The cost of services offered by state-backed data centers in Kazakhstan is too high for many businesses, making overseas cloud providers a more economical alternative, financial analyst Rasul Rysmambetov said.
His comments come as Kazakhstan invests heavily in digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence technologies. Last year, the country launched what authorities described as Central Asia’s most powerful supercomputer, saying its capacity would be made available to startups, universities, and private companies developing AI solutions.
The government has also announced plans to create a Data Center Valley in the northeastern Pavlodar Region to support the digitalization of the economy.
However, Rysmambetov argued that the pricing of state-supported data centers limits their appeal to the private sector.
“A real digital economy is built on microservices, not giant buildings filled with computers,” Rysmambetov told the Atameken Business Forum. “Data centers depreciate at a tremendous pace. Today, state data centers in Kazakhstan charge prices so high that, as a financier, it is far cheaper and easier for me to buy cloud capacity directly in California.”
Rysmambetov said that despite economic growth and rising foreign investment, many Kazakhstanis have yet to see significant improvements in living standards. In his view, the key challenge is not attracting investment but converting it into jobs and productive industries.
He also argued that traditional investment incentives are losing effectiveness.
“Tax breaks, subsidies, and state support measures no longer create a competitive advantage. Instead, they often generate a dangerous environment for corruption,” he said. “What matters today is the quality of institutions and the speed of decision-making.”
According to Rysmambetov, Kazakhstan’s investor support system remains fragmented, with multiple agencies performing overlapping functions while coordination between central and regional authorities remains weak. As a result, some government directives are not implemented locally, requiring intervention by prosecutors to protect investors’ rights.
Rysmambetov identified rare earth metals and tungsten as among the sectors attracting the greatest investor interest. However, he warned that Kazakhstan risks repeating the resource-dependent model that characterized its oil industry if it focuses primarily on exporting raw materials rather than developing domestic processing industries.
“Foreign investors do not create growth, they join it,” he said. “Investors see a functioning economic model, recognize an opportunity, and participate in it. But if we ourselves do not believe in our development strategy, nobody from outside will come.”
Kazakhstan aims to attract $62.7 billion in investment this year, including $25.5 billion from foreign investors, as part of its economic development strategy.
