“Kazakhstan must turn into one big construction site,” President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proclaimed in his October 28 national address, proposing that the government dip into the National Fund, to the tune of 6.5 trillion tenge (approximately $14.4 billion at the current exchange rate) to fund projects through 2029.
That represents more than 21 percent of the National Fund, a sovereign wealth fund created in 2000 and supplied by tax revenues from oil and gas companies. RFE/RL reported that the fund currently holds around $66.7 billion. Tokayev’s new ambition scraps a previous goal, stated in 2022 in the wake of the Qandy Qantar events as part of his “Fair Kazakhstan” pitch, to increase the National Fund’s assets to $100 billion by 2030.
From 2026 through the first two months of 2027, Tokayev said in his recent speech, 1.5 trillion tenge ($3.3 billion) would be allocated for social projects.
“I am confident that no one will object if we call this initiative a ‘People’s Construction Project,’” Tokayev said. In his subsequent remarks, he wandered through a smorgasbord of initiatives, mentioning a handful of specific efforts already underway, and spoke more generally about a huge range of ambitions.
“Particular focus should be placed on developing logistics infrastructure,” he said. Here Tokayev spoke at length about the importance of logistics – from roads to rail to air transport – in furthering Kazakhstan’s development.
Tokayev mentioned the Bakhty-Ayagoz rail line, which runs from Ayagoz in eastern Kazakhstan to the Chinese border and is expected to be completed by the end of 2027. He noted the start of construction in August of the the Aral-Caspian Highway, which “will shorten the route along the Trans-Caspian Corridor by approximately 1,000 kilometers, reducing cargo delivery time to three days.”
Tokayev took time to put special emphasis on the quality of roads – a perennial complaint in Kazakhstan – and criticize “executive bodies at the center and locally” who have treated the issue like a football.
“They kicked the issue around and did everything possible to drown the problem in an impassable swamp,” Tokayev, who has been president of Kazakhstan since 2019, said.
After discussing the importance of developing air corridors – “huge profits are literally flying past our country” – Tokayev shifted to energy. He stated the ambition for Kazakhstan to achieve a “sustainable energy surplus” by 2029, on the back of a full range of energy sources, from “clean coal” to renewables like solar. Nuclear power, he said, is of “fundamental importance,” praising as the “correct decision” the approval of a referendum on the topic in 2024. That referendum took place under heavy government pressure on critics of nuclear power.
Closely related is the hot topic of critical minerals. On that, Tokayev cautioned that “new businesses should not create obstacles for existing businesses in the local area.” He specifically referenced Qarmet, which until 2023 was known as ArcelorMittal Temirtau. That year it was acquired by the the Qazaqstan Investment Corporation. Tokayev obliqued referenced similar production facilities to those operated by Qarmet as being planned in three other regions with the help of presumably foreign investors. “It is obvious that the benefits of such inappropriate decisions are questionable,” he said, without clarifying.
“It is obvious that the role of the government in this matter needs to be significantly strengthened.”
That may raise red flags for potential investors, as it suggests a heavy government hand in managing the pathways investments take. A 2025 report from the U.S. Department of State on Kazakhstan’s investment climate noted “significant progress,” but also pointed to ongoing restrictions on foreign ownership in certain sectors – notably “a 20 percent ceiling on foreign ownership of media outlets and a 49 percent limit on domestic and international air transportation services” – while also stating that “foreign companies sometimes experience difficulties with licensing, taxation, and legal disputes due to bureaucratic hurdles and inconsistent regulatory enforcement.”
Later in his speech, Tokayev pontificated on the necessity of attracting global and domestic companies, once again criticizing “individual departments and individuals” for taking “chaotic and uncoordinated” actions. “Therefore, investment policy management should be concentrated in a single center,” Tokayev said. Centralization has its benefits, but it also concentrates both wealth and risk.
The speech went on to touch on subjects as varied as tax policy and education, ending with orders to reform the public administration system. “Civil servants must serve as models of competence,” Tokayev said. “Unfortunately, we are not seeing this yet.”
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