In Central Asian countries, the volume and role of SWFs (sovereign wealth funds) have gradually increased. SWFs in Kazakhstan (NFRK, National Fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan) and Azerbaijan (SOFAZ, The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan) have increased notably in recent years because of growing incomes from energy exports. They were founded around same time: NFRK was established in 1999 and SOFAZ was established in 2000. They were also established in a similar manner, by presidential decrees. As of July 2012, total assets for NFRK is at 58.2 billion dollars and while the figure for SOFAZ is 32.6 billion dollars.
There are some similarities in the role and management strategies of SWFs in two countries. SWFs of two countries have the following similarities in terms of the roles.
First, SWFs serve stabilization functions for national economies, especially in the periods of crisis. The economies of the both Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan is very vulnerable because energy export depends on the global economic situation. In addition, the global economic situation is often unpredictable. If for no other purpose than for overcoming unpredictable economic crises, energy exporters like Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan need to prepare stabilization funds.
Second, SWFs can assist mid-term or long-term strategy for diversification of national economies. The proportion of energy in total exports of the two countries are high: 72% in Kazakhstan and 95% in Azerbaijan. It is vitally urgent that both countries develop industries in non-energy sectors; and the two countries have made various efforts for the purpose of diversifying their economies. In Kazakhstan, Samruk-Kazyna wealth fund was established to manage the principal government corporation. And in Azerbaijan, SWF is helping the AIC (Azerbaijan Investment Company) establish new companies in non-energy sectors.
Therefore, we can conclude that SWFs of the two countries have definite roles in short term stabilization programs and long term development strategies.
In terms of management strategies, SWFs of both countries have the following similarities. First, their investment strategies tend to be conservative. Most of their investment is concentrated in fixed assets of developed countries, while the volume of investment to shares is relatively low. As a result, the impacts on SWFs of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan from crashes in equity prices during the global financial crisis were low.
Second, SWFs of both countries are problematic in terms of transparency. In particular, SWF of Kazakhstan provides little information on its operations to the public. There is no published annual report or other documentation on investment strategy or performance. Unlike SWF of Azerbaijan, the SWF of Kazakhstan did not accept the Santiago Principles, which was established for accountability and transparency of SWFs in 2008.
In terms of the role of the President, Presidents in both countries have a critical role in decision-making processes of SWFs. Although there are committees within the SWFs, the presidents have the final say in all major issues. 
In the future, the assets of the two Central Asian countries will likely increase further. At the same time, the assets' roles in their respective national economies will be increased gradually, which means Korea will need to cooperate with SWFs of these countries. SWFs of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are willing to diversify their investment to financial sectors of developing countries, such as Korea. Therefore we need to attract investment of SWFs to the Korean financial sector.
On the other hand it is necessary for Korean companies to take part in SWF projects in Central Asian countries. Although these countries made efforts to diversify their economies, industry diversification has yet to be accomplished. Accordingly, there could be many projects with respect to the development of infrastructure and promoting the non-energy sector.
Also Korean companies can cooperate with SWFs for investment in another country. For this purpose, it is possible to combine technique, experience of Korean companies, and capital of SWFs of Central Asian countries.