$3,1 billion raised through the Astana International Financial Centre in 2024

The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) has announced its operational results for 2024.

The total volume of investments attracted through the AIFC platform in 2024 amounted to $3,1 billion, including $2,1 billion in portfolio investments on the Astana International Exchange (AIX) and $1 billion from AIFC participants. Since its inception, the AIFC has facilitated a total of $14 billion in investments (consisting of $6,7 billion in portfolio investments and $7,3 billion from AIFC participants).

Renat Bekturov, Governor of the Astana International Financial Centre, commented:
“Over the past years, we have been building the necessary infrastructure and conditions to attract investments to the region, creating a robust foundation for an investor-friendly environment. This year, we focused on the effective development of all the platforms we’ve established. AIX trading volume has doubled, major companies have joined the jurisdiction, the first local sukuk was listed, investment fund volumes have grown, several crypto exchanges have transitioned to full regulatory status, and the Centre’s legal framework has been enhanced. The results of this year lay the groundwork for the continued development of our country’s financial sector.”

• The AIFC continues to lead the Central Asia and Eastern Europe region (as per the Global Financial Centres Index 36), surpassing cities such as Prague, Warsaw, Istanbul, Budapest and others. Astana climbed four places in the overall ranking, securing the 62nd position among global financial centres.
• In the Smart Centres Index 10, Astana improved its ranking, achieving second place in the Central Asia and Eastern Europe region.
• A landmark event for Kazakhstan’s stock market was the IPO of the national carrier Air Astana on the AIX. For the first time in Kazakhstan, local investors were granted access to early trading through a pre-market (conditional trading) mechanism, simultaneously with international investors on the London Stock Exchange, marking a significant innovation in the domestic stock market.
• At the Turkic States summit, five member states signed a memorandum to establish the Turkic Green Finance Council, with its Secretariat based at the AIFC.
• As part of the Middle Corridor project, the “SK-AIH Investment Fund Ltd.” was established at the AIFC platform by Samruk-Kazyna and Azerbaijan Investment Holding. The fund aims to attract investments across various sectors in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, including the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route.
• During the COP29 international conference, the AIFC unveiled plans to expand its carbon platform based on AIX, enabling the trading of environmental instruments alongside traditional stock market instruments.
• This year the AIFC became a hub for supporting businesses in the creative industry. The introduction of the AIFC Venture Studio Rules provided a legal foundation for establishing venture companies and supporting startups. Several venture companies are now operating within the AIFC jurisdiction, including the Qazaqstan Venture Group Ltd., registered on December 17, and the first venture studio, Alphabet Venture Studio Ltd.
• The AIFC adopted the Intellectual Property Regulations,  aimed at strengthening and safeguarding the rights of creative content authors.
• A guide on personal data protection and artificial intelligence usage was published. To enhance its legal framework for data protection, the AIFC joined the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA).
• A new initiative, AIFC Community, was launched to provide participants with timely updates on the financial centre’s activities.
• The AIFC established the AIFC Business League, a community bringing together top executives, business owners, forward-thinking leaders and market investors on the Centre’s platform.

In 2024, the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) registered more than 1100 new participant companies, compared to over 600 in the previous year. To date, over 3500 companies from 85 countries—including the USA, UK, China, Turkiye and Singapore — are registered within the AIFC.

Among the companies registered in 2024, 36% are financial firms. Information and communications account for 10%, professional, scientific and technical activities make up 8%, mining contributes 8%, ancillary service providers represent 1%, wholesale and retail trade constitutes 18%, and the remaining 19% are from various non-financial sectors.

In Astana, the office of Amicorp Group was opened, making it the first global company within the AIFC jurisdiction to offer fund administration services. Regional offices of Euronews and the Telegram Group were also established, along with a joint venture by KTZ Express (a subsidiary of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy) and International Maritime Investments Ltd (a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports Company, UAE).

