Astana, 12 February 2024. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan, met with Nikolai Podguzov, Chairman of the Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Management Board. Nikolai Podguzov provided President Tokayev with an overview of the Bank’s performance and outlined its plans for the forthcoming period. He highlighted that the EDB’s annual investment in Kazakhstan's economy has exceeded US $1 billion for the second consecutive year.
The Head of State was apprised that the Bank’s investment in 2022 and 2023 amounted to US $4.2 billion, which is nearly 1.5 times more than planned under its 2022–2026 Strategy. The proportion of Kazakhstan-based projects in the Bank’s portfolio has continued to increase, reaching 59% by the end of 2023.
The President was also informed that the value of potential projects under consideration by the Bank in Kazakhstan for 2024 exceeded US $3.5 billion. These investments are anticipated to be primarily directed towards strategically important sectors such as transport infrastructure, thermal and renewable energy, industrial production, agriculture and water management.
Nikolai Podguzov emphasised that this year, the EDB intended to foster the growth of Kazakhstan’s financial market, including the implementation of new instruments to fund infrastructure projects.
The EDB Chairman also presented to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev the results of the Bank’s research on the Central Asian water and energy complex. The Bank plans to promote the advancement of Kazakhstan as a driver of efficient water usage and stands ready to offer grants totalling up to US $10 million to develop regional centres of expertise in water conservation and energy-efficient technologies and to allocate up to US $400 million for projects involving digital water-metering technologies, laser land levelling for irrigated areas and the establishment of a regional production and service cluster for state-of-the-art irrigation equipment.
The Head of State welcomed the EDB’s plans to host its Annual Meetings and business forum in Almaty this summer, with the agenda including the Central Asian water and energy complex, the transport network and financial instruments. The President also underscored the significance of Bank-supported infrastructure projects in Kazakhstan.
