Kazakhstan emerges as key Central Asian market ahead of Korea summit

Tengrinews.kz – Central Asia and the South Caucasus are emerging as a new economic growth hub, with their combined economy expanding 6.3-fold over the past two decades. Kazakhstan, the region’s largest economy, stands out for its natural resources, digital development, investment environment and major urban projects, according to an analysis published by Fortune Korea ahead of the Korea–Central Asia summit in Seoul.
The strategic importance of the Eurasian region spanning Central Asia and the South Caucasus is once again drawing attention. With a population of more than 100 million, the region is emerging as a new growth hub for critical minerals, energy, logistics and digital industries. Descendants of ethnic Koreans who were relocated to the region around 90 years ago have also become part of its business elite. Despite this, Central Asia remains relatively unfamiliar territory for many South Korean companies, the article says.
The figures, however, suggest that the region has changed significantly over the past two decades. Many Korean companies still tend to group Central Asia and the South Caucasus together under the broad label of the “former Soviet region,” but this increasingly fails to reflect the current economic reality. Over the past 20 years, the combined economy of the five Central Asian states and three South Caucasus countries has grown 6.3-fold. Their total population now stands at around 101 million, combined GDP has reached $687 billion, and GDP per capita is approximately $6,800.
Growth has been strong not only in overall economic output but also in per capita income. While the region’s population increased 1.3-fold over the past two decades, GDP per capita rose 4.7-fold, despite the fact that rapid population growth would normally limit gains in per capita indicators.
The region’s geographic role has also become increasingly important. The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, better known as the Middle Corridor, connects China and Central Asia with the Caspian Sea, the South Caucasus, Türkiye and Europe. Once seen mainly as an alternative transport route, it is now gaining importance as a way to diversify supplies of critical minerals and energy resources to European and U.S. markets. This has also led to greater investment in logistics, ports, railways and other related infrastructure.
Demographics are another factor working in the region’s favor. Its median age is significantly lower than in major East Asian economies, with a gap of around 20 years compared with South Korea.
At the same time, investors need to take into account major differences between individual countries. GDP per capita varies by roughly ninefold across the region, meaning Central Asia and the South Caucasus cannot simply be treated as one homogeneous market. Each country needs to be assessed separately based on its economic scale, institutions and investment environment.
Why Kazakhstan?
Among the countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus, Kazakhstan stands out for its investment environment, combining strong economic growth with an established network of ethnic Korean business ties.
Kazakhstan is the largest economy in the region. In 2025, its GDP reached approximately $306 billion, while GDP per capita stood at around $15,000. That is close to half of the combined economic output of Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
Its advantages, however, go beyond economic size. Kazakhstan is the only country in the region to hold investment-grade ratings from all three major international credit rating agencies. S&P rates the country at BBB, Moody’s at Baa1, and Fitch at BBB.
As of the end of June 2026, Kazakhstan’s international reserve assets stood at $127 billion, equivalent to roughly $6,100 per resident. Gold and foreign exchange reserves exceeded $62 billion, while assets of the National Fund were above $65 billion.
The article also points to improvements in governance indicators. Over the past decade, Kazakhstan’s score on the World Bank’s Control of Corruption indicator has increased by 15.7 points, representing a relatively rapid improvement compared with countries at a similar income level.
Kazakhstan’s demographic structure is another notable factor. The country not only has a relatively young population, but its demographic profile has become younger over time.
The share of children under the age of 14 increased from 24.8 percent to 29.1 percent over the past 20 years. Over the same period, the global figure fell from 28.5 percent to 24.4 percent, while in South Korea it dropped from 19.2 percent to 10.2 percent. This suggests that while the labor supply base is shrinking in many other parts of the world, Kazakhstan’s is expanding.
Kazakhstan also has experience with large-scale urban development. One of the clearest examples is Astana, which was transformed from a regional center into a capital city with a population of around 1.7 million in less than three decades.
An electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft during a test flight in Alatau. Eurasia’s first urban air mobility (UAM) center is expected to be built there. Photo: Alatau Advanced Air Group (AAAG), via Fortune Korea.
Alatau targets both investment and industrial growth
Economic activity in Kazakhstan is concentrated in several key areas. Almaty and the surrounding Almaty Region, with a combined population of around 3.9 million, account for approximately 27 percent of the country’s GDP. Nearby, the new city of Alatau is being developed across an area of 880 square kilometers, roughly 1.5 times the size of Seoul.
Alatau is attracting particular attention because it aims to promote investment and industrial development at the same time. Under a separate Constitutional Law, investors are expected to receive a range of guarantees, including a zero corporate income tax rate for up to 30 years, the option to resolve disputes through international arbitration of their choice, and the free transfer of profits. So far, investment agreements worth $6.9 billion have been signed across 67 projects, while the state-owned Baiterek holding is investing $2.1 billion annually from 2025 to 2028, according to Fortune Korea.
However, local experts caution that tax incentives and a special legal status alone will not determine whether the new city succeeds. They argue that the key will be developing industrial clusters and attracting global companies.
Mr. Mun-Gu Park, Head of Business Development at Caspian Group in Kazakhstan and former CEO of KPMG Korea, said legislation related to special economic zones (SEZs) has played an important role in building confidence among global investors, but stressed that creating industrial clusters capable of attracting people from outside the city is even more important.

