The Astana Economic Forum Global Challenges Summit began in Astana. The summit was based on global trends such as economic growth and resource stability, digitalization and urbanization, longevity and the financial revolution, global security and cultural change.

More than 500 speakers and 5,000 participants from 111 countries attend to the forum. Among the speakers are the eighth UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, co-founder of Apple Steve Wozniak, former French President Francois Hollande, film director Krzysztof Zanussi, director of the Asian Bank for Infrastructure Investments Jin Liqun and many others.

"The current forum is aimed at finding effective answers to global challenges. Today time has acquired an unprecedented density.The world is changing at an incredible speed, once again in front of the fork, from where it turns, depends on what the humanity expects: the era of prosperity or the period of stagnation'' Kazakh President said at the opening ceremony of the forum.

“The Qazaq Times”