Trilateral Memorandum on the Creation of a "Data Centre Valley" Signed at GITEX AI Kazakhstan- Kazakhstan Builds an AI Token Economy

Kazakhstan is laying the foundation for a regional AI hub as part of the large-scale Kazakhstan Data Center Valley initiative. On the sidelines of the international technology exhibition GITEX 2026, a strategic memorandum was signed outlining the contours of the future digital landscape of Central Eurasia.

The Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, Kazakhtelecom JSC, and UAE technology giant Presight have joined forces to implement this ambitious project. The document was signed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev, Chairman of the Board of Kazakhtelecom JSC Bagdat Musin, and Presight CEO Thomas Pramotedham.

The Kazakhstan Data Center Valley initiative is designed to be an assembly point for global technology players, offering them access to unprecedented computing capacity. The vision is to create an ecosystem comparable to the world's leading IT clusters, where the synergy of affordable energy, high digital connectivity, and advanced GPU/HPC infrastructure will enable the processing of the most complex artificial intelligence algorithms. A large site of approximately 200 hectares near powerful generating stations in the city of Ekibastuz has already been designated for the project, with the potential to expand to 1,300 hectares, guaranteeing a stable energy supply that is critical for major IT operators.

"In line with the Head of State's instructions on the development of artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, and the new economy, we are proceeding with the implementation of the Data Center Valley project. This is a step towards a new economic model in which energy, infrastructure, and data are transformed into computing power, AI services, and digital products with export potential.

We are creating conditions under which Kazakhstan becomes the primary gravitational centre for AI development in the region. By combining national resources with Presight's international expertise and Kazakhtelecom's technical capabilities, we are building a powerful foundation for a new digital economy.

Kazakhstan is transitioning to a token economy through the export of AI computing. This means that the country's computing potential can acquire a new form of economic circulation through tokenised services, digital contracts, and products in demand on the global market.

The project will serve as a platform for the deployment of large-scale solutions in the areas of smart cities, energy, industry, and public administration, and will enable Kazakhstan to strengthen its position as a regional AI infrastructure and technology leadership hub," stressed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev.

Under the memorandum, the parties will focus on deploying high-performance systems, constructing hyperscale data centres, and developing a flexible regulatory framework.

According to Bagdat Musin, Chairman of the Board of Kazakhtelecom JSC, cooperation with part of the G42 ecosystem gives access to cutting-edge expertise in big data and AI deployment at a national level. Kazakhstan is ready to offer global players the best conditions: from affordable energy to high digital connectivity.

The core objective of the project is to attract the world's largest IT and AI companies to Kazakhstan. The localisation of digital services will not only strengthen technological sovereignty but will also create unique conditions for the export of digital services, AI computing, and new digital products to the global market. In the longer term, such infrastructure could serve as the foundation for the development of tokenised services, where computing capacity and digital value take on new forms of economic circulation.

Presight CEO Thomas Pramotedham noted that the company views Kazakhstan as one of the key centres for the development of sovereign artificial intelligence in Central Asia. In his words, this is the foundation of a new digital economy in which computing capacity becomes as strategic a resource as energy or transport, and the platform being created will enable AI solutions to be scaled at the state level.

It is worth noting that a data centre is the heart of the modern digital economy — a specialised facility housing thousands of servers that underpin the operations of banks, government services, cloud storage platforms, and the latest AI-powered applications. The Data Center Valley is designed to concentrate such capacity in a single territory, transforming Kazakhstan into a key node in the global architecture of the future.