SEOUL, October 15 (AJP) - Kazakhstan is betting big on its flagship plan to build a new innovation and AI hub in the Alatau region, located near the borders with Russia and China, and is seeking close partnership with South Korea based on their shared history and development aspirations, officials said Wednesday.
The Kazakh government launched a high-profile roadshow titled “Alatau, Rise with Kazakhstan” in Seoul to promote the initiative.
The Alatau City project, now designated a national development priority, aims to build Central Asia’s largest smart city in the Alatau area north of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city. The new city will span about 880 square kilometers and be developed in phases through 2048. It is envisioned as the centerpiece of Kazakhstan’s transformation from a resource-dependent economy into a high-tech industrial hub.
“Alatau City will become a new hub of investment and innovation,” said Deputy Prime Minister Qanat Bozymbaev in his keynote speech. “We see strong potential for partnership with South Korean companies. By combining Kazakhstan’s human and infrastructure resources with Korea’s technological expertise, the project will create powerful synergy and reach a higher level.”
Chairman of Caspian Group Yuriy Tskhay speaks at the Alatau City event hosted by the Kazakh government in central Seoul on Oct. 15, 2025. Aju Press Han Jun-guTskhay, who leads the city’s development, recalled his first visit to Seoul during the 1988 Olympics as an ethnic Korean from the former Soviet Union.
“At that time, I never imagined that in 2025, we Kareisky from Kazakhstan would be hosting such a large-scale event in Korea,” he said, referring to ethnic Koreans living abroad. “The Alatau City project, now a national priority, has the full support of Kazakhstan’s Korean community. One of the reasons we chose Korea as the first stop of the roadshow is our long-standing historical connection,” he added.
reporter
Im Yoon-seo
lyseo0330@ajupress.com
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