Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has urged Eurasian Economic Union member states to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence across trade, logistics, industry, and agriculture, as Astana seeks to turn Kazakhstan AI development into a wider regional agenda.
Speaking on May 28 at the plenary session of the Fifth Eurasian Economic Forum in Astana, titled “The EAEU in the Global Digital Race: Betting on Artificial Intelligence,” Tokayev said digital transformation would be a decisive factor in the bloc’s global competitiveness.
The EAEU is a Russia-led bloc of countries which also includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan.
“It is critically important to intensify the adoption of new technologies, primarily artificial intelligence, in trade and logistics,” Tokayev said.
According to the Kazakh president, integrating national digital systems would allow member states to speed up customs procedures, process documents in real time, forecast cargo flows, and identify logistical bottlenecks.
Tokayev also called for the mutual recognition of digital signatures across the EAEU, arguing that such a step could significantly reduce business costs and increase trade volumes within the bloc.
He said the analytical capabilities of artificial intelligence could play a major role in strengthening industrial cooperation within the union, modernizing agriculture, and improving regional food security.
“The comprehensive application of new technologies will become the most important factor in ensuring dynamic economic growth for EAEU member states,” Tokayev said.
At the same time, the president warned that AI development should not deepen the “digital divide” between countries within the union.
During the forum, EAEU leaders were expected to adopt a joint declaration on the responsible development of artificial intelligence, an initiative first proposed by Kazakhstan in December 2025.
The document is intended to establish common approaches to economic digitalization and the safe deployment of AI technologies while taking into account the interests of all member states.
Tokayev said the current transformation of the global economy creates a “unique window of opportunity” for EAEU countries.
Citing international estimates, he noted that artificial intelligence could add approximately $7 trillion to global GDP over the next decade.
“The key question is whether we will be able to use digital technologies as an effective instrument for accelerated economic and social development,” Tokayev said.
Kazakhstan has increasingly promoted initiatives related to AI regulation and development in recent years, seeking to position itself as Central Asia’s leading AI hub. That said, its progress so far has been strongest in state-led digitalization rather than in globally competitive private-sector AI development. In the 2025 Oxford Insights Government AI Readiness Index, Kazakhstan ranked 60th out of 195 countries, up from 76th the previous year, making it the highest-ranked country in Central Asia.
The government has declared 2026 the Year of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, created a dedicated AI ministry, established an AI Development Council, and promoted the development of national computing infrastructure, including NVIDIA-based supercomputers and expanded data-center capacity. Authorities have also backed Alem.ai, an international AI center in Astana that includes education programs, startup support, research labs, and a planned AI research university.
Even so, Kazakhstan’s AI push remains heavily state-driven. The country still faces the harder task of turning official strategies and infrastructure projects into commercially viable AI products and measurable productivity gains across the wider economy.
As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Tokayev has also proposed creating an international body focused on AI ethics and the development of universal rules for regulating the technology.
Kazakhstan has also been developing a specialized university dedicated to artificial intelligence, part of a broader effort to expand domestic training and research capacity in the sector.
