Average prices for socially important food products in Kazakhstan increased by 7.1% on-year as of January 28, 2026, and by 0.3% in less than a month since the beginning of the year, according to analysts at Energyprom.kz. The largest increase in prices for staple foods was recorded in Zhezkazgan: by 10.6% year-on-year, followed by Aktau
The published draft of the updated “Uzbekistan-2030” Strategy revises energy sector indicators. The document significantly reduces natural gas production plans for the next five years, Tashkent Today reported. The new target for 2030 has been set at 38.7 billion cubic meters, 37% less than the 62 billion cubic meter plan approved in September 2023. From
Late in January, over 200 participants in the STEM field – 100 in each country – participated in a mentored event called the Act in Space Hackathon. This year for the first time in Central Asia, the European Union (EU) through the Connectivity for Central Asia (C4CA) program organized the national editions in Kazakhstan and
Erdenet Kasymov, Director of the Department of Tourism at Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Economy and Commerce, believes that tourism is a sector where regional integration in Central Asia could yield rapid and visible results. He presented a vision for the region as a unified tourism destination, speaking at the second B5+1 Business Forum of Central Asia
In recent years, the livestock sector in Kazakhstan has demonstrated steady growth and currently accounts for approximately 40% of the country’s gross agricultural output. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, in 2025, the number of cattle reached 8.2 million head, an increase of 2.4% on-year. The number of sheep and goats reached 20.6 million head
At the beginning of 2026, Uzbekistan ranked 75th out of 137 countries in terms of the average IQ, according to the International IQ Test portal. The country’s average IQ is 96.51, Tashkent Today reported. This represents a drop in the ranking compared to 2025, when Uzbekistan ranked 69th. Among the Central Asian countries, the rankings
The last ethnic Karakalpak with Uzbek citizenship who was facing possible extradition to Uzbekistan has left Kazakhstan for a Western country, according to the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law. Karakalpak activist Rasul Zhumaniyazov was detained in Astana last March at the request of Uzbekistan. Zhumaniyazov had received offers from Tashkent
On February 5, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held narrow-format talks and the first meeting of the bilateral High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Islamabad. Mirziyoyev arrived in Pakistan on a state visit. By the end of last year, the volume of mutual trade reached nearly 500 million US dollars. Around
On February 4-5, Bishkek is hosting the B5+1 Forum, bringing together officials and business leaders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the United States to explore investment opportunities and deepen economic ties, RFE/RL reported. Among the forum’s most visible participants is US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Ambassador Sergio Gor, who told
The phenomenon of “Uzbek-style Onlyfans,” where women earn money by sending erotic photos and videos in exchange for money transfers, is actively discussed on Uzbek social media. According to users, dozens of accounts with explicit avatars offering such content appear daily in Telegram groups, Tashkent Today reports. The scheme is simple: for a certain amount
On February 4, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Yermek Kosherbayev took part in the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial Conference at the invitation of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The event was attended by representatives from more than 50 countries and executives of Kazakhstan’s mining companies, and featured remarks by U.S. Vice President JD
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, says it is investing in Uzbekistan’s East Can Solutions to develop the country’s first greenfield aluminum can production facility. Based in Tashkent, the plant will supply leading beverage producers with fully recyclable metal packaging to strengthen domestic supply, meet rising market demand, and reduce
Two years ago, Kazakhstan launched the project of Alatau City, intended to become a platform for the implementation of advanced technologies, a magnet for investors, and a generator of public wealth. Economist Aidar Alibayev shared his opinion on the mega-project’s prospects with Orda.kz. “How did the idea of Alatau City appear? Initially, there was talk
For the first time since the pandemic, fewer than 900,000 births were registered in Uzbekistan: 879,600 children were born in 2025, 46,800 fewer than the previous year, marking the second consecutive decline in the birth rate, according to Tashkent Today. The number of deaths reached 177,100, exceeding the pandemic year. The number of marriages fell
On February 3, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a government meeting on the effective use of water resources and the introduction of water-saving technologies in agriculture. Currently, the area of irrigated land in Uzbekistan where water-saving technologies are applied has reached 2.6 million hectares, accounting for 60 percent of the total irrigated area. For comparison, before
Amendments to the Family Code, the Law on Civil Status Acts, and the Law on the Protection of Citizens’ Health have been submitted for public discussion in Kyrgyzstan. The bill, published on the parliament’s website, states that a person’s gender is determined exclusively by biological characteristics recorded at birth in the birth certificate, and it
Alexander Kachkurkin, a 25-year-old DevOps engineer and IT developer who had been living in Almaty for the past few years, has been deported from Kazakhstan to Russia, where he was detained right upon the plane’s arrival on treason charges, the rights project Первый отдел (Department One) reported. Kachkurkin was born and raised in Crimea. After
South Korea may suspend the issuance of visas for Uzbekistan citizens if the share of illegal migrants reaches 10%, according to Alisher Abdusalomov, the Ambassador of Uzbekistan to South Korea, Tashkent Today reported. Currently, 9% of Uzbek citizens in Korea stay there illegally. The Ambassador emphasized that many Uzbeks who arrive in Korea for study
In 2025 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) invested almost US$2 billion (€1.72 billion) through 120 projects in Central Asia and Mongolia. Uzbekistan was the leading recipient of EBRD funding in 2025 for the sixth year running (over US$ 1 billion, or €880 million). The EBRD provided almost US$ 440 million (€378 million) for
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) has released a new report, The Eurasian Region and Partner Countries in Asia: Analysis of Investment Flows. The report focuses on mutual investments between 13 countries of the Eurasian region (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan) and partner countries in Asia (Afghanistan,
