Government spending on culture in Kyrgyzstan has risen to $105 million

Over the past three years, government spending on culture in Kyrgyzstan has more than tripled – from $32 million to $105 million. This was announced by the Prime Minister, Adylbek Kasymaliev, during an international conference on the development of cultural ties and creative industries in St Petersburg.

According to him, culture and the creative industries are now becoming not only part of cultural policy, but also a key factor in economic development, the strengthening of national identity and enhancing the country’s competitiveness.

Kasymaliev noted that, alongside the increase in funding, the salaries of cultural workers have risen by 100 per cent. Furthermore, the development of the creative economy continues across the country. In particular, the law ‘On the Creative Industries Park’ was adopted in 2022; residents of the park pay a flat-rate tax of 1 per cent of their turnover. There are currently 165 registered residents in the park.

The Prime Minister emphasised that the creative industries make it possible to transform cultural heritage into a fully-fledged sector of the economy, create jobs for young people and develop the export of intellectual products.

He also drew attention to the need to develop a unified approach to the regulation of artificial intelligence. According to him, the rapid development of technology is creating new challenges in the field of copyright and intellectual property protection, which requires joint solutions across the Eurasian region.

Kasymaliev also proposed using the opportunities offered by the digital environment to promote the upcoming 100th anniversary of Chingiz Aitmatov and the 200th anniversary of Leo Tolstoy amongst the younger generation.