The corporate green bond market in Kazakhstan is showing impressive growth, affirming the country's leadership in sustainable finance in Central Asia. Manas Gijduaniev, CEO of the Astana International Financial Centre's (AIFC) Green Finance Centre, told Daryo.uz that, despite Kazakhstan only beginning to issue green bonds in 2020, the country has made significant strides in this area.
We started issuing green bonds with a relatively small amount— KZT 200mn (nearly $415,000). This issuance was supported by Union Financial, which subsidized the interest rate and helped identify projects that met the criteria for so-called green initiatives. Since then, the sustainable finance market in Kazakhstan has actively developed, and it has now reached $4bn. Given that the market began to grow just a few years ago, this is substantial progress,
- said Gijduaniev.
He added that Kazakhstan is sharing its experience with neighbouring countries. In Kyrgyzstan, there have already been two green bond issuances between banks, one of which was aimed at supporting women-led businesses.
Uzbekistan is also seeing growth in this market. Gijduaniev mentioned that they are currently working with a major quasi-governmental company in Uzbekistan, which plans to issue green bonds on the stock exchange. This issuance, scheduled for September 10, will be linked to sovereign bonds.
The first green bond issuance in Uzbekistan took place in 2020, and in 2021, one of the country's banks became one of the first in the world to use this financial instrument.
This was a significant event, as very few countries were issuing such bonds at the time,
- emphasized Gijduaniev.
Following this successful start, Uzbekistan has been actively attracting investments in green construction, transport, and water supply projects. Issuances on the London Stock Exchange have become an important step in implementing the country’s sustainable development strategy.
Gijduaniev added that the AIFC was established to promote sustainable finance and green bonds in the region.
In the beginning, Kazakhstan and Central Asia had little understanding of what green finance was. Therefore, in 2019-2020, we focused on educating key market players by inviting leading experts in the field of ESG, which significantly contributed to launching the market,
- he explained.
He also noted that Kazakhstan developed its taxonomy of green projects, which was approved by the government in 2021. It included new economic sectors, including transition projects such as the shift from coal to gas and the development of nuclear energy, allowing for more flexible achievement of environmental goals.
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