In a conference room in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, Zakubov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Samruk Kazena National Welfare Fund, sat opposite Chen Lei, Senior Vice President of Huawei. Both parties are discussing joint projects in the fields of digitization, telecommunications, and artificial intelligence. This meeting not only means that Huawei's cooperation in Kazakhstan is extending from traditional communication to AI and enterprise digital applications, but also reflects that the largest economy in Central Asia is leveraging international technological strength to find new engines for domestic industrial upgrading.

Strong performance in business data

Behind the talks lies the continuously improving business fundamentals of Samruk Kazena. Zakubov revealed that in the first seven months of 2026, the fund achieved a revenue of 12.5 trillion tenge, approximately 27.24 billion US dollars, exceeding the plan by 5%. During the same period, EBITDA exceeded 3.4 trillion tenge, approximately 7.41 billion US dollars, which is 7% higher than the planned amount. Net profit exceeded 1.2 trillion tenge, approximately 2.62 billion US dollars, exceeding the plan by 4%. Stable financial data provides ample space for its subsidiaries to promote new technology investment and gives the fund more confidence to introduce external partners.

Increase local procurement efforts

In addition to technical cooperation, the fund is strengthening its support for domestic manufacturers through the group procurement system. Since the beginning of this year, its subsidiaries have signed local procurement contracts worth 694 billion tenge, approximately 1.51 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 32%. At present, more than 16 measures have been implemented in the field of public procurement to support local producers, including prioritizing the procurement of domestic goods, signing long-term contracts, mandatory 30% advance payments, and accelerated payments. The synchronous promotion of local procurement and digital transformation demonstrates the fund's balanced consideration between stimulating domestic demand and improving efficiency.

The prospect of cooperation is highly anticipated

For Huawei, the large scale of Kazakhstan's state-owned economic system and the continuous release of digital and AI demand are important pivot points for expanding the Eurasian market. For the fund, introducing international technological capabilities can help promote the improvement of operational efficiency in its energy, logistics, manufacturing and other enterprises. However, both parties are still in the discussion stage, and specific projects need to be clarified in the future. Whether feasible cooperation results can be formed in the future will be a key point in observing the direction of this partnership.Editor/Yang Meiling