Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov spoke at an international conference on the development of creative industries in St. Petersburg. The event was also attended by the prime ministers of Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and the Minister of Education of Turkmenistan. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Bektenov recalled that in March, following a referendum, Kazakhstan adopted a new Constitution that comes into force on July 1.
"For the first time, the continuity of the thousand-year history of the Great Steppe is enshrined at the constitutional level. A significant event was the international symposium held in May in Astana dedicated to studying the model of the steppe civilization of the 'Golden Horde,' which was attended by historians and cultural scientists from more than 20 countries," the prime minister noted.
According to him, the new Constitution also guarantees the protection of intellectual and creative activities, providing a foundation for the development of the creative industry.
The creative industry in Kazakhstan covers more than 40 types of activities and employs 150,000 people. The sector's gross value added grew by a quarter over the past year, reaching $3 billion. In the "Creative Outputs" category of the Global Innovation Index, the country rose by 32 positions in 2025.
Bektenov highlighted President Tokayev's initiative to create the Association of Creative Industries of the CIS countries — a format for joint projects and promotion of creative products.
The prime minister called AI a key element of economic development — 2026 has been declared the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence in Kazakhstan. As an example of the success of Kazakh specialists in this field, he cited Higgsfield, one of the world leaders in AI video generation.
Separately, Bektenov spoke about the digitalization of cultural heritage: a Digital Copy Bank with LiDAR scanning and 3D archiving has been launched, covering UNESCO sites — the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, the Tamgaly petroglyphs, and the underground mosques of Mangystau. The E-Museum platform with 300 museums is being developed, and the digitization of the "Golden Fund of Kazakh Cinema" continues — 43 films from the last century have already been restored.