On November 2, 2026, during the second Central Asian Economic Cooperation Tianshan Forum in Almaty, Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy, Sherik Zhumanjalin, sat down with China's Finance Minister, Lanfian, to discuss not traditional energy contracts, but a joint fund aimed at the Trans Caspian Transport Corridor. The target size is up to 200 million US dollars, and this money aims to leverage a middle passage that bypasses the traditional northern route.

Two billion dollar fund put on the table

  In the discussion on November 2, 2026, Zhu Mangarin proposed that the financial institutions designated by the two countries should agree on the operating principles, and Kazakhstan Bajielek National Investment Holding Company and China the Silk Road Fund were named as potential participants. In September 2026, Baytrilek has signed preliminary terms on the establishment of a fund. The participants are the the Silk Road Fund and the subsidiary Kazakhstan Investment Company of Baytrilek. The target size is the same as the maximum of 200 million dollars. It plans to raise 100 million dollars first, with at least 70% invested in projects in Kazakhstan.

The transportation capacity of the middle corridor is waiting to be activated

The Trans Caspian International Transport Corridor connects China and Europe through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, using railway and sea transportation, providing shippers with an alternative option beyond land transportation through Russia. In 2025, the freight volume of this route will be 4.12 million tons, a decrease of about 8% from the previous year's 4.48 million tons. Kazakhstan plans to increase its annual transportation capacity to 10 million tons by 2028. If the fund can be implemented, it will provide financing support for railways, ports, and replacement facilities along the route, helping the corridor recover and expand freight volume. Keywords: the Belt and Road News Network, Trans Caspian Corridor, Logistics

Three mechanisms to assemble financing package

The Kazakh government stated that the Middle Corridor Fund is one of the three joint financing mechanisms being promoted, the other two being the Kazakh Invest Fund jointly promoted by the Kazakh Investment Fund and the Silk Road Financial Corporation, as well as loan and project insurance arrangements involving financial institutions from both countries. Zhumanjialin proposed coordinating these mechanisms through a single docking window to assemble a complete financing package for each priority project, including long-term loans, insurance coverage, guarantees, RMB financing, and if necessary, equity participation. Both sides also discussed the infrastructure financing that the Export Import Bank of China may provide, including the expansion of the Almaty subway, the development of Astana's transportation infrastructure, the construction of highways in central and western regions, and the upgrading of the capital's water supply system. The government of Kazakhstan has stated that it will select several pilot projects to test this arrangement, but has not named specific projects, and the respective investment amounts, equity distributions, and launch dates of the two countries have not been disclosed.Editor/Gao Xue