Shifting patterns of global trade — reshaped by the pandemic, geopolitical tensions and repeated supply chain disruptions — are opening new opportunities for countries once seen as peripheral to global commerce, Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Trade and Integration Aset Nusupov said in an interview with IntelliNews.

“The world’s trade landscape is changing,” Nusupov said on the sidelines of the Regional Ecological Summit 2026 in Astana. “Starting from the pandemic, recent market disruptions and global tensions reshaped global supply chains, and against this backdrop even landlocked economies like Kazakhstan are emerging as trustworthy actors.”

Reliability, he said, has become a defining metric for businesses navigating uncertain trade routes. “Reliability has become a new currency of logistics. We see many companies prefer to pay a bit more in order to get their goods delivered in time without any unexpected delays.” 

Middle Corridor ambitions

At the centre of Kazakhstan’s strategy is the development of the Middle Corridor, a transcontinental trade route linking Asia and Europe via Central Asia and the Caucasus.

“We are positioning ourselves as a middle power contributing to regional stability and global connectivity,” Nusupov said. “Kazakhstan is effectively within global trends and we think it’s better to build bridges rather than barriers.”

He said the initiative is intended to transform the country’s role in global trade. “For this reason, we see development of the Middle Corridor as an opportunity to position Kazakhstan not only as a transit country but [as a] trade, production and innovation hub,” he said.

Kazakhstan has made significant investments in hard infrastructure such as railways, ports and logistics hubs.

“One of the biggest milestones I wanted to mention was last year we completed the second railway line between Dostyk and Moyntau,” he said. “This allows our goods to go back and forth from Asia to Europe.” The project, completed in half the expected time and observed by the president on September 30, has already delivered major capacity gains.

“Only this improvement allowed us to increase trade capacity five times,” Nusupov said. “Before, there was only one line — trains had to wait till another passes. Now they move smoothly and simultaneously.”

On the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan has expanded port infrastructure to support multimodal transport. “In western Kazakhstan we have seaports on the Caspian Sea: Aktau city, where a new container hub expanded its capacity, and in Kuryk a multifunctional terminal has been developed in partnership with international investors.

“All this work being done helped to improve coordination between rail and maritime transport and reduce shipping delays,” he added, noting that cargo increasingly moves via a combination of trains, ships and road transport.

Digital trade 

Alongside physical infrastructure, Kazakhstan is prioritising soft infrastructure, particularly digitalisation.

“In general, we can divide all the existing means into hard infrastructure and soft infrastructure,” Nusupov told IntelliNews. “If railways move cargo, digital solutions move information.

“Digitalisation is in the centre of our strategy,” he added, noting that 2026 had been declared the “year of digitalisation and AI” by Kazakhstan’s president.

Nussupov pointed to projections by the World Trade Organization (WTO) showing the transformative potential of artificial intelligence. “I have seen WTO simulation — they showed AI could boost global trade by almost 40% by 2040, which is much higher compared to their own previous forecast made one year before, only 14%,” he said.

“So we think AI is not just a tech trend — it’s a structural shift in global commerce.”

The government is working to digitise core trade processes, from customs clearance to cargo monitoring and licensing.

“This includes customs clearance, cargo monitoring, documentation, licensing — the transformation focuses on streamlining trade procedures, eliminating paperwork,” he said. “We still have many points where we have to show some papers — we are trying to eliminate this almost.”

The aim is a fully electronic system. “So when the cargo comes, all the information is in electronic format. Overall it will ensure transparency on all the stages of cargo movement,” he said. “The concept is very simple — we want data to move as easily as goods. Trade runs on information, not paperwork.”

Among the initiatives under development are a “smart corridor” and a unified digital ecosystem linking stakeholders across borders.

Kazakhstan is working closely with regional partners to ensure the smooth functioning of the corridor. “We cannot do it without our partners,” Nusupov said, pointing to coordination with Azerbaijan and Georgia to facilitate transit across the Caspian Sea. Operators are working to harmonise tariffs and service standards along routes connecting Kazakh ports such as Aktau and Kuryk with Azerbaijan’s Alat and Georgia’s Poti.

Supporting exporters, diversifying trade

The government is also stepping up support for exporters, particularly those producing higher value-added goods. “We reimburse the transport costs for our exporters — they should be value-added, not just raw materials,” Nusupov said.

Through programmes such as export acceleration initiatives run by state-backed agencies, companies are being guided into new markets. Kazakhstan is already seeing results in niche sectors.

“Last year we were in eighth place in export of seed oil,” he said. “We are exporting this to China — it’s a new product, very well recognised by our Chinese consumers.” Other emerging exports include vegetable oils and feed flour, reflecting efforts to diversify beyond traditional commodities.