Four companies redomiciled to the AIFC jurisdiction from other locations, including Kaz Minerals from Luxembourg and Fix Price Group PLC from Cyprus.

In the first three quarters of this year, AIFC participants paid $86,5 million in taxes to Kazakhstan’s budget, which is $5,4 million more than the total amount paid during the previous year. Over the entire period of the AIFC’s operations, participants have contributed $278,4 million in taxes. In addition, 2353 jobs were created within the AIFC ecosystem in 2024, bringing the total number of jobs to 9600.

Experts from the AIFC Authority published eight reports covering topics such as fund management in Kazakhstan, sustainable finance in Central Asia, the Islamic finance market in Kazakhstan, commercial real estate and REIT market prospects, Kazakhstan’s mining and transport-logistics industries and other.

The AIFC Tech Hub continued its development as an innovation hub, attracting projects from various fields. The Tech Hub supported White Hill Capital in preparing an accelerator program aimed at scaling startups in the MENA region. Over 200 applications were submitted from startups across 10 countries, and 15 startups were selected to participate in the final acceleration stage in Saudi Arabia.

Capital market

Astana International Exchange (AIX) continues to develop, earning substantial recognition within the global investment community over the past six years. The 2024 results speak for themselves: the total trading volume of securities on AIX in 2024 exceeded $1,3 billion, surpassing the cumulative trading volume on AIX from the exchange’s launch in November 2018 to 31 December 2023.

The official listing included 133 new securities issuances (252 listings in total), comprising 7 equity instruments, 10 structured products and 116 debt instruments.

In 2024, 15 new companies became trading members, bringing the total to 50, nearly half of which are foreign companies. Additionally, 16 companies are engaged in custodial activities, with 6 joining in 2024.

The number of individual accounts opened by Kazakhstani investors through market participants in the AIX Central Depository has exceeded 1.9 million, reflecting a growing interest among retail investors in capital markets.

In the area of sustainable financing, AIX has introduced International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-REC), which confirm the generation of energy from renewable sources. Corresponding amendments were made to the AIX Trading Rules to facilitate this initiative.

Additionally, AIX has joined the Tabadul digital exchange hub established by the Abu Dhabi Exchange (ADX), enhancing liquidity and streamlining trading mechanisms. This collaboration provides cross-access to securities listed on both platforms, AIX and ADX, thereby improving liquidity and trading simplicity for investors. Under the Tabadul project, three UAE brokers became AIX trading members in 2024.

The AIX Qazaq Index has risen by 24% since the beginning of the year, with the addition of KEGOC, Air Astana, and Freedom Holding shares to its composition.

AIX witnessed the issuance of Kazakhstan’s first sukuk by Gamma-T SPC Limited, a subsidiary of Gamma-T LLP, which specializes in servicing coal mining enterprises.

The Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan successfully issued 10-year benchmark Eurobonds denominated in US dollars, totaling $1.5 billion with a coupon rate of 4.714% per annum. This issuance was listed on AIX, with a portion also offered on the LSE. The order volume on AIX reached $322 million, with AIX investors allocated nearly $190 million.

The Tabys App, AIX’s mobile application, introduced a new financial instrument for its users, expanding its product range with bonds from Solva Group Ltd., one of Kazakhstan’s largest microfinance organizations.

Digital assets and investment funds

This year, four new digital asset exchanges were registered within the FinTech Lab regulatory sandbox, alongside the successful migration of cryptocurrency exchanges Binance (BN KZ Technologies Limited) and Bybit (Bybit Limited) from the FinTech Lab regulatory sandbox to full regulatory status. Over 112 instruments have been approved for trading on digital asset exchanges. In 2024, the trading volume of digital asset service providers operating within the FinTech Lab regulatory sandbox exceeded $800 million, with a client base of more than 140 000 individuals. For comparison, in 2023, the trading volume was $324 million, and the client base stood at 53 000, reflecting a more than twofold increase in both trading volumes and client numbers.

