Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov held a meeting with CEO, President and Chairman of the Board at EPAM Systems Arkadiy Dobkin,El.kz reports citing primeminister.kz.
The meeting discussed the prospects for joint projects in the field of digitalization, IT education and the development of the technological ecosystem of Kazakhstan. The parties considered current global trends and opportunities for creating new business solutions and research initiatives, including the opening of an artificial intelligence laboratory at the National Center for Artificial Intelligence.
EPAM Systems is a world leader in software development and IT consulting, which is actively developing in Kazakhstan. At the moment, the company is represented in more than 17 cities of the country and has about 1 thousand employees. In 2024, EPAM exported more than $40 million worth of services from Kazakhstan as part of Astana Hub's activities.
The parties also discussed the company's contribution to the development of IT education: the EPAM Kazakhstan training center has already trained more than 5 thousand specialists, and under the Tech Orda program, the company has helped more than 700 students master key IT skills, such as Java, Python and Data Engineering. This year, another 300 students were selected for training, which emphasizes the importance of cooperation for the development of the IT industry in Kazakhstan.
"President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has set a strategic task. Kazakhstan should become a territory of total digitalization and accelerated development of artificial intelligence. Over 5 years, the volume of exports of IT services has grown from $30 million to $600 million, but this is not enough, we have great potential. Kazakh specialists are talented and competitive. Cooperation with global giants will allow us to increase efficiency and ensure development at a faster pace," Olzhas Bektenov emphasized.
In his turn, Arkady Dobkin noted the favorable investment climate in Kazakhstan and voiced a number of proposals for further cooperation in the field of digitalization and the introduction of new technologies in the real sector of the economy.
Following the meeting, the Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry was instructed to strengthen project support with the provision of the necessary assistance.