ASTANA – Kazakhstan and the United States reaffirmed their commitment to expanding trade, investment and technology cooperation during the Kazakhstan-United States Business Roundtable on June 30, where government officials and business leaders outlined new areas for strategic partnership and signed a memorandum to deepen institutional ties between the two countries’ business communities.
Participants of the Kazakhstan-U.S. Business Roundtable in Astana. Photo credit: Prime Minister’s press service.
Investment and technology
The event, organized by the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Foreign Trade Chamber of Kazakhstan, brought together representatives of government agencies, international corporations, financial institutions and the expert community to discuss prospects for broader trade, economic and investment cooperation, according to Atameken.
Opening the event, Atameken Presidium Chairman Kanat Sharlapayev said Kazakhstan and the United States have built a strong foundation for economic cooperation, noting that U.S. companies were among the first strategic investors in independent Kazakhstan. He said bilateral cooperation is now expanding beyond traditional trade toward technology partnerships, industrial localization and the creation of new growth opportunities.
Sharlapayev emphasized Kazakhstan’s efforts to create a transparent, predictable and competitive regulatory environment for foreign investors through improvements in tax administration, deregulation and measures supporting long-term investment projects.
New areas of cooperation
Priority areas for future cooperation include the development and processing of critical minerals and rare earth elements, establishment of joint research centers, expansion of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route with U.S. participation in port and logistics modernization, and collaboration in the digital economy, artificial intelligence and fintech based at the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC).
Kazakhstan also proposed joint projects in agriculture, including precision farming, deep agricultural processing, localization of modern agricultural machinery production and irrigation systems.
The meeting participants also discussed investment cooperation, energy, transport and logistics, digital transformation, infrastructure development, finance and innovation during the business sessions.
Expanding strategic partnership
U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to Kazakhstan Deborah Robinson said the two countries continue to strengthen investment and business cooperation as bilateral trade grows, with increasing emphasis on technology partnerships.
“Looking around this room and seeing so many familiar faces, it is impossible not to feel proud of how far our trade and economic partnership has come. It is especially encouraging to see that understandings reached during previous business missions have now become signed agreements and new commercial relationships. These impressive figures are more than statistics – they represent thousands of jobs, the transfer of critical technologies and the deep, long-term trust built between our two countries,” Robinson said.
Robinson also noted that Kazakhstan became the first Central Asian country to join the Pax Silica initiative, a U.S.-led technology alliance aimed at advancing artificial intelligence and building secure supply chains for critical technologies, reported the Prime Minister’s press service.
She added that Kazakhstan continues to strengthen its position as a reliable economic partner, with GDP exceeding $300 billion, economic growth reaching 6.5% last year with annual growth projected at 5-6%, and foreign direct investment inflows totaling $20.5 billion in 2025.
Trade and investment continue to grow
Chairman of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Kazakhstan Murat Karimsakov said that Kazakhstan’s consistent investment policy has strengthened investor confidence and contributed to the growth of economic ties with the United States. He noted that bilateral trade exceeded $1 billion in January-March, up around 10% year-on-year, reflecting the expansion of export and import activity, reported Kazinform.
Karimsakov added that the United States remains one of Kazakhstan’s largest investors, with cumulative U.S. investment exceeding $60 billion since the country’s independence, underscoring the strategic and long-term nature of bilateral economic cooperation.
Strategic partnership memorandum
A key outcome of the roundtable was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Partnership between the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-Kazakhstan Business Council.
The memorandum aims to strengthen direct cooperation between the business communities of the two countries, promote joint investment projects and enhance institutional partnership.
Participants expressed confidence that the agreements reached at the roundtable will encourage new joint initiatives, increase bilateral trade and investment, and strengthen the strategic economic partnership between Kazakhstan and the United States through innovation, technology transfer and long-term economic cooperation.
