World Bank to Finance Environmental Projects in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan and the World Bank (WB) have reached an agreement on the implementation of a number of new joint projects in the field of environmental protection. The document was signed by the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan Yerlan Nysanbayev and the head of the World Bank for Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan Andrey Mikhnev. First, a decarbonization program will be launched to address the alarming climate change that is affecting all of Central Asia. Special funding will be directed to the development of forestry in Kazakhstan.

Andrey Mikhnev reminded that “the World Bank is working in Kazakhstan under the five-year strategic partnership program, agreed in 2020, which corresponds to the strategy of economic and social development of Kazakhstan until 2050.”

On January 23, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discussed with Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov the economic results of 2023 and the prospects for implementing the Kazakhstan-2050 program, designed to accelerate the transformation of the former Soviet republic into a modern society “with a knowledge-based, diversified economy led by the private sector.”

Kazakhstan achieved GDP growth of 5.1% in 2023. Capital investment rose 13.7% to $39.5 billion, compared to $19.7 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first nine months of last year (latest data).

The subject of cooperation between Kazakhstan and Europe during the energy transition was touched upon during President Tokayev’s recent visit to Italy. To implement the agreements, Italian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Edmondo Cirielli met with the ambassadors of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan on January 24. The meeting analyzed an innovative project developed by the Italian state-owned engineering and specialized technical assistance company Sogesid to mitigate climate change in the Aral Sea, an area of Central Asia at high risk of desertification.