Abstract. In this paper, the role of the higher education in the regional development and competiveness is analysed on the case of Kazakhstan as a country of Central Asian region. The goal of the research is to investigate the influence of higher education on the global and regional competitiveness, basing on the case study of Kazakhstan and as the country of the region of Central Asia. Since there is no unified approach how to measure the impact of higher education on the competitiveness of the country and regional level, the goal of this research is also to contribute in building a theoretical framework for the assessment of the influence of higher education on the competitiveness. The comparative study of the higher education and innovation indicators, using the framework of the Global Competitiveness Index, in performed for Kazakhstan in comparison with other Central Asia countries. In parallel, we discuss the influence of higher education reforms in Kazakhstan after joining the Bologna process on. Basing on our research, we can conclude that the reforms in higher education sector in Kazakhstan including the fast introduction the Bologna principles, as well as other government policy initiatives positively influenced the competitiveness of the Kazakhstan, giving the highest place in GCI among the Central Asian countries and leading to the entrance of 6 Kazakhstani universities in the first 1000 best universities worldwide according to the QS World University Ranking. In parallel, the recommendations for further development of the higher education sector are given. Key findings are relevant to the policy makers and managers for designing the development strategies for rising the competitiveness. For policy makers, the authors advise to use wider range of indictors. The indicators used in CGI for measuring impact of higher education on the competitiveness should be complemented with other indicators like employability or those indicators applied in university rankings. The influence of the reforms of the Bologna process on the global competitiveness needs further investigation.