On may 22-23, 2019, the III International forum “Entrepreneurship education for innovative economy” was held in Nur-Sultan at the platform of “Astana International Campus” of the Astana International Financial Centre.

Speakers of the Forum from among the ministries, Universities, international experts and industry professionals discussed the pressing issues of the future professions, trends in continuous professional development, as well as the development strategy of universities. Among the speakers of the Forum were more than 40 delegates from 8 countries, including the UK, USA, Germany, Israel, Latvia and others. 
The key attention was given to the development of human capital, the formation of entrepreneurial initiatives on the basis of Universities, continuing professional development, competitiveness of personnel in the changing situation of the labor market, the transformation of education, as well as innovative methods of training in educational institutions.
The forum showed that the reality requires from graduates of schools, colleges and universities not only a good educational base, but also stressed the need for professionalism, entrepreneurial skills and the ability to think innovatively. In addition, it was noted that universities should become the vanguard of entrepreneurial education, business skills and need high-quality research and new technologies demanded by the economy.
Gulshara Abdykalikova, Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan:
“In the context of the global transition to the digital era, global entrepreneurial education will be transformed in accordance with the main trend – the implementation of individualization and specialization of programs, the widespread introduction of innovations and technologies of the Fourth industrial revolution in the educational process.”
Fatima Zhakypova, vice minister of Education and Science:
“Modern trends in the development of the economy put very high demands on the development of business management, structure, level and quality of training. Today, global and local problems are intertwined. In these conditions, the answer to the challenges and the key to success is the development of the main wealth – human. Entrepreneurial education covers all levels of education. More than 60 universities have introduced the discipline «Fundamentals of entrepreneurship”, developed programs and courses to improve entrepreneurial competencies, skills of students and training of future businessmen. All work is aimed at the result and we are confident that the initiative of our state will be successfully implemented only in close cooperation of production, business and education.”
Yernur Rysmagambetov, Deputy CEO, AIFC Authority:
“The mission of the Bureau for Continuing Professional Development  is to create a critical mass of professionals to work with international companies-participants of AIFC. We want to enable local professionals to work in international companies.
Within the framework of academic partnership, we cooperate with all universities of our country and introduce new courses and specializations in the leading universities of Kazakhstan. For example, we have introduced areas such as Islamic Finance, risk management and financial analysis into master’s programmes. 
This year we held AIFC Finance Olympiad. This is an Olympiad for schoolchildren in which the winner will go to St. Petersburg to participate in the International Economics Olympiad. In addition, we have worked with the entrepreneurial competition Enactus. The winner of the 2019 competition had the opportunity to represent Kazakhstan in the Silicon valley.”
Asylbek Kozhakhmetov, President of AlmaU:
“AlmaU has a solid base of entrepreneurial education, which was created over the past 6 years. The transformation of the University began with the improvement of the structure and the opening of new centers and departments. During this time, the University opened innovative programs, courses and disciplines on entrepreneurship, launched the AlmaU student business incubator, and initiated major national and international projects.”
At the end of the forum organizers awarded certificates for individual MBA and DBA courses in Almaty Management University. The culmination of the event was the awarding of the winners of the Startup Making Day, where school students created their first innovative projects and received expertise from the leading mentors of the forum.