Eurasia / Features
PANNIER: Afghan groups battle Taliban near Tajik border
If Afghanistan’s rulers lose control of Badakhshan province, route to Chinese border will be blocked and calculations in Central Asia’s capitals may change.
Uzbekistan balances secular rule with Islamic revival
Tashkent is seeking to place its Islamic intellectual heritage at the centre of its national identity and foreign diplomacy, while preserving a firmly secular political system.
China to open Afghanistan border after nearly a century? Iran to bomb “Trump” route? “Cargo corridor” journalism is where it’s at nowadays
Wars are reshaping countries’ thinking on how to get goods in and out.
Kazakh observers view Tokayev’s option to seek another presidential term as power transfer “fail-safe”
The constitutional overhaul, drafted and approved within weeks earlier this year, has prompted widespread speculation about Tokayev's long-term political plans.
INTERVIEW: Uzbekistan's largest lender bets on retail banking as reforms transform financial sector
The National Bank of Uzbekistan, the country’s largest commercial bank, is betting that the next phase of the country's economic transformation will be driven not by state-backed megaprojects but by households and small businesses.
Why Europe is looking towards Central Asia
The developing world is no longer catching up. In several critical areas, it has pulled ahead — and the institutions that built the modern financial system are only now beginning to understand what that means for them.
The EDB's next frontier: Uzbekistan and the future of Central Asian integration
Only a year after becoming the Eurasian Development Bank's seventh shareholder, Uzbekistan has quickly become one of the institution's strategic priorities.
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Uzbekistan advances ambitious plan to become regional fintech hub by 2030
"That is not a gap in the market; that is a market," says central bank fintech expert, pointing to the millions of consumers underserved by traditional banking.
Uzbekistan targets greater use of locally made construction materials as infrastructure investment grows
Over the past decade, the construction materials sector has attracted approximately $12bn in investment, leading to the launch of more than 4,000 manufacturing facilities.
Critics say Kazakhstan’s law giving people right to raid pension piggy bank inflated housing bubble
As officials rush to narrow access to funds also popularly used for dental treatment, economists advise many factors to blame for price surge such as unsold properties built at high cost.
EU mulling “membership-lite” financial benefits for candidate countries to keep enlargement on track
The European Commission is preparing plans to grant European Union candidate countries some financial benefits while they wait for full membership as the process becomes bogged down in internal wrangling.
TIIF 2026: Uzbekistan sees tourism as next engine of growth as it seeks to become Central Asia's travel hub
The great cities of the Silk Road have captivated travellers’ imaginations for centuries. Today, however, Uzbekistan is pursuing a far more ambitious goal than simply preserving its tremendous heritage.
EU closes Russian oil 'refining loophole' but sanctions gaps remain - KSE
The EU's ban on petroleum products refined from Russian crude oil in third countries has sharply reduced the flow of Russian-linked fuel into Europe, but significant loopholes remain and products derived from Russian oil continue to reach the EU.
Georgia risks losing its leverage card if wartime transit boom fades, analyst warns
Georgian Dream's repeated invocation of Georgia's strategic transit importance to fend off Western criticism is built on a temporary advantage tied to Russia's war in Ukraine that could evaporate once the conflict ends, think-tank director says.
TIIF 2026: Uzbekistan's aviation boom has outrun every forecast
Central Asia overtook South Asia last year to become the fastest-growing aviation sub-region in the world, carrying roughly 60mn passengers in 2025. Next up: the IPO of Uzbekistan Airways, the national carrier.
TIIF 2026: Germany turns to Uzbekistan as Berlin looks for growth, minerals and skilled workers in Central Asia
Germany is making one of its most visible business pushes into Uzbekistan in years, as Berlin looks beyond its traditional European and Asian markets for new sources of growth, raw materials, industrial partnerships and skilled labour.
TIIF 2026: Masdar and ACWA Power, twin engines behind Uzbekistan's renewable energy boom
Two Gulf utility giants control the lion's share of Central Asia's largest green energy market. At the Tashkent International Investment Forum (TIIF) this month, the two companies set out plans that would take investment capital to $20bn.
TIIF 2026: Bootstrapping Uzbekistan's private capital
A draft law that would, for the first time, give Uzbekistan a functioning legal framework for private equity, venture capital and other alternative investment vehicles is now in its final stage of review by the Cabinet of Ministers.
TIIF 2026: Uzbekistan's privatisation drive finds its stride
In the space of six weeks this spring, Uzbekistan delivered two transactions that were gamechangers for the country’s image and starter’s guns for the privatisation process.
TIIF 2026: Credit agencies, development banks race to fill Uzbekistan's financing gap
When Commerzbank opened its Tashkent office in 1998, Uzbekistan's economy stood at roughly $13bn. Last year it reached $145bn, having more than doubled from $60bn just nine years earlier.