Previously called the Astana Economic Forum, it has been organized by the Government of Kazakhstan since 2008.

[1][2] The name change reflects the broader range of topics discussed at the forum, such as climate, food and energy security and is intended to draw of attendees from around the world.

A meeting is held each year in Astana in which more than eight thousand delegates from one hundred countries are brought together: they include chief executive officers, politicians, journalists, scientists and Nobel Prize laureates.

[4] The Astana International Forum traces its roots to a proposal for a series of Eurasian integration initiatives made in a 1994 speech at Moscow State University by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

In June 2007, Nazarbayev suggested creating a Eurasian Club of Scientists to help with the economic integration of the Eurasian community and to develop international economic cooperation.