Gitex Kazakhstan Closes with Landmark AI Deals

(MENAFN) The curtain fell Tuesday on a historic milestone for Central Asia's technology ambitions, as Gitex wrapped up its inaugural Central Asia and Caucasus edition in Almaty, Kazakhstan — drawing hundreds of global firms, top-tier investors, and government leaders united behind a singular push to accelerate artificial intelligence development across the region.

Over two days, the Gitex AI Kazakhstan forum brought together 336 tech enterprises and startups, upwards of 100 investors, and more than 200 speakers spanning 50 countries, including senior officials, industry experts, and private sector heavyweights.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, addressing attendees during a dedicated session, framed AI as a transformative economic force, stating that it acts as a new engine of growth and requires a unified system of data, processes, and people.

Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, Zhaslan Madiyev, used the occasion to underscore his country's accelerating digital rise, noting that Kazakhstan had cemented its status as the region's leading economy for digital transformation. He added that the nation now ranks within the global top 10 for the quality of digital services and the top 24 for e-government development — benchmarks that bolster its case as a premier destination for technology investment.

Trixie LohMirmand, CEO of Gitex Global, struck a confident tone on Kazakhstan's readiness for the global stage, saying the country possesses the people, commitment, and vision to participate in shaping the global intelligence economy.

Global technology titans — among them Cisco, Intel, Lenovo, Acer, Dell, Huawei, and Hikvision — used the platform to unveil solutions tailored to Central Asia's rapidly expanding digital infrastructure demands.

Landmark Agreements Signal Billion-Dollar Infrastructure Push
The forum's opening day delivered a flurry of high-stakes Memorandums of Understanding, signaling that Kazakhstan's digital ambitions are moving swiftly from vision to concrete investment.

In a pivotal dual agreement, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development announced plans to develop a Tier III/Tier IV data center campus with an initial capacity of 150 to 200 megawatts — purpose-built to attract global technology companies and hyperscale providers, and to anchor Kazakhstan's emergence as the region's foremost digital infrastructure hub.

Running in parallel, the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development and the Ministry of Energy jointly formalized plans for a dedicated combined-cycle gas turbine power plant powered by natural gas, alongside a complementary green energy project. The facility is designed to deliver a reliable, large-scale power supply for the data center campus, with the broader initiative targeting an eventual hyperscale capacity of between 300 megawatts and one gigawatt — a scale that would position Kazakhstan among the most significant digital infrastructure markets in the entire Eurasian corridor.

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