The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) has announced a new satellite presence in Abu Dhabi, housed in the emirate's ADGM international financial center, to provide a conduit for GCC-based investors and corporates eyeing Central Asian markets.
The EDB, a multilateral financing platform founded by Russia and Kazakhstan, though now featuring membership across Central Asian states, has prioritized the Gulf in recent years, completing several successful local-currency bond issuances on the Astana Stock Exchange, led by Abu Dhabi-based banks, in 2025. According to EDB, trade between the regions has more than quadrupled in the past five years, while direct investment has nearly doubled; the growing ties also include fast-growing uptake of Islamic Finance instruments in Central Asia.
The first major vehicle envisioned for the new hub is an infrastructure credit fund, leveraging ADGM's regulatory advantages to offer Middle Eastern and international investors an efficient and secure structure for investing in the region's debt financing.
The fund will offer investors a diversified portfolio of projects where the EDB acts as a structuring partner and co-investor. Target sectors will include supporting development of the North-South Corridor, which could increase transit flows through Central Asia by 40% and halve the logistics distance for delivering goods from Gulf countries; investment in water supply and irrigation equipment; and solar and wind energy infrastructure (Abu Dhabi-based Masdar was called out in the announcement).
