Oman is set to become the first Gulf state to join a Central Asia-led development bank. On October 6, Oman’s Ministry of Finance signed an agreement with the Eurasian Development Bank laying out the terms of the bank’s presence in the sultanate, a move that will make Oman the institution’s eighth shareholder and its first member from the Gulf region.
The signing happened in Astana during Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said’s state visit to Kazakhstan. Oman’s Finance Minister Sultan bin Salem Al Habsi signed for his government; Nikolai Podguzov, the bank’s chairman of the management board, signed for the EDB, with the Sultan and Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev looking on.
For Oman’s businesses, the practical value is access. The EDB is a multilateral lender that has operated for 20 years across Kazakhstan, Belarus, Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Uzbekistan. By June 2026 its investment portfolio stood at about $22.1 billion across 348 projects, concentrated in transport infrastructure, digital systems, green energy and agriculture. Membership gives Oman a seat in how that capital is directed, and the bank’s current strategy is focused on three large programs: Central Asia’s water and energy complex, the Eurasian transport network, and the region’s commodity distribution network.
The deal also fits Oman’s own positioning. The sultanate has been building trade and investment corridors that connect the Gulf to Central Asia, and the visit to Astana included talks on deepening economic ties and cooperation in the oil sector. For the EDB, Oman brings a Gulf foothold it has never had; the bank described the agreement as a step toward closer ties between Central Asia and the Gulf.
“This agreement reflects our shared intention to build a bridge between Central Asia and the Gulf region. We see significant potential in this partnership and are committed to deepening our cooperation, which is fully aligned with the Bank’s new strategy,” Podguzov said in a statement.
The signing is an agreement on the terms of the bank’s presence, not a completed accession. The EDB’s articles require member states to conclude agreements that establish the conditions for its operations before they take legal effect, so the next indicator to watch is formal ratification and Oman’s entry into the shareholder group. Once that happens, Omani projects become eligible for the bank’s long-term financing, and Gulf investors gain a co-investment channel into Central Asian infrastructure.
