CAREC Institute Addresses Trade Barriers and Inequality at Central Asian Economics Conference 2025

The Central Asian Economics Conference 2025, held at Nazarbayev University from August 29 to 31, wrapped up with robust discussions on critical regional issues in Central Asian region like international trade, economic inequality, climate change and policy reforms. The event drew economists from Central Asia and beyond, featuring keynote speeches on global energy shifts and advanced economic analysis, alongside sessions covering topics from corporate finance to climate policy.

Notable contributions came from Dr. Elvira Kurmanalieva, Senior Economist with the CAREC Institute’s Chief Economist Team, who presented a poster on infrastructure and trade costs in the CAREC region, and Dr. Kuat Akizhanov, CAREC Institute’s Deputy Director Two, who explored Kazakhstan’s inequality challenges in a session on environment, climate, and resource policy.

Poster presentation by Dr. Kurmanalieva highlighted how better infrastructure and cross-border connectivity could significantly cut trade costs, especially for landlocked CAREC countries. Using network analysis and data from 200 nations, she showed that a 1% improvement in connectivity could reduce trade costs by up to 0.06%, with countries gaining most from transport and logistics investments. She urged regional leaders to commit to long-term infrastructure projects, strengthen cross-border cooperation on physical and regulatory frameworks, warning that neglecting these efforts risks stunting economic growth due to geographic isolation.

Dr. Akizhanov took aim at mainstream economics for ignoring historical and power dynamics in Kazakhstan, where the wealthiest 1% hold over 25% of national wealth while the bottom 50% scrape by with less than 5%. Citing thinkers like Keynes and Polanyi, he tied growing inequality to neoliberal policies since the 1990s, including privatization and elite influence, and called for a shift to broader, pluralistic approaches that weave in politics and institutional reform. He pushed for policies tackling root issues like regressive taxes and informal labor markets, stressing that equitable growth means moving beyond poverty reduction to directly address concentrated wealth at the top.