Kazakhstan bets on U.S. universities to become Central Asia's education hub

Pointing to high birth rates across the region, the minister said roughly 60,000 babies are born daily in the wider area, with more than 178 million people under 25 in Pakistan and 650 million in India. He said the country aims to serve as an alternative academic destination for this young population.

Nurbek said Kazakhstan has forged 40 strategic partnerships with research-intensive universities, including American institutions establishing branch campuses in the country for the first time.

Nazarbayev University has built partnerships with Duke University, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Pittsburgh, the minister said.

The University of Arizona, the first American university to open in Kazakhstan, will graduate its first cohort on July 10, with the institution's president traveling to Petropavl to confer diplomas on the class of 2026.

Nurbek cited the University of Minnesota's advanced computer science program, launched two years ago to train workers and programmers after Kia relocated a car factory to Kazakhstan and South Korean firms invested in robotics. The program prepares specialists for the car plant and for an advanced humanoid robotics initiative.

The New York Film Academy will build its largest campus to date near Almaty, with around 100,000 square meters of academic and student residential space and two pavilions for film production, the minister said. He added that actor Jackie Chan has committed to shooting the fourth installment of his Armor of God franchise at the site.

Arizona State University has committed to two branch campuses, including the newly opened InnoTech ASU campus in Almaty. The Colorado School of Mines is launching a campus offering bachelor's programs in geophysics, geology, and mining engineering to support the country's mining industry.

Nurbek said the ministry can assist international businesses in three areas: building academic programs tailored to local industry needs, developing research and innovation ecosystems through its network of American, British, German, French, Chinese, and Russian university partners, and supplying AI-skilled graduates trained locally.

On artificial intelligence, the minister said Kazakhstan was among the first countries to make AI part of its national curriculum, training all bachelor's students last year. He said the country is launching an AI Summer program to train hundreds of thousands of students annually in agentic and physical AI.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Deborah Robinson said at the Kazakhstan-U.S. roundtable that bilateral goods trade between the United States and Kazakhstan surpassed $5 billion for the first time last year, marking a 3.5-fold increase from 2020.