EU and Central Asia Sign Digital Economy and Cybersecurity Framework at Samarkand Forum

Framework Content and Digital Governance Significance

The EU-Central Asia Digital Economy and Cybersecurity Cooperation Framework, signed October 17 at the opening plenary of the Samarkand Forum, consists of four operational chapters. The cybersecurity chapter establishes a pilot critical infrastructure incident information-sharing protocol between Kazakhstan — the region's most advanced digital economy — and the EU Agency for Cybersecurity, ENISA. The protocol, modelled on the EU's NIS2 Directive information-sharing mechanisms, will allow real-time notification of significant incidents affecting financial, energy, and transport infrastructure, enabling faster collective response and attribution analysis. Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan will join the protocol progressively as their national cyber incident response agencies develop compatible technical capabilities.

The data governance chapter addresses one of the most commercially significant regulatory barriers to EU-Central Asia digital commerce: divergent data localisation requirements. Kazakhstan, Russia, and China have all enacted data localisation laws that require personal data of nationals to be processed and stored on servers within the country. These requirements conflict with EU GDPR's transfer mechanisms and have effectively excluded some EU-based digital service providers from Central Asian markets. The framework commits the five Central Asian states to reviewing their localisation laws and exploring 'adequacy-lite' arrangements with the EU that would permit data flows under defined conditions — a significant regulatory concession that reflects the priority these governments attach to European commercial relationships.

Digital Hub, E-Government, and Disinformation Dimensions

The Digital Cooperation Hub to be established in Almaty, Kazakhstan's financial and technology capital, will serve as the operational centre for the framework's technical cooperation activities. Its mandate includes training programmes for Central Asian digital government officials, a centre of excellence for cybersecurity operations, and a platform for EU-Central Asia digital startup ecosystems and regulatory dialogue. The EU's EUR 180 million technical assistance allocation for e-government modernisation is the largest single EU digital cooperation programme in Central Asia, and covers priority areas identified by each country: Kazakhstan has prioritised digital identity and border management; Uzbekistan has focused on agricultural management platforms; and Kyrgyzstan has prioritised digital payment infrastructure.

The disinformation chapter reflects a shared concern among Central Asian governments and EU institutions about information environment manipulation, though each party's concerns have different targets. EU institutions focus on state-backed narrative campaigns that undermine democratic institutions; Central Asian governments are more focused on domestic destabilisation narratives regardless of origin. The framework establishes a joint rapid response mechanism for cross-border disinformation campaigns affecting bilateral relations, with common fact-checking protocols and coordination on platform engagement. EU media freedom conditions embedded in the cooperation framework were diplomatically sensitive, and the final text reflects compromises that preserve EU principles while avoiding formulations Central Asian governments would have rejected as interference in domestic press regulation.

Sources

• European External Action Service – Digital Economy and Cybersecurity Framework: Samarkand Forum
• Reuters – EU, Central Asia sign digital and cyber pact at Samarkand summit
• ENISA – EU-Kazakhstan critical infrastructure cyber incident sharing protocol launched