The Kyrgyz Republic in Central Asia is located in a region of high seismicity and has suffered significant past earthquake losses. Two recent examples are the 1992 Suusamyr earthquake (Mw=7.2) and the 2008 Nura earthquake (Mw=6.6), which killed approximately 3% and 8% of the nearby settlement populations respectively. There is a clear awareness of the risk that earthquakes pose in the Kyrgyz Republic, and over the past decade the government and other stakeholders have accelerated their efforts to reduce this risk. In 2015, the World Bank commissioned a study, on behalf of the Kyrgyz Government, to provide a countrywide seismic hazard and risk assessment and to propose a comprehensive seismic risk reduction strategy. In this paper we summarise the methodology and results of the seismic risk assessment, and describe the seismic risk reduction strategy and recommendations, which are in line with the 2015 Sendai Framework. In addition to providing quantitative seismic risk results for the entire country, the study’s cost benefit analyses gave evidence to justify a new geographic focus for investment (the Ferghana Valley, in addition to the capital city Bishkek). The strategy included recommendations for physical measures such as prioritized reconstruction and retrofitting as well as recommendations related to the institutional and regulatory environment, disaster risk financing and the insurance sector. To communicate the work and translate it into practical risk reduction policy, the strategy integrated the state-of the-art quantitative risk results into a wider framework of appropriate recommendations tailored for government, local institutions and community stakeholders.