BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 14. The Eurasian
Development Bank (EDB), together with Kyrgyzstan’s Central
Depository and the Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund, is launching a
technical assistance project to modernize the country’s securities
infrastructure.
This was announced by the press service of the EDB.
The project will upgrade the Central Depository’s accounting
system and IT infrastructure, digitize document exchange with
professional securities market participants, introduce real-time
data exchange on securities transactions, and integrate the
depository with the Kyrgyz Stock Exchange and other registries.
The initiative also includes improvements to business processes
and the regulatory framework, as well as professional training for
specialists.
The project follows an earlier EDB-RKRF initiative to upgrade
the IT infrastructure of the Kyrgyz Stock Exchange, creating a
broader digital foundation for the country’s securities market.
"Modernizing the Central Depository will increase the reliability
and speed of securities transactions, expand digital interaction
between market participants, and create a technological foundation
for further financial sector development," said Alexey Skatin, EDB
Deputy Chairman.
"This is a strategic project for the Central Depository. It will
enable us to achieve a new level of digitalization, automate key
processes, ensure real-time information exchange, and improve
service quality for all securities market participants," said
Anarkun Nogoybaeva, Central Depository General Director.
The project is being implemented as Kyrgyzstan seeks to maintain
strong economic momentum. Speaking at the EDB Annual Meeting and
Business Forum in Almaty in June, Kyrgyz Economy and Commerce
Minister Bakyt Sydykov said the country’s GDP grew by 12.2% in
January–May 2026, supported by domestic demand, investment
activity, industrial production, construction, services and foreign
trade.
Sydykov said Kyrgyzstan’s National Development Strategy through
2030 aims to maintain annual economic growth of at least 8%, with
priorities including industrial development, transport and
logistics, energy, agriculture, tourism and digital transformation.
He stressed that the key challenge is not a lack of development
ideas but the ability to convert them into investment-ready
projects meeting the requirements of international financial
institutions and investors.
Trend’s analysis
shows that the EDB-backed modernization addresses a structural
challenge for Kyrgyzstan’s capital market: market activity has
expanded faster than the infrastructure supporting transactions and
settlement. Kyrgyzstan’s stock market capitalization reached $3.38
billion in May 2026, an all-time high. The Kyrgyz Stock Exchange
main index increased by 15.8% in 2025, indicating growing market
activity.
Trend’s
calculations show that Kyrgyzstan’s stock market capitalization of
$3.38 billion remains at an early stage of development compared
with larger Central Asian markets, creating substantial room for
growth. As market infrastructure improves and regional financial
connectivity expands, stronger post-trade systems could support
higher investor activity and broader capital market
participation.
At the same time, the market remains relatively small compared
with the size of the economy. Trend’s calculations show that Kyrgyzstan’s stock
market capitalization accounts for roughly 17% of GDP, indicating
significant room for deeper financial intermediation through
capital markets.
The Central Depository is a critical component of this
development process, as it provides the infrastructure for
recording securities ownership, processing transactions, and
ensuring settlement reliability. Modernizing these functions can
improve transparency and reduce operational barriers for both
domestic and foreign investors. The sequential approach — first
upgrading exchange infrastructure and then modernizing the
depository — reflects a broader effort to build an integrated
digital securities market. For Kyrgyzstan, the next stage of
capital market growth will depend not only on attracting new
issuers but also on ensuring that financial infrastructure can
support larger transaction volumes and more sophisticated
investors.
The EDB project therefore represents more than a technology
upgrade: it is part of the institutional foundation needed for
Kyrgyzstan to translate economic growth into broader access to
investment financing.
