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Central Asian business representatives, technology experts and government stakeholders presented a draft regional agreement in Astana to make the five countries’ digital systems and policies interoperable without displacing national authority. Developed through the B5+1 cooperation platform, the proposal calls for mutual recognition of electronic documents, e-signatures and digital identities, alongside compatible cross-border rules for personal-data protection, cybersecurity and artificial-intelligence governance. The measures are intended to help regional technology companies scale across borders rather than operate in five fragmented digital markets.
Participants also advanced a voluntary Central Asian AI Ethics Code requiring human accountability, transparency and the ability to challenge legally significant AI-driven decisions. The code would prohibit harmful manipulation, discriminatory outcomes, unlawful use of personal data and fraudulent synthetic content, while encouraging development of AI data resources for Central Asian languages. The draft agreement and ethics principles are expected to inform the B5+1 Regional Business Agenda for 2027; they do not propose a supranational regulator or full legal harmonization.
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The World Bank urged countries along the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor to adopt a single digital corridor system for transport, transit, and trade data.
At the B5+1 Cycle III roundtable “Integration of Central Asian Countries into the Digital Agenda” in Astana, participants presented a draft agreement to make the five Central Asian states’ digital systems interoperable while retaining national sovereignty. They also presented an advisory regional AI ethics code addressing human oversight, transparency, harmful manipulation, discrimination, unlawful data use, and fraudulent synthetic content; the proposals are intended to inform the 2027 B5+1 Regional Business Agenda.
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