This past week, the media paid attention to President Tokayev’s state visit to Qatar, where a series of commercial deals were struck in the energy and infrastructure sectors – special investment projects were also initiated; German companies create a lithium mining investment consortium in Kazakhstan, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced it has bought stakes in Air Astana. Uzbekistan announced millions in funding for environmental protection and plans to allocate reserved land to be protected, President Japarov responded to the U.S. Secretary of State Blinken’s letter from last month about the new law regulating financial sources of NGOs in the republic, and the UN coordinated a meeting of special representatives in Doha to address the geopolitical situation in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

The centerpiece of President Tokayev’s visit to Qatar included the signing of $18 million in commercial agreements across a series of investment roundtables held between the government of Kazakhstan and Qatari business leaders. Tokayev cited Kazakhstan as an attractive place for investment due to its geographic location in the center of both China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Middle Corridor, and called for further Qatari investments in critical infrastructure and energy sectors, particularly in commercial facilities on the Caspian Sea (Astana Times). The investments the leaders’ implemented during this meeting included a Qatari firm’s development of a gas plant in the country, agricultural processing plants and agreements to cooperate on technology and AI development (Kazinform). To further tighten relations, both sides agreed to increase their bilateral trade turnover to $500 million in the coming years as a sign of their enhanced relationship (Kazinform). It was also announced through a press release on February 15 that Kazakhtelecom, Kazakhstan's largest telecommunications operator, intends to sell one of its mobile assets, Mobile Telecom–Service LLP (Tele2/Altel brands) to the leading conglomerate of the Middle East, Qatar Power International Holding (KASE).

It was also announced during the week that European companies are planning to make significant investments into strategic industries in Kazakhstan. On one count, a consortium of German mining companies was given clearance to begin exploration of lithium resources in Kazakhstan by the country’s government. This investment comes a year following a large-scale $700 million investment from HMS Bergbau AG, another German company to mine and refine lithium in the East Kazakhstan Region (Kursiv Media). This recent agreement was negotiated between representatives of the consortium and Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Construction (Astana Times). Elsewhere, the European Union’s EBRD announced investment of nearly US$ 42 million into Air Astana, following the company’s IPO this week. The investment totals 5% of the company’s shares and is part of an EBRD strategy to leverage its control of the company to push for decarbonization in the aviation industry (Qaz Monitor). In late January at a forum dedicated to EU-Central Asia transport connectivity in Brussels, Kazakhstan’s Transport minister Marat Karabayev had announced the handover of 22 airports and two Caspian seaports to European investors for management (QazMonitor).

Uzbekistan’s government announced significant investments to support ecological conservation, cooperating with neighboring countries, global partners and through passing domestic initiatives. Water security played a major role in the discussions this week. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan agreed to cooperate to protect transboundary rivers, which cross between the two countries’ borders. These efforts would create six protected areas along the Kazakhstani and Uzbekistani border regions to help in the protection of migratory species that are under threat of extinction (Uz Daily). Likewise, Kazakhstan secured $26 million in grants to support ecosystem restoration from the Global Environment Fund, a conservation-minded NGO. In addition to restoring critical ecosystems, the funds would support the creation of an Uzbekistan-led regional coalition of cooperate multilaterally on ecosystem remediation (Kun.uz). Uzbekistan has also allocated $220 million this week to support the modernization and sustainability of the agricultural and fishery industries in Andijan region, aiming to increase the profitability and sustainability of the country’s food-producing sector (Kun.uz).

In October 2023, the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan adopted a regulatory law to enter NGOs with significant foreign funding into a register of “Foreign Agents”, similar to The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) in the United States and the Russian foreign agent law (24.kg). The bill is however being criticized over its provisions which allow criminal proceedings against violating parties (24.kg). The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken drafted a personal letter to Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Zhaparov on January 17, calling on the president to rescind the new law. Blinken stated that the new law would irreparably damage Kyrgyzstan’s ‘vibrant’ civil society, which is known for being among the most open in the Central Asian region (Kyrgyzstan Newsline). Despite his criticism of the new law, Blinken also called on further U.S.-Kyrgyz cooperation in the C5+1 format to address shared concerns between the two countries (Kyrgyzstan Newsline). On February 13, it was reported that President Japarov has responded to Blinken’s letter, as published by his press secretary, noting that the draft law is close to the concept of the current Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) in the United States, and adding “I am forced to note with regret that the content of your letter has signs of interference in the internal affairs of our state... The purpose of the draft Law is to clarify and streamline the activities of non-governmental/non-profit organizations operating in the Kyrgyz Republic.” [...] “The point is that the Kyrgyz state, as it should be [by definition], is [moving toward] controlling where money comes from for these non-governmental or non-profit organizations, by whom, how, and for what purposes it is spent. [...]”. “[The law] provides for the maintenance by the authorized state body of the Register of non-profit organizations performing the functions of a foreign representative.” (Zakon)

In other news, the Special representatives for Afghanistan, hailing from twenty different countries, met in Qatar this week to discuss a series of issues facing the country in a summit led by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Among the issues addressed are the appointment of a new UN special representative for Afghanistan and the status of women’s rights in the country (Ariana News). The meeting was further attended by members of civil society, including representatives from women’s rights groups and other human rights organizations that have sought to address the violations of human rights observed in the country (Pajhwok News). Not included at this meeting were representatives from the Taliban-led government, who have decided to boycott the summit, feeling that their requests had not been met. According to a statement from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was decided that their representatives would not attend the meeting because they felt that their requests for transparent and high-level talks with the UN had not been met. The primary issue for the Taliban government is that the UN has not done enough to advocate for the release of Afghanistan’s bank reserves and remove the country from international sanctions (Bakhtar News).