Stimulating Industrial Innovation in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has enjoyed a five year GDP CAGR of 5.9%, allowing the country to gradually converge toward industrialized development levels. Throughout this process, the oil and gas and minerals sectors have been the main drivers of Kazakhstan's impressive growth story. Recognizing that economic development solely based on factor endowment is unsustainable, the government of Kazakhstan has systematically tried to reduce its dependence on the extractive industries. The State Program of Accelerated Industrial-Innovative Development (SPAIID) outlines Kazakhstan’s plans to diversify and modernize its economy. One of the key levers to reach this goal is to increase the economy's capacity for innovation. Tasked with developing a road map on how to stimulate innovation, the Analytical Center of the National Innovation Fund has sought to capitalize on positive experiences in innovation promotion in other countries around the world. Hence, the Analytical Center has commissioned a SIPA team to conduct an in-depth examination of innovation measures in key benchmark countries. Therefore, the overarching objective of this project is to develop policy recommendations for Kazakhstan based on best practices observed in strategically selected benchmark countries.