In the deep autumn of Astana, there is already a chill, but the atmosphere in the conference room presided over by Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Orzas Bektnov is particularly lively. Surrounding the long table are members of the board of directors and heads of various departments of Samruk Kazyna Corporation. The report spread out in front of them shows that this national sovereign fund, with a scale of about 88 billion US dollars, achieved a remarkable 32% year-on-year increase in EBITDA in the first quarter of 2026.

As the cornerstone of Kazakhstan's economy, the performance trend of Samruk Kazyna directly affects the pace of the country's industrial upgrading and energy transformation. And this meeting is becoming an important milestone in laying out the plan for the second half of the year and promoting the implementation of multiple key projects.

Outstanding performance, breakthrough in financing

In the first quarter, the fund not only achieved all key production targets, but also made a historic breakthrough in financing channels. In April of this year, Samruk Kazyna successfully issued the first batch of Panda bonds in China, with a scale of 3 billion yuan, a term of 3 years, and an annual yield of only 2.18%, setting a new low in its borrowing costs. This fund will focus on infrastructure areas such as transportation and logistics, making it the first panda bond in Central Asia and opening the door for the fund to directly enter the onshore RMB market in China.

Overseas cooperation for project landing

At the meeting, 64 major investment projects with a total value of 38.6 trillion Tengge were simultaneously reviewed. Currently, 41 projects have signed engineering contracts, 33 are under construction, and the rest are in the design or pre investment stage. At the same time, the fund has recently signed multiple overseas cooperation agreements, including a list of cooperation agreements with Rwandan companies in the mineral field and a shareholder agreement with Azerbaijan AZCON's port dredging project, demonstrating its positive cross-border layout.

Strategic support for green transformation

Samruk Kazyna's assets cover key sectors of the national economy such as oil, natural gas, mining, and energy, and are the core execution carrier for Kazakhstan to promote industrial upgrading and green transformation. Currently, the fund is focusing on new energy and infrastructure projects such as wind power plants and natural gas pipelines, and promoting the application of artificial intelligence in geological exploration and other fields to enhance the localization ratio of the industrial chain and strengthen sustainable competitiveness.

The board of directors has clarified the direction for the future period: while strictly monitoring project progress and increasing local participation, we will continue to expand diversified financing channels, and provide sustained momentum for Kazakhstan's economic stability and structural optimization through the landing of key projects and cross-border cooperation.Editor/Yang Meiling