The 12th Astana Economic Forum (AEF) started in the city of Nur-Sultan on May 16. Created by the initiative of the Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev 11 years ago, the AEF gained the status of one of the most influential international platforms for discussing the issues of improving and developing the world economy and financial systems. This year a discussion is opened on the theme of “Inspiring growth: people, cities, economies”.

The speakers list includes the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, the 2018 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, Chief Economist of the World Bank (2016-2018) - Paul Romer, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank of Russia, German Gref, and many others.

The main leitmotif of the forum was the vision of the economy in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the era of rapid changes in all areas: technological, economic and social. Digital transformation affects the entire global economy, starting with labor productivity and human capital efficiency, ending with possible changes in the structure of society and cities. Modern cities are the centers of gravity for the population of the earth and the engines of progress in all spheres of life. The concept of smart cities is viewed as a common topic of discussion and a new zone of cooperation between market players and public institutions.

It was highlighted that the successful implementation of the elements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution requires creation of favorable conditions, development of necessary technologies and possible changes in the regulatory framework and infrastructure in general.

The Forum was organized by the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Economic Research Institute JSC, Astana-EXPO-2017 National Company JSC, and the Economic Initiative Fund of Kazakhstan corporate foundation