Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov participated in the Forum of Presidents of the Alliance of Asian Universities (AAU), held in Astana within the framework of the organization's annual Summit.

The Summit is one of the key events of the Alliance and a kind of platform where scientists, researchers and policy makers can discuss current problems and trends in higher education. This year it is hosted by Nazarbayev University.

The Prime Minister noted that the event marks the first face-to-face meeting of Alliance university leaders since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

"The rapid transformations in the world caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the technological revolution, the development of artificial intelligence and other factors are increasing the need for innovative solutions in various fields, especially education," Alikhan Smailov said.

He stressed that, given the global trends, Kazakhstan plans to bring the level of funding for scientific research to 1% of GDP by 2027. In addition, against the background of the rapid pace of digitalization of all sectors of the economy, the government is working to form a digital architecture of higher education institutions to properly prepare future participants in the labor market.

In parallel, cooperation with prestigious foreign universities is being strengthened. For example, four international universities have already opened branches in Kazakhstan's regions. They include the University of Arizona and Heriot-Watt University. At least nine more well-known universities are planned to be invited by 2029.

"Initiatives are also underway to transform Kazakhstan's regional universities into educational institutions of the international level. To this end, work is underway to equip them and create research laboratories. These centers will contribute to academic and scientific development, raising standards in the regions," Alikhan Smailov said.

For reference: The Alliance of Asian Universities is a non-profit organization founded in 2017 to promote academic and cultural cooperation among its member universities. It includes 15 universities from across Asia, including leading universities from China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and other countries.

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