South Korea and Kazakhstan will cooperate to establish a Kazakhstan Institute of Science and Technology benchmarked on the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT signed a "science and technology talent-training framework" with Kazakhstan's Ministry of Science and Higher Education on Sept. 15 on the occasion of a South Korea-Kazakhstan summit.

Kazakhstan is the world's top producer of natural uranium and has abundant resources including crude oil, gas and minerals. As it has recently pushed to shift its industrial structure toward advanced industries, it has pursued adopting the KAIST model for an institution to train key science and engineering talent.

The two sides will join forces to build the foundations for the Kazakhstan Institute of Science and Technology, strengthen faculty capabilities, promote student exchanges and develop and run curricula. They will also share relevant policies and best practices. The Ministry of Science and ICT said it will use the cooperation to broaden a foothold for Central Asia expansion of South Korea's science and technology education and research system and strengthen links between the two countries' innovation ecosystems.

Bae Kyung-hoon (배경훈), deputy prime minister and minister of science and ICT, said the summit helped the two countries' science and technology partnership develop into a practical and future-oriented partnership. He said South Korea would work closely with Kazakhstan so the results lead to training global science and technology talent that drives future growth and prosperity.