Kazakhstan Plans to Introduce AI Tools in Sports and Tourism

Kazakhstan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence in its sports and tourism sectors after Tourism and Sports Minister Yerbol Myrzabosynov held talks with leading AI expert Kai-Fu Lee, CEO of 01.AI and chairman of Sinovation Ventures. According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the meeting in Astana focused on the introduction of AI technologies in sports and tourism, as well as the exchange of experience in digital transformation. Myrzabosynov said AI development is one of Kazakhstan’s strategic priorities and that digitalization could significantly improve efficiency in both sectors. A key topic was the creation of a unified digital platform, e-Sport, which will consolidate data on athletes, coaches, referees, sports organizations, and competitions. The ministry said future AI integration will include tools to analyze training processes, develop personalized recovery and nutrition recommendations, prevent injuries, and improve athletes’ techniques and tactics through video analysis. Kazakhstan began rolling out its Digital Platform for Physical Culture and Sports, known as e-Sport, at the end of last year. In addition to maintaining registries of athletes, teams, coaches, and referees, the platform allows for electronic confirmation of sports qualifications and memberships, while also containing a database of sports facilities across the country. The ministry said the system is being developed jointly with sports federations and regional authorities, and that by the end of 2025 it was already being used by 83 federations and 50 organizations. A similar digital platform is now planned for tourism. According to Myrzabosynov, the system will combine information on tourist sites, travel routes, hotels, national parks, and visitor flows. The next stage will involve the introduction of an intelligent digital assistant capable of building personalized travel routes, providing multilingual information, and accompanying tourists throughout their journeys. Lee said Kazakhstan has strong tourism potential and noted that AI could significantly improve service quality. He also said AI could be used to create digital assistants with translation and navigation functions for foreign visitors, as well as to analyze tourist flows, forecast demand, and produce analytics to support management decisions. The ministry said the talks also covered possible joint work on AI tools for sports and tourism. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Kazakhstan’s former world boxing champion Gennady Golovkin, who was named president of World Boxing last year, has also pledged to use AI in boxing governance. His plans include AI-assisted judging oversight and the development of the Digital Ringside platform, which would publish fight data, athlete profiles, and real-time explanations of judges’ decisions.

Tokayev Says Kazakhstan Offers Healthcare Benefits Unavailable in Some Western Countries

Kazakhstan provides its citizens with a range of social guarantees that, according to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, are unavailable even in some of the world’s most developed countries. Tokayev made the remarks during an awards ceremony for healthcare workers ahead of their professional holiday. Kazakhstan marks Medical Workers’ Day annually on the third Sunday of June, which falls on June 21 this year. Speaking at the ceremony, Tokayev said Kazakhstan remains a social state and that fulfilling social obligations is a constitutional responsibility of all branches of government. He noted that more than 9 trillion tenge, or almost $18 billion, was allocated from the national budget for social spending last year alone. “The implementation of the Guaranteed Volume of Free Medical Care Program is also a constitutional obligation. This is a unique program with no equivalent abroad, at least in terms of the scale of free medical services provided,” Tokayev said. He also pointed to maternity benefits as another example. “Women in Kazakhstan receive three years of maternity leave with payments and job security. These are unique conditions for young mothers. I worked in the West, particularly in Switzerland, and studied their system. Such arrangements do not exist there or in other Western countries,” he said. Tokayev added that Kazakhstan is developing as a regional center for medical tourism, citing high treatment standards and competitive pricing. Earlier this month, Tourism and Sports Minister Yerbol Myrzabosynov reported that about 80,000 foreign patients had received medical care in Kazakhstan. Tokayev linked much of the sector’s progress to accelerated digitalization in healthcare. “Kazakhstan has actively begun introducing advanced technologies across all sectors, including medicine. This has given a new impulse to the development of our healthcare system,” he said. According to the president, the use of digital technologies has reduced diagnostic times by four times and increased the detection rate of malignant tumors by 30%. Artificial intelligence tools are now assisting doctors in making complex clinical decisions. More than 1,800 medical institutions across the country have switched to digital systems, while the integration of healthcare information platforms has reduced administrative costs by up to 40%, he said. Tokayev also highlighted the government’s efforts to improve the social standing of healthcare workers. He said state support for medical professionals has increased seven times over the past three years, with wages rising gradually. This year, Kazakhstan allocated 33 billion tenge, or about $67.4 million, for salary increases and additional support measures. “These initiatives have helped stabilize the staffing of the healthcare system,” Tokayev said. “New specialized scientific institutes, multidisciplinary hospitals, modern clinics, and perinatal centers are being launched in the capital and the regions. The government must now carry out a large-scale renovation of the entire healthcare infrastructure and modernize its material and technical base.” As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Kazakhstan opened Central Asia’s first Brain Research Institute this summer. Tokayev also announced last autumn that science cities would be established in Almaty and Kurchatov, with nuclear medicine among the planned research...