This past week, the media paid attention to President Tokayev’s state visit to Italy, where the President announced increasing business ties with Italian and companies and increasing Kazakhstan’s economic and investment relations with Italy; the meeting of Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, where Kazakhstan announced it will increase its imports from Tajikistan by $190 million this year; the Uzbekistani President’s state visit to China, where business ties were further enhanced; Kyrgyzstan’s retooling of its electrical grid to include more imports of electricity and the development of renewable energy investments; and the meeting of a regional summit in Kabul to address Taliban-led Afghanistan’s relations with its neighbors in Central and South Asia.

Visiting Rome this past week, President Tokayev met with representatives from the Italian government, though the meeting largely centered on the development of investment opportunities with Italian corporations. From 2005 to 2023, Italian investments reached USD 7.4 billion, a 28% year-over-year increase (Qaz Monitor), however through his visit, Kazakhstan’s president sought to court even more investment from Italian and other European business partners. The centerpiece of this visit was the meeting of an investment roundtable, led by the president and representatives from thirty Italian companies. During the meeting, Tokayev discussed efforts that his government has made to reform the business and judicial environment in the country to make it more attractive to foreign investors. The president further discussed the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport or ‘Middle Corridor’ to attract foreign investment interest in the country (Kaz Inform). Within Kazakhstan, Italy’s ambassador to Astana met in a twin meeting to discuss the practicality and methods to implement the agreements discussed by the president and Italian companies (Kazakhstan Today).

Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Murat Nurtelu met with Tajikistan’s President Rahmon, to discuss bilateral cooperation between the two states. The discussion centered on international organizations, cooperation on trade, energy, and logistics (Astana Times). The primary outcome of the summit was that Kazakhstan announced it would boost its exports to Tajikistan by $190 million in 2024. This would come by increasing export quotas of products like cars, locomotives and agricultural goods and increasing technological and IT cooperation between the two countries (Astana Times). Additionally, both countries will host cultural days to promote tourism and people-to-people exchanges in each other’s nations (Kazakhstan Newsline).

Uzbekistan’s President Mirziyoyev embarked on a state visit to China this week to increase trade and economic ties, in addition to courting Chinese investment into Uzbekistan’s green energy transition (KUN Uzbekistan). Likewise, travel companies from both countries signed memoranda of cooperation to increase tourism between both states. From the Chinese side, it was stated that this cooperation builds up the countries’ relationship within the framework of the ‘One Belt, One Road Initiative’ (UZ Daily). The meeting concluded with the signing of a joint agreement, where both sides declared an “‘all-weather’ comprehensive strategic partnership.” The agreement, signed between Presidents Xi and Mirziyoyev stated that both countries will address all political and economic concerns in their relationship “regardless of external conditions and the international situation” (Gazeta.uz).

Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Energy announced the construction of new green energy projects and the expansion of foreign investment that will dramatically change the country’s energy landscape. To start, the country will construct six wind farms and fourteen solar power plants, beginning this year in the Issyk-Kul region of the country (Akipress). Kyrgyzstan has also secured investments from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, totaling 102 million Euros across twenty-two different projects. According to a Bank spokesperson, the projects will improve Kyrgyzstan’s “resilience to climate change” and modernize the country’s energy sector (24.kg). Likewise, Kyrgyzstan also signed a MOU with China’s National Electric Engineering Co. to construct a series of hydroelectric power plants across the country and a thermal plant in the Naryn region of the country (24.kg).

Afghanistan’s Taliban-led Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Kabul will host a ‘Regional Cooperation Initiative’ in the coming week to facilitate cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbors. The focus of this meeting is to address economic, logistical and resilience strategies between South-Central Asian countries and the Taliban (Tolo News). According to the Taliban, the focus of the meeting will be to boost “regional interaction” and promote opportunities for the region to increase its legitimate cooperation with the government in Kabul (Ariana News). In the lead-up to this meeting, delegations from Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and China arrived in Kabul to discuss the improvement of trade and the availability of visas for Afghani businesspeople to operate in both countries (Tolo News). From the side of the latter two states, Chinese and Russian officials discussed investment and access opportunities in mineral extraction projects across Afghanistan (Ariana News).