BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 19. Kazakhstan has
secured over $10 billion for a 250 MW AI data center hub backed by
NVIDIA, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov told President Kassym-Jomart
Tokayev, Kazakh president's press service says.


The announcement came at a meeting in Astana where Tokayev
reviewed the implementation of strategic digitalization directives.
According to the press service the project, called Data Center
Valley, is being developed in Ekibastuz, Pavlodar region, on 1,400
hectares of allocated land. The first phase targets 125 MW of
capacity, with commercial operations expected by 2027.


"Together with global IT leaders, an infrastructure with a
capacity of 250 MW is being deployed," Bektenov stated, according
to the press service. "The volume of attracted foreign investment
exceeds $10 billion."


Kazakhstan is developing Data Center Valley together with
U.S.-based Firebird, whose key partner is NVIDIA. The first phase
allocates $5 billion, including a $1 billion contribution from
state-run Kazakhtelecom, to deploy approximately 100,000
next-generation NVIDIA GPUs, including GB300 and Vera Rubin models.
Once up and running, the project is expected to generate no less
than $3 billion in annual export revenue and create new jobs.


Bektenov also reported that IT services exports grew 60% in 2025
year-on-year, reaching $1.1 billion. He outlined additional plans
covering transport and tourism: construction of a second airport
for Astana is underway, Almaty's mountain tourism cluster is being
developed with the SuperSki resort - featuring 60 km of trails and
capacity for 10,000 visitors per day - set to open in December
2028, and the country is in final preparations to host the Games of
the Future multi-sport tournament.







Trend's analysis
shows that the Data Center Valley project represents a structural
bet by Kazakhstan on AI infrastructure as an export category rather
than simply a tool for domestic digitalization. The framing - $3
billion in projected annual export revenue against a $10 billion
investment - implies a return horizon of roughly three to four
years on the initial capital, a timeline that depends heavily on
sustained global demand for GPU compute capacity and Kazakhstan's
ability to deliver reliable, low-cost power at scale. Power supply
is central to the project's viability: the government has said 300
MW of capacity is already available for the Ekibastuz project, with
phased expansion planned to 1 GW. Ekibastuz is one of Kazakhstan's
major coal power hubs, giving the project access to cheap baseload
electricity - a key competitive advantage over data center
locations in Western Europe and Southeast Asia where power costs
are significantly higher.


Secretary-General of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO),
Deemah AlYahya, told Trend in an exclusive interview that Kazakhstan is
steadily strengthening its position in the global digital
transformation and innovation landscape, emerging as one of Central
Asia’s leading digital economies.


"According to the Digital Economy Navigator (DEN) 2025 developed
by the DCO, Kazakhstan demonstrates particularly strong performance
in several key pillars that are essential for building an inclusive
and future-ready digital economy," she said.


AlYahya noted that the DEN is a comprehensive global framework
that measures the maturity of the digital economy across 80
countries, representing 85% of the world’s population and 94% of
global GDP. Built on 145 indicators from internationally recognized
data sources and global surveys, the DEN evaluates countries across
three dimensions: Digital Enablers, Digital Business, and Digital
Society, with countries assessed on a scale of 0 to 100 across the
various pillars and subpillars.