“Developing residential areas alone will make it difficult to sustain population growth. There needs to be a structure in which growth momentum begins in Gate City and leads to a continuous influx of factories and production facilities, ultimately creating a ‘Growing City,’” Park said.

He added that global anchor companies should play a central role in these industrial clusters.
Digital growth
Kazakhstan also stands out for its digital competitiveness. The country ranks 24th out of 193 countries in the UN E-Government Development Index and 10th in the Online Service Index, placing it among the global top 10 alongside South Korea, Denmark and Estonia, and ahead of China, Germany and Australia.
Kazakhstan also leads Central Asia in digital payments, while its e-commerce market grew eightfold between 2021 and 2025, Fortune Korea reported.
One of the country’s most prominent digital success stories is Kaspi.kz, a payments and marketplace platform with 16.2 million monthly active users in a country of around 20 million people. The company has a market capitalization of approximately $20 billion and has been featured in two Harvard Business School case studies.
Its major shareholder, Vyacheslav Kim, is of ethnic Korean descent and began his business career trading with South Korean suppliers in the 1990s. He is now involved in Alatau’s development, and in May 2026, his group joined Korea Airports Corporation (KAC) and partners from four countries to launch Central Asia’s first air taxi project.
Ko Dong-hee, Deputy Director of the Advanced Air Mobility Department at Korea Airports Corporation (KAC). Photo: Alatau Advanced Air Group (AAAG), via Fortune Korea.
Human capital and healthcare
The publication also highlighted Kazakhstan’s human capital, noting that the country ranks first in the broader Central Asia and South Caucasus region in the World Bank’s Human Capital Index. The country has a secondary school enrollment rate of 99.8 percent, while 20 Kazakh universities are included in the QS rankings and 23 branches of foreign universities operate in the country. The establishment of a KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) branch is also under discussion.
The country is also emerging as a healthcare hub in Central Asia. Last year, around 80,000 foreign patients from approximately 50 countries visited Kazakhstan, with the number of patients from China and India increasing 24-fold and 40-fold, respectively, in recent years. According to Fortune Korea, medical treatment can cost five to 10 times less than in the United States or Europe, while nine Kazakh hospitals hold JCI accreditation.
Kazakhstan was also the first country in Central Asia to introduce proton therapy for cancer treatment. Its medtech sector is growing as well: Cerebra AI, a system for early stroke detection, is already being used in 46 hospitals and has attracted foreign investment.
Seoul summit to focus on business opportunities
The President of Kazakhstan is expected to visit Seoul on September 15 for a state visit, followed by the Korea–Central Asia Business Forum on September 16. The event will bring together representatives of major companies from all five Central Asian countries, with Vyacheslav Kim, a member of the Alatau governing council, also expected to speak.
Mr. Mun-Gu Park, Head of Business Development at Caspian Group and former CEO of KPMG Korea. Photo: Alatau Advanced Air Group (AAAG), via Fortune Korea.
According to Mr. Mun-Gu Park, Kazakhstan’s key advantages include its energy resources and critical minerals. He noted that the country occupies a unique position where oil and gas supplies are less vulnerable to disruption from regional conflicts and, despite being landlocked, has a significant portfolio of critical minerals. He cited recent U.S. investment in a tungsten mine as an example of Kazakhstan’s growing importance in the resources sector.
Park also highlighted Kazakhstan’s regulatory sandbox as an advantage for South Korean companies entering the market. Recent projects involving Korea Airports Corporation (KAC), Doosan and Hyundai show how regulations for new businesses can be eased relatively quickly. The urban air mobility (UAM) project, for example, took around two years to move forward.
Another factor is the possibility of the Russian market reopening in the future. Park said Korean companies could establish manufacturing value chains with Kazakh businesses now, creating a base for eventually re-entering Russia if sanctions are eased. In his view, this could further increase Korean companies’ interest in Kazakhstan.
Ethnic Korean networks in Central Asia
There is no single answer to the question of who South Korean companies should work with in Central Asia. Existing projects show several possible entry routes, including cooperation with state-owned holdings such as Baiterek, local Korean advisers and consultants, and multinational consortia such as the air taxi project involving Korea Airports Corporation.
One of the region’s distinctive links with South Korea is its ethnic Korean community, particularly in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. They are descendants of Koreans who were forcibly deported from the Soviet Far East to Central Asia in 1937. Arriving by freight train in largely undeveloped steppe areas, they had to rebuild their lives from scratch.
Today, their descendants are firmly integrated into local society. They hold local citizenship, were educated in the region and are familiar with how its administrative and business systems operate, while many have also retained elements of Korean culture. Vyacheslav Kim, a major shareholder of Kaspi.kz and a member of the Alatau governing council, is one example.
For South Korean companies, such networks can be valuable because they combine an understanding of Korean business culture with practical knowledge of local institutions and commercial practices. In markets where building trust can take years, this can provide an important advantage.
At the same time, shared heritage alone is not enough to choose a business partner. Industry expertise, track record and institutional credibility remain just as important. The ethnic Korean network should therefore be seen as one of several possible bridges into Central Asia rather than a strategy in itself.
Fortune Korea concludes that the key question is whether Kazakhstan’s natural resources, demographics, digital competitiveness, industrial clusters, business networks and regulatory sandbox can translate into real commercial opportunities. The Seoul summit and business forum on September 15–16 are expected to provide a clearer picture of how much room there is for deeper cooperation between South Korea and a region that has moved onto a new growth trajectory over the past two decades.