Oman is set to join the Eurasian Development Bank as a shareholder.
The Sultanate will become the first Gulf state in the bank’s membership and its eighth shareholder, expanding the EDB’s footprint beyond its traditional Eurasian focus, DKNews.kz reports.
The announcement was made by the Eurasian Development Bank. The agreement was signed in Astana during the state visit of Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said of Oman to Kazakhstan.
Oman will be the first Gulf state to join the EDB
Oman’s Ministry of Finance and the EDB signed an agreement setting out the terms of the bank’s presence in the Sultanate.
The document was signed by Oman’s Minister of Finance Sultan bin Salim Al Habsi and Nikolai Podguzov, Chairman of the Management Board of the Eurasian Development Bank. The ceremony was attended by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said and President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The key detail is Oman’s future status. The Sultanate will become the EDB’s eighth shareholder and the first member state from the Gulf region.
For the EDB, this marks an expansion of its shareholder base toward one of the Middle East’s major financial regions. Until now, the bank’s investment activity has been concentrated primarily across Eurasia.
The EDB sees closer ties between Central Asia and the Gulf
The bank has directly linked the agreement to deeper cooperation between the two regions.
“The agreement is a step toward closer ties between Central Asia and the Gulf region. We see significant potential here and will continue to develop this cooperation, including as part of the bank’s new strategy,” said Nikolai Podguzov, Chairman of the Management Board of the EDB.
At the same time, the announcement does not specify the size of Oman’s potential contribution to the bank’s capital or identify any projects that could be launched after it joins. No separate figures have been disclosed for possible financing in Kazakhstan either.
For now, the agreement is best viewed as an institutional step: the EDB gains a framework for operating in Oman, while a Gulf state joins its shareholder base.
Akorda
Why the agreement matters for Kazakhstan
The Kazakhstan connection is direct. The agreement was signed in Astana during the Omani Sultan’s state visit to Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
During the talks, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev described Oman as a time-tested and reliable partner of Kazakhstan in the Arab world. The visit also included high-level negotiations, the signing of several documents and a Kazakhstan-Oman business forum, according to official Kazakh government resources.
There is another direct link to Kazakhstan: the Eurasian Development Bank is headquartered in Almaty.
The addition of the first Gulf shareholder creates an additional institutional channel between the financial systems of Central Asia and the Gulf. However, it is still too early to speak of a direct increase in investment into Kazakh projects. That would require specific financing decisions, named projects and disclosed amounts.
The EDB has 348 projects worth $22.1 billion
The scale of the bank helps explain why the expansion of its shareholder base is significant. According to the EDB, by the end of June 2026 its accumulated portfolio included 348 projects with a total investment volume of $22.1 billion.
The portfolio is concentrated mainly in transport infrastructure, digital systems, green energy, agriculture, industry and mechanical engineering.
Under its 2022–2026 strategy, the EDB has also been implementing three megaprojects: the Central Asian Water and Energy Complex, the Eurasian Transport Framework and the Eurasian Commodity Distribution Network.
Against this backdrop, Oman’s entry stands out not because of a single announced deal, but because it changes the bank’s geographic profile. For the first time, a Gulf state is set to become an EDB shareholder.
