For Bakhtiyar Mukhametkaliyev, Kazakhstan’s vice-minister of artificial intelligence and digital development, a brief meeting with representatives of Shanghai-based robotics company AgiBot in Hong Kong in June delivered a pleasantly swift result: a cooperation project has taken shape in Kazakhstan within just three months.
“It was only a 20-minute meeting,” Mukhametkaliyev said, describing Hong Kong as an ideal platform for communication, coordination and collaboration during a session at the Belt and Road Summit 2026 on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old vice-minister promoted two of Kazakhstan’s flagship mega projects at the summit — Data Center Valley and Alatau City — to global investors, technology companies and professional-service providers, saying that an AI-driven new economy, backed by smart technology, is the country’s priority in seeking Belt and Road cooperation.
Data Center Valley, Kazakhstan’s planned digital-infrastructure project designed to support artificial intelligence, cloud computing and advanced digital services, is expected to boast a computing capacity of up to 1 gigawatt.
The summit, which brought together project owners, financiers and businesses from more than 70 countries and regions, offered Kazakhstan a platform to advance its ambition of becoming a regional digital and technology hub.
Beyond serving as a neutral and professional convening platform for all parties, Hong Kong can provide the financing, expertise and institutional support needed to “turn major development concepts into investable projects”, said Nicholas Ho Lik-chi, Hong Kong’s Commissioner for Belt and Road.
The special administrative region can serve as a “resource allocation hub and orchestration hub” for Belt and Road projects, connecting international capital, talent, professional expertise and commercial opportunities, he said.
For Kazakhstan, the value of cooperation extends beyond importing technology and capital. It also involves drawing on Hong Kong’s institutional experience and its development model alongside Shenzhen, said Bayan Konirbayev, chief digital and AI Officer of the Alatau City Authority.
“We have seen the regulatory framework coming from Hong Kong, with the balance of development of Shenzhen, is really good,” Konirbayev told China Daily.
Kazakhstan is seeking to accelerate the coordinated development of Almaty, the country’s commercial hub, and nearby Alatau by borrowing a leaf from the playbook of the twin cities of Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
“We are using an approach that has proved effective in China,” he said. “Hong Kong’s regulatory framework, with the balanced development of the sister city of Shenzhen, offers a very good model.”
Ho revealed that Hong Kong and Almaty would be connected by a direct flight in 2027. The commissioner said that more than 60 memorandums of understanding were concluded across different fields at this year’s summit, with a total deal value exceeding $3 billion.
“Hong Kong is strong in the rule of law, professional engineering and financing,” Billy Tam, managing director of TPMA Consulting Ltd and a public-private-partnership project specialist, told China Daily, adding that major projects may take years, or even decades, to mature, but must begin with concrete action.
“The essence of the Belt and Road Initiative lies in forging new connections in all dimensions and turning potential into tangible outcomes that benefit the world,” Hong Kong Trade Development Council Chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang said at the summit.
Contact the writer at jessicachen@chinadailyhk.com
