Kazakhstan and Georgia Push Mutual Capital Market Access in Tbilisi

Kazakhstan and Georgia used a gathering in Tbilisi this week to push ahead with plans for mutual access to each other's capital markets, building on a memorandum signed by their financial regulators in September. The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) said on 28 October that its AIFC Connect: Tbilisi 2026 event, hosted with the National Bank of Georgia, focused on turning that agreement into working market links. The AIFC put Kazakh investment in the Georgian economy at more than USD 500 million.

The event was held as part of the Tbilisi Finance Summit 2026. The National Bank of Georgia lists the summit for 27 October at the Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace, organised jointly by the central bank, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia and Singapore's Global Finance and Technology Network (GFTN), under the theme "Creating Regional Economic Corridors at the Intersection of Policy, Finance and Technology".

What the regulators agreed

The groundwork is a memorandum of understanding on "Mutual Access and Recognition in Financial Services" signed on 9 September by the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA), the AIFC's regulator, and the National Bank of Georgia during Astana Finance Days. According to AFSA, it covers capital markets and asset management and provides a basis for cross-border provision of financial services and cross-border listing of securities. The two authorities intend to work toward practical access arrangements for eligible market participants, subject to each jurisdiction's laws, and to step up supervisory cooperation and information exchange. The memorandum builds on a 2018 agreement between the two regulators.

When the memorandum was signed, Caspian Post reported that the two regulators would work to establish practical mechanisms for mutual market access that take account of both countries' laws and regulatory requirements.

Who was in the room

Speakers at the Tbilisi event, according to the AIFC, included Talgat Aduov, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Georgia; Ekaterine Mikabadze, First Vice-Governor of the National Bank of Georgia; Bakhtiyar Tleubekov, Chairman of the Management Board of the AIFC Authority; Irakli Gabriadze, Head of the Economic Development Corporation of Georgia; Birzhan Astayev, Chief Markets and Products Officer of the Astana International Exchange (AIX); and Evgeniya Bogdanova, Chief Executive Officer of AFSA.

A panel on cross-border business, infrastructure and investment brought in market participants from both sides, among them Halyk Bank Georgia, TBC Capital, Galt & Taggart and Kazakhstan's National Investment Holding Baiterek.

"Our priority is to turn this potential into tangible outcomes," Tleubekov said, referring to closer cooperation between financial institutions and cross-border investment.

The numbers behind the push

The AIFC cited bilateral trade of USD 184.5 million in 2025 and USD 53 million in January to April 2026. More than 600 companies with Georgian participation operate in Kazakhstan, and 20 Georgian companies are registered in the AIFC. The centre said it has attracted more than USD 28 billion of investment since its launch and has more than 6,800 registered companies from over 90 countries.

No new agreement was reported at the Tbilisi event itself. The work now is on the mechanics of access under the September memorandum.

What it means for business

For Georgian brokers and asset managers, a working access regime would open a route to investors and listings on the Astana International Exchange; for Kazakh firms, it would do the same in Tbilisi. Cross-border listing of securities, if it follows, would give companies in both countries another place to raise capital.

The talks also fit a wider pattern of Georgia and Kazakhstan tying their economies together along the Middle Corridor. CBJ reported on the transport side of that relationship in its coverage of the Kazakhstan-Georgia transport cooperation pact, and on the National Bank of Georgia's work on market infrastructure in its report on the treasury overhaul at Georgia's five largest banks.

The test will be whether the regulators publish concrete access rules, naming which firms qualify and on what terms. Until then, the memorandum sets a direction rather than a timetable.