Kazakhstan's Alatau City Bank, U.S. DDH agree on $300 mln digital mining projects
ASTANA. Nov 7 (Interfax) - The owner of Kazakhstan's Alatau City Bank (formerly First Heartland Jusan Bank) Vyacheslav Kim and the company DDH (North America) Inc. with the support of the Kazakh Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Ministry have signed a memorandum of understanding on projects worth $300 million, the ministry's press service said.
"The agreement aims to strengthen strategic partnership in the field of digital mining and modernizing energy and computing infrastructure, as well as attracting private investment for the creation of data centers and increasing the transparency and efficiency of Kazakhstan's mining industry," it said.
Such projects contribute to strengthening Kazakhstan's status as a participant in the global digital economy, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Minister Zhaslan Madiyev said. "For Kazakhstan, this is an opportunity to adopt best practices, strengthen competencies and lay the foundation for joint innovation in the field of digital mining and artificial intelligence," the press service quoted Madiyev as saying.
For his part, Kim said that the agreement with DDH would be a step towards expanding the international interaction of Kazakh business in the field of digital assets and artificial intelligence.
"We view this cooperation not only as an investment project but also as a unique opportunity for the transfer of innovations, enhancing expertise in the creation of energy and computing infrastructure, developing cloud technologies, and other elements of the future digital economy," Kim was quoted as saying.
DDH (North America) Inc. operates in the field of digital mining in the United States. It manages data centers and implements technologies for digital asset mining infrastructure.
Alatau City Bank ranks sixth in terms of asset size among the 22 banks operating in Kazakhstan. Kim, the co-owner of the fintech holding Kaspi.kz bought Alatau City Bank from businessman Galimzhan Yesenov this summer.
