Bangkok, 24 April 2026 – At its 82nd session, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), by consensus of its 52 member States, approved a resolution on the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Digital Solutions Centre for Sustainable Development in Almaty.

According to Kazakhstan’s Permanent Representative to UN ESCAP Margulan Baimukhan, the adoption of this resolution marked the outcome of a multilateral negotiation process that lasted more than five years, as well as the result of Kazakhstan’s consistent diplomatic efforts within the UN framework and among ESCAP member States. During this period, three milestone resolutions were adopted at the 79th, 80th and 81st sessions of ESCAP.

An important step towards this decision was the ESCAP Ministerial Conference on Digital Inclusion and Transformation, held in Astana in September 2024. At the final stage in 2026, a record number of 21 co-sponsors for ESCAP resolutions joined the initiative, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Fiji, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, and Vanuatu.

The new Centre will become the sixth specialized ESCAP institution alongside those currently operating in Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, India and Iran, and will also be the largest institution in the region in terms of staff size, with up to 130 specialists. Its activities will focus on promoting the digital transformation of public administration and social governance across the Asia-Pacific region, narrowing the digital divide, and providing support to least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states through the exchange of technologies and best practices. By its format, the Centre will serve as an international repository of advanced digital solutions.

It is symbolic that this decision was adopted during the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence declared by President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The establishment of the Centre in Almaty creates additional opportunities for Kazakhstan to attract technologies and international expertise, strengthen Almaty’s role as a regional UN hub, and expand international partnerships. The initiative will also create conditions for the growth of IT services exports and the promotion of domestic innovations in foreign markets.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa/press/news/details/1209602?lang=kk