President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, in an interview to Turkistan newspaper explained why the development of digitalization and artificial intelligence has become a strategic priority and what steps are planned to achieve the set goals, El.kz reports.
Answering a question on his Address to the Nation, the President emphasized the fundamental nature of the chosen course.
“Kazakhstan must become a digital power. This is a matter of our collective survival as a civilized country in a new technological era,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.
President emphasised that Kazakh people mentally are ready for this kind of innovation.
"Today, wide changes have occurred in life of our people due to impact of well-known fintech companies operating successfully in Kazakhstan,” the Head of State said.
The President drew attention to the global context of artificial intelligence development, pointing to the intensifying competition among leading powers.
According to Tokayev, “the US President has announced the launch of a special program designed to strengthen US dominance, but China is viewing this as a matter of national dignity. Around five thousand companies there are already engaged in artificial intelligence-related activities.”
Against this backdrop, Kazakhstan has also made a conscious choice to introduce the artificial intelligence into the economy and public life. The country has a fairly good initial opportunities, achievements in the digitalization of public services, fintech, and a number of sectors of the economy.
“A full-fledged ecosystem to support IT startups is functioning effectively; the Astana Hub innovation cluster is operating, bringing together two thousand companies,” he said.
The President also reported that total exports of IT services amounted to $1 billion by the end of 2025. According to him, a pilot CryptoCity zone for digital assets is being created, while a construction of the accelerated development city Alatau City has began.
Head of state also drew attention to analysis of government data which experts call as the new gold of the coming era.
The Head of State also recalled the formation of an institutional framework for AI development.
“In May last year, the Council for the Development of Artificial Intelligence began its work with the participation of leading international and domestic experts,” the President said.
He also noted that in November the Law “On Artificial Intelligence” was signed and will soon enter into force and that the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development has been established. Two supercomputers have been launched in Kazakhstan - Alem.Cloud and Al-Farabium. A separate platform has been created by the Astana akimat in cooperation with a well-known Emirati company.
The President paid special attention to personnel training.
“Educational programs are being implemented at the level of schools and universities to train specialized personnel,” he noted.
As an example, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pointed to the scale of training, emphasizing:
“Over 650,000 students have completed training under the AI Sana program.”
According to him, a specialized AI research university is expected to be opened in the near future.
The Head of State outlined the strategic importance of the chosen direction.
“With the emergence of artificial intelligence, a kind of turning point has been created between countries that will manage to enter the future and those that will remain in the past,” the President said.