By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo

The following article is the excerpts from the statement by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the Astana International Forum, which was released by the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Seoul to the Diplomacy Journal for publication. –Ed.

Kazakhstan approaches today’s turbulent world with a spirit of constructive engagement. Our foreign policy is based on the belief that dialogue is more powerful than division, and that sovereign rights must be respected. There should be no room for nationalistic hubris and ignorance of historic and cultural traditions of the peoples.

Meanwhile there also should be due respect to the right of all national minorities to speak their languages and cultivate their cultures. That’s what we in Kazakhstan strongly pursue: “The unity in diversity”.

Over the past few years, Kazakhstan has undergone profound economic and institutional reforms. Our goal is clear: to build a more diversified, inclusive, and future-ready economy – one where growth is not just sustained, but shared.

Despite global headwinds, our economy grew by 5.1% in 2024. Foreign direct investment reached record levels. Freight through the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route surged 62%.

We are investing in human capital, expanding opportunities for young professionals. Our immediate task is to reduce regional disparities to strengthen our middle class.

That is why we continue to deepen our capabilities in key sectors – from digital technologies and AI to clean energy and value-added manufacturing.

We are making significant progress in digital transformation, reflecting our desire to become IT hub in Eurasia.
We place emphasis on artificial intelligence. The goal is to become an academic and innovation hub with a number of foreign university branches and Research and Development partnerships.

Kazakhstan is launching the most powerful supercomputer, which has already been delivered here.

Finally, we are planning to create a pioneering pilot zone called CryptoCity where cryptocurrencies might be used for purchasing goods, services, and even beyond.

Being the source of 40% of the world’s uranium Kazakhstan puts nuclear energy as a top priority in its national strategy.

But development cannot be sustainable without addressing the climate emergency. Central Asia is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions on the planet. It is experiencing warming twice as fast as the global average.

In 2026, we will host a Regional Ecological Summit in partnership with the UN – a platform to combine Central Asian strategies and global ambitions.

Two months ago, the UN General Assembly formally established the United Nations Regional Centre for the SDGs for Central Asia and Afghanistan in Almaty.

This is a milestone in our multilateral development engagement. This Centre will support joint projects, offer technical expertise, and coordinate international cooperation.

Kazakhstan firmly believes that middle powers should have a vested interest in an equitable and inclusive global order, which needs to be reassessed and overhauled. Accordingly, middle powers should be ready to shoulder more multilateral responsibility.

Critical decisions that affect billions of lives cannot be made by a handful of nations alone.

That is why Kazakhstan supports the expansion of the United Nations Security Council, including broader regional representation.

We all should strongly remain adherent to the UN Charter with no biased and selective approaches to its principles. Thus we would be able to restore trust in authority of the United Nations.