Ashraf AboArafe writes ✍️
* The Gateway of Growth: A Renewed Investment Cycle
* Baiterek Transformed: From Financing to National Investment Crown
* A Digital Path to Transparency and Global Capital
* Networks Renewed… Assets Unleashed into Wider Competition
* An Economy Rising… with Incomes in Step to the Beat of the People
In an economic tableau stirring with transformation, Kazakhstan has announced the launch of a new investment cycle, like a wave of light sweeping across its expansive plains, bearing the promise of renewal for core industries, and opening wider portals for global capital.
At a government meeting on 19 November, chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, the Government, the National Bank, and the regional-development and financial-markets Agency (ARDFM) reviewed the draft Joint Action Programme 2026-2028—a plan designed to anchor the economy, lift real incomes, and infuse the arteries of investment with fresh energy.
“Baiterek”… When the Symbol Becomes the Engine
At the heart of the plan lies the transformation of Baiterek Holding into a national Investment Holding Company charged with overseeing some 15–20 systemically significant projects.
The 2026 portfolio reveals clear priorities:
- Chemical and petrochemical industries (42%)
- Transport and logistics (19.6%)
- Energy (12.1%)
With a budget approaching one trillion tenge, the groundwork is being laid for the period through to 2028.
Guaranteed Investment… A Digital Gateway Opens
The programme introduces an “investment order” principle and a national digital investment platform designed to streamline processes and enhance transparency.
Major projects exceeding 29.5 billion tenge will receive legislative stability guarantees for 25 years—a long-term economic covenant aimed at reassuring investors and inspiring durable capital.
Via the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), the plan also builds new bridges to foreign investors, while microfinance institutions will play a key role in facilitating public-private partnership projects. Together, these measures seek to raise the share of fixed-capital investment to 21% of GDP by 2028.
Networks Renewed… Assets Liberated for Competition
The government plans to modernise 30,000 km of utility networks with approximately 3 trillion tenge, while transferring some 500 quasi-public assets—worth over 2 trillion tenge—to competitive environments, preparing them for IPOs/SPOs of major companies, including Kazakhtelecom JSC and Qazaq Green Power PLC.
Growth with Economic Justice… A Rising Tide for All
Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin emphasised that these initiatives—combined with counter-cyclical fiscal policies—will build long-term production capacity and gradually narrow the gap between GDP growth and wage growth. The investment strategy is expected to maintain GDP growth at a minimum of 5% per year, ensuring stability and transparency for investors and equitable progress for citizens.
