Kyrgyzstan is trying to stabilise a volatile business environment by diversifying its economy and employing an ombudsman to reassure investors. 

Azamat Jamankulov, Kyrgyzstan’s deputy minister of culture, tourism and information, and its head of the department of tourism, tells Courtney Fingar about his country’s opportunities for travel industry investment.

The central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan barely register in terms of global FDI share, making the presence of the IFC in the region all the more important. The corporation's director of Europe and central Asia tells Michal Kaczmarski how the IFC is helping these former Soviet republics make their voices heard.

The former Soviet republics that now make up the Commonwealth of Independent States have long been a fertile ground for German investors. This association is continuing to pay dividends, with German companies reaping the benefits of doing business in countries in which others in the West are more cautious about entering.

Across central Asia, from China to Kazakhstan, economies are set to benefit from the re-opening of trade routes along the historic Silk Road. Significant investment has already been made to improve the infrastructure along the route, but further investment, more cohesion between the central Asian countries involved and more politically stability in the region as a whole is needed if this great passageway between Asia and Europe is to return to its former glory.
 

Despite two revolutions in five years, Kyrgyzstan remains in some ways an easier investment proposition than its neighbours, and tax and regulatory improvements are intended to keep its small but growing FDI stocks on the rise.

The acting chairperson of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic tells Philip Alexanderhow she responded to the overthrow of the country's government in April 2010, and sets out the fate of AUG, the country's largest bank