This is particularly important for Kazakhstan. According to the World Investment Report 2025 by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), as of 2024, the region’s inward foreign direct investment (FDI) stock stood at $220.5 billion, of which Kazakhstan alone accounted for $151.3 billion.
The development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, the growth of international trade, and the digitalisation of the economy are strengthening Kazakhstan’s role as a bridge between European and Asian markets. According to the AIFC Insights study “Capital Markets in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan: Prospects and Trends,” the country has the most advanced capital-markets architecture among the regional states examined, while its sovereign savings exceed $110 billion.
However, investment potential alone does not guarantee capital inflows. Investors need trust infrastructure: a clear legal system, independent regulation, and access to international markets. The ecosystem of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is designed specifically to create such an environment.
From Financial Centre to Investment Ecosystem
Today, the AIFC’s role extends far beyond the registration of foreign companies and transaction structuring. The Centre brings together regulatory, legal, and exchange infrastructure, enabling businesses to access comprehensive solutions—from company formation and licensing to raising finance and accessing international markets. The Centre’s infrastructure comprises the AIFC Administration, the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA), the Astana International Exchange (AIX), the AIFC Court, the International Arbitration Centre (IAC), as well as several product- and ecosystem-development bodies, including the Green Finance Centre, the Expat Centre, the AIFC Academy, and others.
The comprehensive framework available to the Centre’s participants includes tax incentives for licensed companies, legal forms that are new to Kazakhstan, simplified employment and visa regimes, and support for foreign professionals through the Expat Centre and the Investment Tax Residency Programme.
The AIFC’s legal model is particularly significant. The Centre is the region’s only independent jurisdiction based on the principles of English common law. Decisions of the AIFC Court are recognised and enforced both in Kazakhstan and abroad, ensuring a high level of confidence among international businesses.
Over the years, the AIFC has made a significant contribution to the development of Kazakhstan’s financial market by facilitating both direct investment and portfolio investment, improving the legal and regulatory framework, and attracting international financial institutions. As of July 2026, the Centre had attracted $26.3 billion in investment over its entire period of operation. More than 6,000 companies from over 90 countries are registered in its jurisdiction. Participants include international financial companies, Kazakh cryptocurrency exchanges and local platforms of global cryptocurrency exchanges, professional services providers, venture capital companies, regional development banks, technology companies, and representatives of the real economy. Over the AIFC’s years of operation, its participating companies have paid 353.7 billion tenge in taxes to the national budget (as of July 1, 2026). The ecosystem created by the Centre also provides employment for approximately 10,000 people.
AIX Opens New Routes for Capital
Each year, the AIFC expands its range of financial instruments and areas of activity. A key element of the ecosystem is the Astana International Exchange (AIX), an exchange integrated into the international financial infrastructure. In 2025, AIX hosted the first cross-border IPO between Kazakhstan and China, with a dual listing on AIX and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), as well as Central Asia’s first yuan-denominated IPO.
Over the exchange’s entire period of operation, capital raised through debt and equity reached US$15 billion, while the number of retail investment accounts increased to 2.3 million. In 2025, the exchange also launched the world’s first spot Solana ETF with staking, the first spot Bitcoin ETF in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, and the first Sharia-compliant index ETF in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Direct links between central securities depositories were established for cross-border settlements and listings between Nasdaq Dubai and AIX, as well as between the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and AIX. In 2025, AIX became one of nine exchanges worldwide accredited to conduct transactions involving International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-RECs).
The Next Wave of Capital: Green, Islamic, Digital
In parallel, the AIFC is developing Islamic, green, and sustainable finance, insurance and reinsurance, aviation finance, Junior Mining, and other specialised areas.
Over the AIFC’s years of operation, the Green Finance Centre has supported approximately 70% of Kazakhstan’s green bond issuances and green loans.
The AIFC has established the International Advisory Board on Islamic Finance, comprising leading experts from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Malaysia, Turkey, and Kazakhstan, to ensure compliance with Sharia standards and promote global best practices.
In 2025, the Aviation Finance Hub was opened, focusing on aircraft financing and leasing and the development of an international aviation-finance ecosystem.
The Centre launched an initiative to support junior mining companies (Junior Mining), aimed at facilitating the raising of finance for early-stage exploration projects and developing Kazakhstan as a regional mining hub.
A separate focus is digital assets and tokenisation. The AIFC has established a specialised regulatory environment for digital assets and, in 2025, was recognised as one of the world’s leading jurisdictions in implementing the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) standards in this area.
In 2026, for the first time in Central Asia, the AIFC licensed a platform for trading tokenised real-world assets in the agribusiness sector. Insurance and reinsurance, creative industries, intellectual property and other specialised segments are also being developed.
In a short period, the AIFC has established itself as the region’s principal centre for asset and fund management, providing a platform for direct investment, hedge funds, venture capital funds, real estate investment trusts (REITs) and other collective investment vehicles.
International Recognition
The scale and quality of the infrastructure are reflected in international assessments. For three consecutive years, Astana has ranked first among the financial centres of Eastern Europe and Central Asia in the Global Financial Centres Index.
In 2023, the AIFC successfully underwent an assessment of compliance with the international standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
In 2022, the AIFC’s regulatory framework was recognised as compliant with the tax transparency standards of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Astana Finance Days 2026: Eurasia’s Key Financial Forum
Astana Finance Days, which has become one of the key financial events in the Eurasian region, serves as an important international platform for promoting the ecosystem.
Each year, forum participants emphasise its practical value: the platform enables them to build relationships that translate into projects, transactions and long-term strategic partnerships.
This year, the forum was held on September 9–10, 2026, bringing together at the Centre investors, representatives of the financial and technology sectors, regulators, government and quasi-government institutions, and international businesses.
Speakers included representatives of BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Brookfield, Bloomberg, FTSE Russell, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Islamic Development Bank Institute, Binance and other international companies.
The forum’s agenda focused on capital markets, investment products, regulation, innovation, financing the real economy and cross-border cooperation.
Over the years, the AIFC has developed infrastructure connecting Kazakhstan and Central Asia with global capital markets. The next stage involves the further development of the securities market, increased innovation activity in the financial sector and support for non-resource sectors. Taken together, these measures will help create new jobs, increase tax revenues for the national budget and further diversify the country’s economy.
