Central Asia and the EDB: green finance in action – practices, lessons and tools for sustainable development
3 September 2025, Astana — As part of Astana Finance Days 2025, the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) and the Green Finance Centre of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) conducted a regional workshop titled Central Asia: Green Finance in Action. Tools, Successes and Lessons Learned. The event was held in a hybrid format, combining face-to-face and online interactions, bringing together over 100 participants, including representatives from public authorities, national development institutions and businesses from Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic.
The workshop’s main goal was to enable an open dialogue between participants in the green finance market and to promote expertise in this area. It provided a floor for participants to exchange experiences and present case studies from the countries of the region. Particular attention was paid to reducing the cost of borrowing, the preparation of a green taxonomy, the development of exchange and sovereign mechanisms, and the opportunities offered by multilateral development banks.
Ruslan Dalenov, Vice Chairman of the EDB Management Board, and Dr Ma Jun, Chairman of the Capacity-building Alliance of Sustainable Investment (CASI) and President of the Institute of Finance and Sustainability (IFS), addressed the participants with welcoming remarks.
Ruslan Dalenov, Vice Chairman of the EDB Management Board, commented: “Green finance is not just a trend, but a practical tool that opens up new opportunities for sustainable growth. For Central Asian countries, the transition to a low-carbon economy is becoming a source of meaningful investment, technological development and deeper international cooperation. The Eurasian Development Bank is already actively involved in financing sustainable development projects and is ready to strengthen its role as a platform that brings together investment, knowledge and dialogue. Since 2018, the Bank’s green portfolio has doubled and now stands at US $1.9 billion, including the construction of ten solar power plants and three wind farms in Kazakhstan with a combined capacity of 550 MW.”
In 2024, the EDB became the first bank in Central Asia to join the UNEP FI Principles for Responsible Banking, a global UN initiative that unites more than 300 banks from 80 countries. Since last year, the Bank has been systematically reflecting its achievements and key sustainability results in its Annual Report, which presents key data on its contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and other information.
The workshop has been hosted by the EDB Academy. The academy aims to develop the competences of government officials from EDB member countries, business partners and other private sector participants in project finance, investment market instruments, development bank operations, sustainable development and other areas.
Additional Information:
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is a multilateral development bank investing in Eurasia. For more than 19 years, the Bank has worked to strengthen and expand economic ties and foster comprehensive development in its member countries. By 2025, the EDB’s cumulative portfolio comprised 319 projects with a total investment of US $19.1 billion. Its portfolio consists principally of projects with an integration effect in transport infrastructure, digital systems, green energy, agriculture, manufacturing and mechanical engineering. The Bank adheres to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and ESG principles in its operations.
The EDB is implementing three mega-projects as part of its 2022–2026 Strategy: the Eurasian Transport Network, the Eurasian Agricultural Goods Distribution System and the Central Asian Water and Energy Complex.
The EDB Media Centre:
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