Аңдатпа
The rapid expansion of digital platforms, financial technologies, mobile payments, and e-commerce has transformed entrepreneurship, employment, and regional economic development. As digitalization accelerates, understanding how platform economies contribute to sustainable development has become increasingly important, particularly in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals related to economic growth, innovation, and decent work. This study investigates the impact of digital platforms and digital financial technologies on regional entrepreneurship and employment in Kazakhstan and evaluates their contribution to sustainable development. The study employs annual time-series data for Kazakhstan covering the period 2014–2025, using indicators of internet penetration, digital literacy, cashless payments, mobile and QR payments, e-commerce, digital government services, and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) activity. The methodological framework integrates economic-statistical analysis, comparative analysis, correlation and regression analysis, and the construction of an Integrated Digitalization Index (IDIG) to examine the relationships between digitalization and entrepreneurial development. The results reveal a strong positive association between digitalization and economic performance. The correlation coefficients between mobile payments and GDP, and between QR payments and GDP, were 0.954 and 0.936, respectively, while the regression model explained 91.9% of the variation in GDP (R² = 0.919). Mobile payment expansion showed a strong positive effect on GDP (β = 161.453), whereas the negative QR coefficient reflected statistical multicollinearity rather than an adverse economic effect. The IDIG increased from −1.56 in 2018 to 1.12 in 2025, while the number of active SMEs rose from 1.355 million to 2.176 million. These findings demonstrate that digital platforms and digital financial services are strongly associated with entrepreneurship growth, business digitalization, platform-based employment, and sustainable regional economic development in Kazakhstan.