- A Constitutional Law is the second-highest legal act after the Constitution itself. Why did Alatau require precisely this level, rather than an ordinary law or a Government resolution? What does this fundamentally change for the investor?
- Alatau is being created not as a conventional special economic zone, but as a new institutional model for development. That is precisely why a Constitutional Law was required.
Most special zones around the world are created on the basis of ordinary laws or resolutions, which can be revised depending on the political or economic climate. For major international investors, this is no longer sufficient. Investors need long-term guarantees of the stability of the rules of the game and confidence that the basic conditions will not change several years after a project is launched.
A Constitutional Law provides exactly that kind of stability. It establishes the city’s special legal regime, investment protection mechanisms, a special governance system, and the possibility of forming its own regulatory environment. This means that the basic conditions for Alatau’s operation cannot be arbitrarily revised. In essence, Kazakhstan is creating, for the first time, a territory with a constitutionally protected investment architecture. For investors, this is not merely an additional benefit, but a fundamentally different level of legal predictability and trust.
The Constitutional Law also makes it possible to create new forms of investment and economic interaction in Alatau. On the instructions of the President, the Cryptocity concept will be implemented in the city. In public perception, this is sometimes reduced to the idea of a city where cryptocurrency circulation is simply permitted. In reality, it is a broader model. Digital assets will be used not as an end in themselves, but as a tool for developing the city’s real and digital economy.
We are proceeding from a strategy of “tokenization by default.” This means that rights to assets, stakes in projects, individual services, and financial instruments will be able to take digital form in a regulated and protected environment. The first practical step in 2026 will be the tokenization of existing private projects in Alatau City to attract local and foreign capital. This approach will make it possible to simplify investment raising, lower the entry threshold for investment companies and retail investors, and make transactions involving rights to assets faster, more transparent, and more technology-driven.
In a broader sense, we are talking about creating a unified digital socio-economic space for the city. Today, an individual, a company, or an investor is forced to interact with a large number of fragmented digital systems that are often not connected to one another or to the real economy. In Alatau, we want to build an infrastructure where the registration of rights, investments, payments, access to city services, and interaction among residents will take place within a single secure digital environment, including through the use of blockchain technologies. At the national level, such a transformation would require significant interagency efforts. In the new jurisdiction, thanks to the principles of a “one-stop shop” and digital primacy, these solutions can be implemented more quickly and comprehensively.
- Many investors entered into agreements and invested funds even before the Constitutional Law was signed: investment agreements with ministries, land sublease agreements, and others. How does the new law ensure continuity in these relationships? Do all obligations previously assumed by the state remain fully in force?
- Absolutely.
One of the key principles of the special legal regime is the continuity of all obligations previously assumed by the state.
- We understand that investor trust is built, above all, on the state’s consistency in fulfilling its obligations. That is precisely why the principle of legal stability is a fundamental element of the entire Alatau model.
All investment agreements, sublease agreements, and other valid documents retain their legal force. No “reset point” is created for investors, and there is no need for them to re-enter the project. On the contrary, the objective of the new regime is to ensure a smooth transition and an even higher level of investor protection.
In addition, the Constitutional Law provides a mechanism under which investment projects implemented in a priority sector of Alatau City in accordance with a business license are guaranteed stability of the tax regime with respect to the relevant activity for ten years from the date the business license is issued. This is a fundamentally different level of investment predictability not only for Kazakhstan, but for the entire Central Asian region.
- In agreements concluded before May 8, the AIFC International Arbitration Centre (IAC AIFC) is often designated as the dispute resolution body. Do these arbitration clauses remain fully in force, or will investors have to re-execute their contracts?
- They do remain in force. International investor protection mechanisms will operate in Alatau, including the use of international arbitration and AIFC institutions.
The new regime provides for the use of internationally recognized legal principles, elements of common law, and the possibility of applying English law. For foreign investors, this means a more familiar and understandable legal environment aligned with global best practices.
- Infrastructure is one of the key factors in making an investment decision. How will the Authority ensure for investors that the necessary capacity—electricity, gas, roads—will be ready by the time their facilities are launched?
