In his address, the Head of State highlighted his special focus on issues related to digitization and innovation implementation. He acknowledged Kazakhstan's achievements in digitization, ranking among global leaders in the index of e-government development and fintech. The export volume of the domestic IT industry has surged fivefold in the past year alone, reaching a potential $500 million by the end of the current year. However, the government's new target is to propel IT service exports to reach one billion dollars by 2026.

President Tokayev underscored the role of venture financing in launching innovative projects and stressed the need to address all legal and financial matters to attract interest from both domestic and foreign investors. He also emphasized the importance of expanding the innovation ecosystem at the regional level, creating conditions for the development of talented and creative individuals across the country.

"I set the task to build a comprehensive innovation ecosystem in all regional centers in close coordination with the real sector, based on regional universities. We should widely scale the experience of Astana Hub," highlighted President Tokayev.

The development of regional IT hubs is a priority for Astana Hub, aiming to open 14 regional IT hubs across the country this year. Initiated by the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, with the support of Astana Hub and local executive bodies, eight IT hubs have already been established in Semey, Kyzylorda, Taldykorgan, Taraz, Oskemen, Uralsk, Turkistan, and Aktobe.

For the full text of the President's Address to the people of Kazakhstan, please refer to: link to the official website