A concert can fill a venue, but some concerts can do more. If a global cultural figure such as Dimash Qudaibergen were to take the stage in Jakarta, the opportunity for Kazakhstan could extend well beyond the venue itself.
Imbuh Sulistyarini. Photo credit: personal archive
Dimash has an international audience that crosses borders. Bringing him to Jakarta can connect that global audience with Indonesia, while creating a meeting point for Dears from different countries. For some of these audiences, Jakarta may be more than a concert destination: it can become their first meaningful encounter with Indonesia—and, through Dimash, with Kazakhstan.
That is what makes the Jakarta opportunity interesting for Kazakhstan. It is not simply about bringing an artist to Indonesia, but about leveraging the attention around him to create new connections with Kazakhstan’s culture, tourism and wider economic opportunities.
The strategic question is not how many people will attend the concert, but what Kazakhstan can build around the attention it creates—and what Indonesia can enable beyond the concert itself.
The platform and its ecosystem
As a platform, Indonesia is particularly relevant because of the scale of its domestic market and its regional connections. It provides access to a large population and a network of audiences, businesses and institutions, while Jakarta offers an entry point to Southeast Asia.
Indonesia also has an established MICE and international events ecosystem, with capacity to host major international artists in stadiums of up to 80,000 people. Its MICE infrastructure and supporting services can accommodate audiences from different countries and turn an international concert into a broader experience.
Within this ecosystem, Dimash provides the central attraction and brings an established international audience. Kazakhstan’s public and cultural institutions can use the attention to introduce the country, while businesses and creative industries can explore opportunities beyond the performance.
The opportunity is not to turn the concert into a trade fair, but to be present when attention is concentrated. Dimash creates the attention, Indonesia provides the platform, and the ecosystem around the concert can determine how far that opportunity travels.
More than a stage: Indonesia as a destination
For an international audience, travelling to Indonesia can become part of the concert experience. Its diverse destinations and experiences allow Dears to combine the concert with more than the performance. The platform therefore extends beyond the venue—from travel and accommodation to experiencing Indonesia.
For Kazakhstan, this creates an opportunity. Indonesia hosts the concert and provides the destination ecosystem around it, making it easier and more appealing for international Dears to travel to see Dimash. Dimash gives people a reason to come; Indonesia gives them reasons to stay and explore.
What Kazakhstan can leverage
Dimash gives Kazakhstan something it cannot easily create: a human connection with an international audience. A Jakarta performance can provide an organic entry point for Kazakhstan’s culture and identity, making the country more visible through his music and artistic expression. The opportunity is not to turn the concert into a diplomatic event, but to use the attention it creates as an entry point for greater visibility and access to Kazakhstan.
The connection can work in both directions. For Indonesian audiences, Kazakhstan offers something distinctive: a four-season destination within Asia. In a tropical country accustomed to two seasons, mountains, snow and winter landscapes have traditionally been associated with Europe. Kazakhstan offers a different possibility—an experience that feels culturally distinctive and closer to home.
Kazakhstan has been gaining attention among Indonesian travellers, with its visa-free access and distinctive seasonal, cultural and historical attractions drawing interest from the travel industry. In December 2025, the Kazakhstan Embassy in Jakarta and ASITA brought together more than 40 Indonesian travel companies, airlines and business representatives to explore ways to increase tourist flows to Kazakhstan.
Dimash could add another layer to this emerging connection. He can introduce Kazakhstan to more Indonesian audiences through a cultural relationship they already understand, while the country offers something different from the Indonesia they know.
The opportunity extends beyond tourism. Kazakhstan can introduce its contemporary identity through its creative and cultural industries. The international audience surrounding the event can also create space for cultural exchange and new connections between the two countries.
Finally, Jakarta offers Kazakhstan a way to extend its reach beyond the Indonesian market. As a major regional centre, it brings together audiences and stakeholders from across the region. A cultural presence in Jakarta can therefore give Kazakhstan wider regional visibility and create connections beyond Indonesia.
The strategic value of Indonesia is that it can provide a platform from which Kazakhstan can extend cultural visibility, tourism interest, creative connections and regional engagement.
These opportunities, however, depend not only on what Kazakhstan can leverage, but also on how Dimash and his management build a lasting connection with the Indonesian audience.
An investment in the Indonesian market
For Dimash and his management, Indonesia is not simply an established market. Building a stronger presence in a country of Indonesia’s scale requires an investment in audience development.
That investment should not be measured only by the immediate return from one concert. A major presence can introduce Dimash to audiences who may not yet know him while mobilising the existing international community. By connecting with Indonesian artists, influencers and other local voices with established audiences, Dimash and his management can strengthen their initial presence in the Indonesian market.
The event can therefore serve not only as a performance but as a starting point for building a stronger, longer-term relationship with the Indonesian audience. This is ultimately why bringing Dimash to Jakarta matters: the value of the opportunity lies not only in the concert itself, but in the platform that the concert can activate.
The value lies in what happens around the stage: new audiences discovering Kazakhstan, international Dears experiencing Indonesia, cultural and economic connections being created, and new regional connections. Dimash can open the door, but Kazakhstan can decide what lies beyond it. The concert may last one night. The connections created through the platform can travel much further.
The author is Imbuh Sulistyarini, a lecturer at the Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia (FEB UI).
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Astana Times.