- On the instructions of the Head of State, a special Infrastructure Development Roadmap for Alatau has already been approved. Within its framework, dozens of projects are being implemented in water supply, electric power, gas supply, and road infrastructure.
In particular, plans include the reconstruction of power grids, the construction and modernization of substations, the development of new water pipeline networks, the modernization of gas infrastructure, as well as the repair and modernization of roads.
At the same time, the financing model is structured so that the state provides the basic infrastructure, while private capital is concentrated on the development of commercial facilities and anchor investment projects. This makes it possible to synchronize the development of the territory and minimize infrastructure risks for investors.
The provision of utility infrastructure for the territory of Alatau City will be carried out in accordance with the Master Plan, whose planning horizon covers development over the next 15 years. Changes to this document will be made no more than once every 5 years, taking into account growing investment needs.
- The Constitutional Law introduces several categories of residents. What does a major industrial investor receive compared with a resident in the digital assets sector or a technology startup?
- Alatau is being developed as a multi-sector ecosystem. Both major industrial investors and technology companies, AI startups, fintech projects, digital platforms, logistics initiatives, and educational initiatives will operate here. At the same time, the basic approach will be uniform: resident status will be granted through a business license with clearly defined obligations and preferences.
For industrial investors, the key factors are infrastructure readiness, tax incentives, and long-term regulatory stability. In addition, representatives of the real economy will have access to new digital services such as tokenization and smart city systems. Organizations will be able to attract foreign capital through digital assets. This will be supported institutionally at the level of city regulation, as well as by the relevant organizations at the level of the Alatau City Authority. The smart city system and the digital twin currently under development will make it possible to significantly improve the efficiency of enterprise management through access to analytics on the urban economy, while also reducing costs for their own digital systems.
- Alatau is being built as a digital city from scratch. This happens extremely rarely. Is artificial intelligence already being used in the work of the Alatau City Authority? Will AI, robotics, and new technologies become a real foundation of the city, rather than simply part of the concept?
- From the outset, we are building the city according to the "Digital by Default" principle. It will be based on the city's digital twin, service integration, and a unified digital architecture. This is a principle under which artificial intelligence, digital services, blockchain, autonomous transport, Urban Air Mobility, and autonomous logistics are viewed not as elements of a concept, but as practical tools of the urban economy and governance.
Today, most countries discuss the regulation of technologies after the fact. In Alatau, we are trying to build the reverse model, under which the regulatory environment is formed in advance, taking into account future technological changes and the needs of the new economy.
AI, robotics, the low-altitude economy, tokenization, smart city systems, and autonomous transport systems are priority areas that will be actively supported. The task of the new jurisdiction is to accelerate the modernization of the economy not only of a single territory, but of Kazakhstan as a whole, the importance of which is emphasized by our Head of State.
- Let me conclude our conversation with a broader question. Kazakhstan is the undisputed global leader in uranium production and one of the richest holders of rare earth metals, copper, chromium, and lithium: precisely the resources without which neither the energy transition nor the digital economy of the future is conceivable. Now this foundation is being supplemented by a constitutional legal architecture and genuine technological ambition. Does this not ultimately add up to something unique, something that truly does not exist elsewhere in the world? Alatau as an island of stability, attraction, and long-term appeal for global capital at precisely the moment when the world needs it most?
- I believe that Kazakhstan today truly stands at a unique point of opportunity. On the one hand, there is an enormous resource base, a strategic geographic position, and the growing role of the Middle Corridor between China and Europe. On the other hand, there is political stability, institutional reforms, and a drive toward a new economic model.
Alatau is being created as a platform for the new economy: industries of the future, new technologies, digital services, logistics, education, and innovation, and the creation of new types of economic interaction based on AI and blockchain. The world has already seen successful examples of new cities such as Shenzhen, Dubai, and Singapore. And today, demand for jurisdictions with predictable rules of the game, technological openness, and a long-term horizon is only growing.
Alatau will become one of these centers of attraction not only for capital, but also for talent, technologies, and new global industries. And in this sense, this is not simply about building a new city, but about an attempt to shape a new development model for the entire region
