AIFC: Positioning Kazakhstan as Eurasia's Financial Hub

I love the idea of AIFC.

The Astana International Financial Centre is one of these innovations that are making Kazakhstan one of the top financial centres in Asia.

For many foreign onlookers, the idea of building a financial hub in the middle of the steppe seemed an unseamless pitch at the beginning.

But listen, 10 years later (11, really, it was founded in 2015), it sits as the top financial centre in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, over Istanbul, Warsaw, Prague, Tallinn and many others.

And its headquarters, in the old Expo 2017 building, is one of the most amazing buildings in all of the region (and all of the world). It is called the Kazakhstan Sphere, and it's one of the largest spherical structures in the world, with a diameter of 80 meters and a total height of 92 meters.

Since 2018, more than $20 billion has come to Kazakhstan via its AIFC. Almost 5,000 companies from 90 countries have registered. The skeptics’ voices dropped off somewhere around ten figures.

For us, geography is a competitive advantage. We’re between China and Europe; between Russian markets and the Middle East. 134 million people within reach. We built the AIFC to make sure all market players were welcome.

Within AIFC, market rules are unique. A feat that has allowed us to speak to investors in London or Hong Kong, this is what surprises them first: stability and rule of law.

Within AIFC, there is a stock exchange, the Astana International Exchange, where I have operated as well since its beginning, and where most national champions are listed.

My father's generation built the pipelines and the mines. Mine is building something different: a financial infrastructure that transcends any commodity boom or bust. My kids will grow up in Kazakhstan where you don't have to go abroad to raise capital.

There's still much to do. There's always much to do. But the groundwork is laid out. The capital is flowing in. The talent is popping up.

Back then, I would have to explain Kazakhstan to investors. Now they tell me how they plan to position themselves in Kazakhstan. That's what ten years can do for you.