Cyprus takes its AI pitch to Astana: Damianou spends three days at the AI & Digital Bridge Forum looking for a Central Asian partner

Nicodemos Damianou, Cyprus' Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, travelled to Astana from 1 to 3 October 2026 for the AI & Digital Bridge Forum, an international gathering of government officials, technology industry representatives, investors, researchers and start-ups from a range of countries.

The stated aim is to strengthen links with Kazakhstan in artificial intelligence, digital technologies and innovation. The forum's agenda covers developments in AI and emerging technologies, digital transformation, and the use of innovation to support economic growth and competitiveness.

The bilateral half matters more than the panels. Damianou was scheduled to hold talks with Zhaslan Madiyev, Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development — a portfolio title that tells you how seriously Astana is treating the file. Kazakhstan has been building out data-centre capacity and a sovereign AI agenda at a pace that a country of Cyprus' size cannot match on infrastructure, which makes the interesting question what Cyprus is offering in return: regulatory proximity to the EU, a tech workforce that has roughly doubled in a decade, and a legal and financial services layer built for companies that want an EU footprint.

No agreements were announced alongside the visit. Treat this as positioning rather than a deal — but it is consistent positioning. Over the past month the same ministry has taken a chips-and-small-economies argument to Brussels, launched a public consultation on the national AI strategy, and pushed the "digitally ready, now AI-ready" line at home. The Astana trip is the outward-facing version of the same campaign.

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