ASTANA – Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom seek closer cooperation in infrastructure development. Astana hosted the Build Together infrastructure roundtable on Feb. 18, gathering government representatives, investors, and businesses to explore the nation’s rapidly evolving infrastructure landscape. 

The roundtable saw the mutual interest in fostering a stronger partnership, with both governments and businesses keen to translate discussions into tangible outcomes. 

U.K. Ambassador to Kazakhstan Kathy Leach said countries globally share a joint challenge of “how to build 21st century infrastructure,” which also entails considering green transition, dealing with climate change impacts and growing urbanization.

Ambassador Kathy Leach. Photo credit: Aida Dosbergenova/ The Astana Times

“These issues are particularly acute for Kazakhstan, which is a continent-sized country and the ninth-largest country in the world. With a legacy of the Soviet era, energy, water, transport and logistics infrastructure now really needs to be brought into the 21st century,” said Leach. 

In 2024, Kazakhstan endorsed the National Infrastructure Plan through 2029. The document, which includes 204 projects, cut across four key areas. They are energy infrastructure, transport infrastructure, water supply and wastewater infrastructure and digital infrastructure.

“This is a major plan, and the question is how to design, build, procure, project, manage and finance such ambitious infrastructure,” she added.

The roundtable saw the mutual interest in fostering a stronger partnership, with both governments and businesses keen to translate discussions into tangible outcomes. 

U.K. expertise  

The ambassador highlighted U.K. engineering expertise. 

“The U.K. has a long tradition of engineering excellence – from the extraordinary bridges, suspension bridges of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, one of our most famous engineers from the 19th century through to the 25-kilometer underground Thames Tideway Tunnel, or otherwise known as the London super sewer, which went into full service just last week, helping to keep River Thames in London clean and again, updating our water infrastructure, some of which still relies on some of the infrastructure built in the 19th century,” she said. 

But beyond expertise, the U.K. can also offer expertise in financing, as the latter often remains a challenge. 

“That is why we feel now is a great moment to launch this Build Together program for 2025, our new initiative for this coming year,” she added. 

“We want to share our experience and our perspective gained from the U.K. and around the world on how public infrastructure policy can be designed to ensure that major infrastructure developments can be built quickly and deliver benefit as fast as possible to local communities, as well as looking after the environment,” she said. 

Kazakhstan’s infrastructure priorities 

Representatives from key Kazakh ministries, including the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of Industry and Construction, provided insights into the country’s infrastructure priorities. Officials outlined the government’s strategic focus on the modernization of water systems, the expansion of road networks, and the modernization of communal utilities, all of which align with Kazakhstan’s broader economic diversification efforts.

Vice Minister of Water and Irrigation Yerbolat Ibraikhanov highlighted the urgency of modernizing the nation’s water infrastructure. 

Government representatives outlined Kazakhstan’s key infrastructure priorities. Ambassador Kathy Leach. Photo credit: Aida Dosbergenova/ The Astana Times

“In the face of climate change, water resources, which play a key role in every country’s sustainable development, require revision of the current approaches to water resources management. Floods and draughts substantially increase the strain on water systems, which creates the need to adapt to new realities by building resilience to climate risks and developing new technologies for more efficient and wise use of water resources,” said the Kazakh official. 

The average volume of Kazakhstan’s water resources is 106 cubic kilometers. Of this, 44.3% comes from transboundary rivers shared with China, Uzbekistan, Russia, and the Kyrgyz Republic. 

Experts forecast that the water deficit may reach 12-15 cubic kilometers. Measures to mitigate this scenario are envisioned in the two documents developed and adopted by the ministry in 2024, said Ibraikhanov.

They include the Concept of Water Resources Management System Development until 2030 and the Comprehensive Water Sector Development Plan until 2028.

The comprehensive plan includes 160 diverse measures, with funding provided from the national and local budgets, as well as extrabudgetary sources. The total financing will amount to 3.1 trillion tenge (US$6.2 billion), with 40% allocated for the restoration and modernization of irrigation canals.

“The comprehensive plan envisions the construction of 42 new water reservoirs, reconstruction of 37 hydraulic structures, and building and rebuilding of nearly 14,000 kilometers of irrigation canals and introducing water-saving technologies across 150,000 hectares per year. Overall, if all these tasks are met in a timely manner, by 2030, up to 10 cubic kilometers of water can be accumulated and saved,” he said.  

“When looking at the regions in terms of the construction of new reservoirs, the facilities located in the northern, western, and eastern regions are primarily aimed at retaining flood and meltwater to reduce the risk of flooding in 216 rural settlements, home to more than 850,000 people. The total volume of accumulated water resources in these regions will exceed 1.5 cubic kilometers,” he said.

Ibraikhanov expressed interest in collaborating with U.K. firms that are experienced in this sector. He suggested several areas where the British experience would be most efficient. 

“First, exchanging experience in flood management, forecasting, and mitigation, particularly learning from the U.K. expertise in modern technologies for flood monitoring and prediction, including satellite observation, artificial intelligence, and hydrological modeling. The implementation of continuous early warning systems will help minimize risks and reduce flood damage,” said the Kazakh official. 

He noted that British companies are also welcome to participate in the modernization of water management facilities and irrigation systems in Kazakhstan. 

“Also, sharing experiences in attracting private investments, water conservation, and digitalization, as well as reviewing successful U.K. public-private partnership models in the water sector,” he said. 

Besides water management, discussions also covered transport and communal utilities. 

“There are nearly 168,000 kilometers of roads in Kazakhstan,” said Bakhtiyar Zhambyl, deputy chairman of the Transport Ministry’s Committee of Highways. 

Zhambyl mentioned a major road infrastructure development plan to be implemented by 2030. The project includes the construction of 4,700 kilometers of new roads, with a total investment of 7.2 trillion tenge (US$14.4 billion). 

Insights from U.K.

Stuart Senior. Ambassador Kathy Leach. Photo credit: Aida Dosbergenova/ The Astana Times

Speaking on behalf of the U.K. Government’s Department for Business and Trade Infrastructure Exports Initiative (IE:UK), Stuart Senior emphasized the U.K.’s expertise in delivering world-class infrastructure projects. 

“The IE:UK provides solutions to complex, large infrastructure projects overseas. The IE:UK brings together industry expertise, innovators in the supply chain, and U.K. government support to enable clients to accelerate projects,” he said. 

According to him, companies in the IE:UK companies represent the “best of British” in consulting, professional services, construction and operational excellence. 

“We offer a whole Team U.K. consortia approach, bringing together the U.K.’s renowned global infrastructure expertise whilst building local partnerships and leaving a positive legacy of enhanced knowledge and skills in local communities,” he said.