Microsoft to open multi-regional hub in Kazakhstan

Microsoft Corporation is to open a multi-regional hub in Kazakhstan, which will cover Central Asian countries, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Mongolia and Pakistan, according to Bagdat Musin, Kazakhstan’s minister of digital development, innovations and aerospace industry.

«Why it is good for us? Once Microsoft opens its local office here, it will turn Kazakhstan into a regional center of attention in terms of technologies and innovative solutions. Given that this hub is going to be Microsoft’s regional center for innovations, it will drive our human capital development and strengthen the national economy by stimulating production and non-commodity exports,» Musin wrote on Facebook.

Kazakhstani officials and Microsoft have also discussed issues linked with broader usage of the Kazakh language in the company’s services, including ChatGPT, Musin noted.

In 2022, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with Michelle Simmons, head of Microsoft’s multi-country subsidiary in Central and Eastern Europe during the 77th session of the U.N. General Assembly. At the time, the two sides discussed the potential expansion of the company’s representative office in Kazakhstan into a regional hub. Right after the meeting, Tokayev ordered the country’s cabinet to provide the initiative with necessary assistance.

According to Musin, the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan, the country’s General Consulate in San Francisco and the Kazakhstani office of Microsoft have made significant contributions to this development.