The paper sheds a light on the interconnections between touristic sector development and regional development in Kazakhstan. The paper covers analysis of the current competitiveness of the touristic destinations in Kazakhstan. Based on qualitative and quantitative research, the study shows that there is a huge need for a transformation in marketing communications tools in order to increase the competitiveness and image of Kazakhstani tourism. The study provides potential scenarios and solutions to increase touristic attractiveness, which would lead to enticing more investors and increase tourism capacity and potential. Also, the paper provides insights in ecotourism and the regional economy by outlining the older and newer managerial and governmental approaches in supporting the entire tourism sector in Kazakhstan.

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues is a peer-reviewed journal which publishes original research papers and case studies

We explore the issues of the real sector’s influence on the dynamics of post-industrial services (information, computer, scientific and technical research). Using a multifactorial correlation-regression model, we have obtained the results of the significance of the process and product innovation costs in mining and manufacturing industries on the volume of production in post-industrial services. This allowed the authors to conclude about the genesis of the process of industry digitalization in the basic sectors of Kazakhstan’s economy. Forecasting output volumes in the medium term gives reason to talk about positive dynamics of 4-5% in the post-industrial services sector. According to the authors, the revealed connection with industry requires development of professional standards for new specialties in the convergence of industrial and digital technologies. The following paper looks into two cases of professional standards that will be in demand in the mining and metallurgy in the medium term: designer constructor of industrial space refabrication and big data systems manager designer for metallurgy and mining. Digitalization of Kazakhstan’s industry requires introduction of fundamental changes in higher educational programs to ensure the interface between the classical technical, economic, and informational components of curricula using the dual teaching method.

The sectoral approach has traditionally served as the principal tool for analyzing regional specialization; however, it does not reveal the functional content of employment or the distribution of tasks within economic activities. This article assesses the degree of correspondence between the functional structure of employment and the sectoral structure of output across 17 harmonized regions of Kazakhstan, a resource-dependent post-Soviet economy, over the period 2019–2024. Regional functional profiles are constructed within the task-based framework and comprise four aggregate task categories: non-routine cognitive (NRC), routine cognitive (RC), routine manual (RM), and non-routine manual (NRM). The sectoral structure is represented by the distribution of nominal output across 47 sectors. Inter-regional differences are measured using Jensen–Shannon distance. The empirical analysis is conducted on a dyadic panel of 816 observations, controlling for region size, urbanization, gross regional product per capita, extractive specialization, geographic distance, and time effects. Primary statistical inference relies on the Freedman–Lane permutation procedure within multiple regression quadratic assignment procedure (MRQAP). The results indicate a positive but moderate association between the two structures. The standardized coefficient on functional distance is 0.300 (MRQAP p = 0.001). Including the task variable raises R² by 5.5 percentage points. The finding remains robust under most alternative distance metrics, different sets of control variables, and sequential exclusion of individual regions. However, the association weakens noticeably when the three largest cities—concentrating a substantial share of non-routine cognitive tasks—are excluded simultaneously. Within-region estimates of correspondence for 2019–2024 are considerably less precise. Pair fixed-effects models and correlations based on net change and cumulative path length do not reveal a systematic contemporaneous relationship between changes in functional and sectoral structures over the observed period. The six-year observation window does not allow the longer-term pattern of their coevolution or possible lagged adjustment to be determined. Overall, functional and sectoral structures are related but not interchangeable. The results provide statistically supported evidence of a positive inter-regional association, although its strength varies by distance metrics and regional subsamples. For regional policy, the findings underscore the value of combining sectoral specialization indicators with information on the characteristics of jobs and accumulated labor competencies.

In our research, we assess the mechanisms of targeted social assistance in Kazakhstan based on the processing of the results of a social poll of civil servants accepting applications for payments, using the Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS-PM). The model allows building complex multidimensional relationships between observed and latent variables. We established a relationship between a set of indicators of the system’s effectiveness as a dependent variable, and factors of direct influence, methods and tools for ensuring targeting as independent variables. A number of problems in the current system of targeted social assistance were identified, concerning its target guidelines, the balance of benefits and obligations, the institutional environment, and specific recommendations for overcoming them were prepared.