Kyrgyzstan – The Times Of Central Asia

Kyrgyzstan’s parliament has approved a bill at first reading on October 21 that would introduce tax breaks for foreign teachers, exempting eligible educators from income tax and mandatory social security contributions.

Kyrgyzstan’s exports have begun to recover after a sharp decline in 2025, when the value of its gold exports plunged by nearly three-quarters.

Central Asian governments backed closer cooperation on mineral processing and transport at the October 19 C5+1 meeting in Samarkand.

Uzbekistan joined the U.S.

Almaty is investing 325.9 billion tenge (about $720 million) in converting a coal-fired power plant to natural gas, but the plant will continue burning coal for several more years.

Russia and Kyrgyzstan signed a military cooperation plan for 2027 on October 15, a day after Russian lawmakers approved measures to simplify arms deliveries to Bishkek.

Russia relies on millions of workers from Central Asia, but lawmakers want to charge some of their children, typically aged 15–17, for the final two years of public schooling.

Central Asian leaders called for better transport links and joint action on water shortages at the Baku summit in Azerbaijan on October 15, arguing that practical cooperation could prevent political disputes from turning into conflict.

Russian rapper Navai Bakirov, known professionally as Navai, was detained on October 13 while entering Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan plans to allow up to 120,000 foreign nationals to work in the country in 2027, even as more than 700,000 of its own citizens have worked abroad this year.

Kyrgyzstan’s public debt reached $10.16 billion by the end of July 2026, with the government expecting to spend about $1.83 billion servicing its external debt between 2027 and 2029.

A court in Kyrgyzstan has sentenced Kadyr Atambayev, the son of former President Almazbek Atambayev, to four years in prison and opposition Social Democrats leader Temirlan Sultanbekov to seven years over an alleged plot to seize power following last year…

Twenty-year-old Ainabek Keldibek went to Russia expecting to work as a security guard.

Kyrgyzstan’s presidential election is scheduled for January 27, 2027, with candidate nominations already open.

Kyrgyzstan plans to restore degraded land in the Syr Darya basin as shrinking glaciers and declining forest cover raise concerns about the future of one of Central Asia’s main water systems.

The 2026 CAMCA Regional Forum has concluded in Baku after two full days of conversation on a range of topics shaping the future of the region.

Reports surrounding the death of an employee at an anti-plague research institute in Russia’s Irkutsk region have prompted health authorities across Central Asia to tighten sanitary controls and review preparedness measures.

Central Asia inherited a water bargain built for another economy.

A stolen dagger drives the action in Kanjar, a Kyrgyz thriller that explores the loss of cultural heritage.

Kyrgyzstan received $1.31 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2025, up 27.3% from the previous year.

On Thursday, Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov is due to receive Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Sadyr Japarov, Emomali Rahmon, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and Ilham Aliyev in a place built to impress visitors.

Athletes from Central Asia’s five countries won 186 medals at the Asian Games in Japan, where Uzbekistan finished fifth overall and Kazakhstan claimed the region’s largest medal haul.

Developing a transport corridor linking China and Central Asia with Europe across the Caspian Sea will require more than $55 billion in investment through 2040.

In the age of AI, capital and code travel fast.

What would it take for a fintech company that succeeds in one CAMCA country to enter another without starting from zero?

Last month, it was still unclear whether Shakira would perform in Kyrgyzstan.

For Ikhtiyor Alimov, finding foreign buyers was only part of the challenge.

Kyrgyzstan is requiring bloggers and other social media users who publicly preach religion online to obtain a special certificate.

The number of people above working age in Kyrgyzstan has increased by more than 146,000, or 25%, over the past five years.

A single SpaceX rocket carried two Central Asian spacecraft into orbit: Kyrgyzstan’s first national satellite and a spacecraft developed with the participation of students in Kazakhstan.

Uzbekistan has renewed its call for a stronger regional institution, with senior senator Sodiq Safoev urging Central Asian leaders to move beyond their consultative meeting format.

Central Asia is helping shape a wider regional agenda, one that connects trade and investment with technology, education, and security.

As Managing Editor of The Times of Central Asia, I’m delighted that, in partnership with the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs, we are the home of the Spotlight on Central Asia podcast.

Kyrgyzstan plans to send its first national satellite into low Earth orbit on October 1.

In mid-October, C5+1 will meet again in Samarkand, where its first ministerial was held in November 2015.

A $1 billion pharmaceutical industrial park is planned in Kyrgyzstan as the country seeks to expand domestic drug production in a market still dominated by imports.

Experts and business representatives from across Central Asia have proposed mutual recognition of electronic documents to make cross-border business easier.

The Ferghana Peace Forum was just held in Tajikistan’s northern city of Guliston.

For years, Central Asia was one of those regions that Washington periodically rediscovered and then forgot.

India could become another supplier of major weapons to Central Asia.

Stronger cybersecurity and trusted digital infrastructure could encourage greater U.S. investment in Central Asia, Mark Cameron said in Astana on September 29.

The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is often presented as a new route to Europe, but its first benefits are likely to be felt closer to home.

Four of Central Asia’s five economies are expected to grow faster in 2026 than developing Asia and the Pacific as a whole, according to the Asian Development Bank’s September Asian Development Outlook.