan, this cycle of meetings
offers the potential to achieve several strategic and measurable
outcomes.
A key potential benefit for Kazakhstan from participating in the
forum is the development of transport infrastructure. On November
27, 2025, following the economic forum, an Investment Forum
dedicated to the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor
(TITR) will be held. This strategic trade route, for which the EU
has allocated 10 billion euro, originates in China and passes
through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, crossing the
Caspian Sea and continuing through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey
before reaching Europe. For Kazakhstan, the route presents
significant opportunities, as the country serves as a pivotal
transit hub. Cooperation with the EU within the TITR framework
offers prospects for modernizing ports, rail infrastructure, and
logistics systems, which could enhance Kazakhstan’s transit
capacity and increase revenues from trade.
Second, the forum provides Kazakhstan with additional access to
European investments and financing tools. The EU has already
invested significant funds in Kazakhstan: in the past two decades,
EU countries have directed over $200 billion in direct investments
into Kazakhstan’s economy. In 2024, direct investments from EU
countries amounted to $7.9 billion. Additionally, the EU is a major
trade partner for Kazakhstan. Bilateral trade between Kazakhstan
and EU countries reached $48.8 billion in 2024, a 16.9% increase
from 2023 ($41.3 billion). Kazakhstan accounts for 80 percent of
Central Asia’s total trade with the EU. In 2024, Kazakhstan’s
exports to the EU amounted to $38.14 billion, a 22.9 percent
increase compared to the previous year ($31 billion), while imports
reached $10.69 billion, a 1.9 percent increase from 2023.
Furthermore, over 3,000 companies with European participation are
currently operating in Kazakhstan.
A third potential benefit for Kazakhstan is related to raw
material policies. The EU is seeking to diversify its supply of
critical raw materials, and Kazakhstan is viewed as one of the key
partners for stable supply chains of these resources. The country
is a significant supplier of raw materials for European industries,
including oil, petroleum products, uranium, ferroalloys, and
titanium. In turn, the EU is actively working on developing
sustainable supply chains for critical raw materials (CRMs), and
Kazakhstan plays a crucial role in this process. The European Union
supports Kazakhstan through several programs aimed at developing
this sector. One such project is a program in which the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is allocating 3
million euro to improve supply chains for strategic raw materials
in Central Asia. The goal of this initiative is to facilitate joint
projects and promote international best practices in building
sustainable supply chains for critical raw materials.
During his visit to Kazakhstan in March 2025, the EU
Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Sikela,
emphasized that Europe needs reliable access to critical raw
materials essential for modernizing its economy. He expressed the
EU’s commitment to developing mutually beneficial cooperation with
Kazakhstan in the extraction and development of these resources.
According to Sikela, this partnership is intended to support all
Central Asian countries, with a particular focus on boosting
Kazakhstan’s economy, strengthening its industrial potential,
creating new opportunities for Kazakh businesses, stimulating
innovation, and generating high-quality jobs.
This creates an opportunity for Kazakhstan not only to export
raw materials but also to attract investment for processing and
producing higher-value products. At the forum, the parties could
discuss mechanisms for such integration, which could become a
growth point for Kazakhstan’s national industry.
Finally, the forum will also strengthen cooperation in areas
such as digital trade, education, and human capital development.
The EU is already financing Kazakhstan in the areas of reforms,
civil society programs, and academic mobility projects.
Additionally, Kazakhstan is actively participating in the EU’s
Global Gateway initiative – a strategy aimed at creating smart,
eco-friendly, and secure infrastructure connections in digital,
energy, and transport sectors worldwide. In Kazakhstan, this
strategy focuses on developing strategic partnerships in areas such
as raw materials, battery technologies, and green hydrogen.
Participation in the EU – Central Asia Economic Forum opens up
significant opportunities for Kazakhstan for sustainable and
balanced growth. This is a chance for the country to strengthen
transport corridors, which will directly impact the growth of
transit revenues and the expansion of logistics routes. Developing
raw material processing will not only increase product added value
but also attract green investments, aligning with global
sustainable development trends.
Institutional and financial support from the EU will improve
Kazakhstan’s investment attractiveness, stabilize the business
climate and creating a more predictable environment for foreign
investors. Programs for skills development and digital
transformation will help strengthen Kazakhstan’s human capital and
technological potential, accelerating its integration into
international economic and production chains. All of this creates
new opportunities for economic growth and enhances Kazakhstan’s
position both in Central Asia and on the global stage.
