In recent years, Kazakhstan’s higher education system has gained an international dimension, its scientific research capacity has strengthened, and a more qualified education and training process has begun to emerge. Today, the Astana administration continues to expand its international partners in the field of academia. Within this framework, the recent initiatives developed with Japan and South Korea point to a remarkable orientation in Kazakhstan’s higher education policy. The country’s education policies are being supported by new international partnerships established particularly in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI), digital technologies, information security, engineering, and joint research.
The meetings held by Kazakhstan’s Minister of Science and Higher Education SayasatNurbek in Tokyo and Seoul on August 10, 2026, constitute one of the current examples of this policy. While academic partnerships with Tokyo Metropolitan University and the United Nations University were discussed in Japan, issues such as science, higher education, artificial intelligence, technology transfer, and the training of qualified specialists were addressed in South Korea.¹ The scope of these meetings demonstrates that Kazakhstan does not limit its international cooperation in higher education merely to student and academic staff exchanges; rather, it is expanding these partnerships into broader areas such as joint research, technology transfer, and institutional capacity building.
Academic relations developed with Japan are primarily important in terms of strengthening Kazakhstan’s higher education and scientific research capacity. During the meetings with Takaya Ohashi, President of Tokyo Metropolitan University, issues such as strengthening academic mobility, researcher and faculty exchanges, and the development of joint education and research projects were discussed. In addition, Ohashi’s invitation to the Strategic Partners Forum planned to be held in Astana in November indicates that academic cooperation is being addressed within the framework of a broader strategic partnership. Contacts with the United Nations University also reveal that this approach is not limited only to bilateral university relations. The evaluation of options for increasing cooperation in science, higher education, and sustainable development, as well as expanding the university’s presence in Kazakhstan, demonstrates that Astana seeks to integrate international academic institutions more deeply into the country’s higher education ecosystem.²
It can be argued that education has increasingly become a strategic element in Kazakhstan’s relations with Japan. The fact that Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev highlighted human capital as “one of the primary elements of development” during the first Central Asia–Japan Summit held in Tokyo in December 2025 and invited Japanese universities to establish branches and education centers in Kazakhstan demonstrates that these current academic initiatives are part of a broader state policy.³ Therefore, cooperation in the field of higher education can be considered to have begun transforming from a complementary element accompanying trade and investment relations into one of the fundamental pillars of bilateral relations.
Kazakhstan’s partnerships developed with South Korea, however, have a different and more technology-oriented dimension. During the meetings between Kazakhstan’s Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek and South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon, issues such as cooperation in science, higher education, and artificial intelligence, as well as technology transfer, joint research, and the training of qualified specialists, were discussed.⁴ Evaluating these issues within the same framework demonstrates that Kazakhstan seeks to establish a direct connection between its higher education policy and its technological development objectives.
One of the most remarkable aspects of this cooperation has been the initiative for the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) to establish a branch campus in Kazakhstan. Since KAIST is one of the internationally recognized institutions in the fields of science and technology, such a structure has the potential to contribute not only to Kazakhstan’s educational capacity but also to its research and innovation ecosystem.⁵ In particular, the training of specialists in AI and digital technologies, as well as the development of joint research projects, reflects Kazakhstan’s goal of moving from a structure that primarily imports technology from abroad toward a model with stronger capacity for knowledge production and technology development.
Kazakhstan’s dual-degree programs developed with South Korea also reveal the human capital dimension of this transformation. Within the framework of the joint undergraduate program planned to be developed between Almaty University of Humanities and Economics and Seoul Cyber University in the fields of artificial intelligence and information security, a 1+2+1 model is envisaged. Under this model, students are expected to complete their first and final years in Kazakhstan and their second and third years in South Korea, receiving separate diplomas from both universities. Astana’s objective is not merely to increase the capacity of its own higher education system but also to transform the country into a regional center for education, research, and technology. Indeed, Almaty’s achievement of its highest position to date in the QS Best Student Cities 2027 ranking and the increase in the number of international students in the country can be considered among the outcomes of Kazakhstan’s efforts to enhance its international attractiveness in education.⁶
The new relations and partnerships Kazakhstan has developed with Japan and South Korea in the fields of higher education, science, artificial intelligence, and technology indicate the emergence of a more international and technology-oriented era in the country’s education policy. While academic partnerships developed with Tokyo Metropolitan University and the United Nations University contribute to the institutionalization of scientific and educational relations with Japan, initiatives developed through KAIST, Seoul National University, Korea University, and Seoul Cyber University with South Korea are more clearly oriented toward technology and human capital development.
It would not be accurate to evaluate Kazakhstan’s academic opening merely as an effort to improve higher education capacity. These initiatives are also connected with the goals of strengthening human capital, increasing specialization in artificial intelligence and digital technologies, accelerating technology transfer, and transforming the country into a regional center for education and innovation. However, the long-term success of this strategy will be measured not by the number of agreements signed, but by the concrete outcomes they produce. If joint research projects become sustainable, international universities establish strong academic structures in Kazakhstan, technology transfer is reflected in industry, and the qualified human resources trained through these programs are employed within the country, the economic and strategic significance of this academic opening will become more evident.
The higher education partnerships developed with Japan and South Korea demonstrate that Kazakhstan is linking its education policy more strongly with foreign policy, technology, and economic development objectives. In this respect, Astana’s academic opening reflects not only a process of cooperation between universities but also Kazakhstan’s search for a more central position in Central Asia in the fields of education, science, and artificial intelligence.
¹“Kazakhstan Deepens University Ties with Japan and South Korea”, The Astana Times, https://astanatimes.com/2026/08/kazakhstan-deepens-university-ties-with-japan-and-south-korea/, (Date of Access: 18.08.2026).
²Ibid.
³Ibid.
⁴“Kazakhstan expands cooperation with leading universities in Japan and South Korea”, Kazinform, https://qazinform.com/news/kazakhstan-expands-cooperation-with-leading-universities-in-japan-and-south-korea-962b65, (Date of Access: 18.08.2026).
⁵Ibid.
⁶“Kazakhstan, South Korea to launch dual-degree program in AI and information security”, Kazinform, https://qazinform.com/news/kazakhstan-south-korea-to-launch-dual-degree-program-in-ai-and-information-security-f83a20, (Date of Access: 18.08.2026).