The number of registered funds within the AIFC increased from 42 at the beginning of 2024 to 98 by the end of December 2024, while the number of fund and asset managers grew from 40 to 57. The total Assets Under Management (AUM) at the AIFC reached $1,25 billion as of December 2024.

Throughout the year, AFSA issued licenses to 47 companies providing financial services within the AIFC – twice the number issued last year – bringing the total to 126 financial companies. In addition, licenses were granted to 21 consultants (ancillary service providers), with the total number of licensed consultants exceeding 130.

Furthermore, in 2024, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) recognised the AIFC as a netting[1],-friendly jurisdiction and published the corresponding legal opinion.

AIFC Court and International Arbitration Centre

In 2024, the AIFC Court and IAC successfully completed and enforced over 1000 cases, comprising 53 court judgments and 954 settlements through arbitration and mediation. Since their inception, the AIFC Court and IAC have completed and enforced more than 3400 cases, including 151 court judgments, 734 arbitration awards, and 2523 mediation settlements. A total of 704 lawyers from 34 countries have registered within the AIFC Court to represent parties in proceedings. Such results are unprecedented for dispute resolution institutions within an international financial centre that has been operational for just seven years.

In 2024, the AIFC Court and IAC enhanced their global presence by establishing a world-class office in China, adding to the eight international offices previously opened across Eurasia.

Sustainable Finance

The AIFC Green Finance Centre (GFC) has solidified its position as a regional leader in supporting and promoting sustainable finance in Central Asia. By the end of 2024, approximately 70% of all green bonds and loans in Kazakhstan had been facilitated by the GFC. Since the launch of the sustainable finance market in 2020, bonds and loans worth a total of $1,69 billion have been issued, more than 3,5 times the total at the end of 2023.

The GFC continues to lead in the region by supporting the issuance of green and social bonds. It actively collaborates with issuers from Central Asia and the Caucasus, offering professional expertise at every stage of issuance.

Thus, with the support of the GFC, several issuances of green, social and sustainable bonds were carried out in 2024. For example, Unibank, one of Azerbaijan’s largest private banks, issued the country’s first green bonds worth 20 million manats ($11,8 million) on the Baku Stock Exchange. The Uzbekistan mortgage refinancing company issued its first green bonds on the Tashkent Stock Exchange, amounting to 50 billion sums (approximately $4 million).

With the Centre’s assistance, Development Bank of Kazakhstan JSC launched debut sustainable development bonds worth 100 billion tenge ($189,8 million) with a maturity of three years on the Vienna MTF.

PlanDeM, a Kyrgyz company specialising in renewable energy projects, issued its first green bonds worth 370 million yuan ($50,7 million) on the AIX.

The Industrial Development Fund JSC completed its first issuance of social bonds with a three-year maturity on the AIX. The funds raised were allocated for purchasing ambulances for the akimats of the Akmola and Kyzylorda regions.

Education             

The AIFC Academy trained 447 specialists in legal and financial programmes. More than 15 training sessions and courses were conducted to enhance the professional skills of employees from public and private organisations, with a particular focus on specialists involved in attracting foreign investments. Among the 70 participants were representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kazakh Invest, and deputy akims of regions and cities of national significance.

Additionally, the Academy attained Gold Agent status, becoming a partner of BARBRI, a global leader in technology-driven legal education.

Reference:

The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is an independent jurisdiction with a favourable legal and regulatory environment, offering developed infrastructure for starting and conducting business, attracting investment, creating jobs, and fostering economic growth in Kazakhstan. www.aifc.kz   

Contact for media

Ainur Issabayeva, Press Secretary

Tel: +7 701 777 65 58

E-mail: [email protected]

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[1] Close-out netting is a legal mechanism used in the financial industry to mitigate risk in the event of a counterparty default. It allows parties to a bilateral agreement to offset their obligations to each other, calculating a net amount that one party owes to the other, rather than settling each obligation individually.