E-Commerce in Kazakhstan on the wave of growth
On July 2, 2021, was held an online session dedicated to e-commerce with key industry players as part of the international conference Astana Finance Days (AFD).
The session participants noted that today Kazakhstan is on the verge of a boom in the e-commerce sphere. In 2020, many SMEs went online for the first time, and more experienced online sellers expanded their sales channels by placing them on marketplaces. As a result, last year became a record for the sites both in terms of turnover and growth in the number of sellers. According to PwC Kazakhstan research, the volume of the retail e-commerce market in Kazakhstan grew by 93% in the first 9 months of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019 – from 198 billion tenge to 382 billion tenge. The average receipt in tenge increased by 63% and the number of transactions by 18%.
The session was attended by representatives of key industry players: Assel Zhanassova, Vice-Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan (MTI RK), Natalya Lim Natalya Lim, PwC Partner for consulting services in the Eurasia region, Rafal Trepka, General Director of Mastercard in Central Asia, Alexey Dukhanin, Director for International Cooperation of Wildberries, Molder Ryssalieva,General Manager of Lamoda Kazakhstan, Rula Raim, General Manager of Froot.kz and Dmitry Komissar, General Manager, Forte Market, discussed the government’s priorities in the framework of e-commerce support and development, shared the latest trends in online payments, talked about the work of local and international marketplaces in the market, what challenges they face, and also discussed the future that awaits e-commerce in Kazakhstan.
Assel Zhanassova, Vice Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, also announced a plan to launch the SmartDuken platform (e-commerce school for SMEs) in partnership with Mastercard and the AIFC Fintech Hub. SmartDuken is a platform that will help entrepreneurs create, develop, and scale their businesses online. The platform will focus on providing free support and assistance to SMEs, will include free online educational courses, webinars, free partner offers (IT tools, CRM, payment systems, website builders, etc.), as well as business acceleration for SMEs who want to move their business online and scale it to new markets. The purpose of the platform is to conduct a practical way of digitalization of business from start to finish together with the participation of international partners and train SME participants to work online.
Reference Information:
The Astana International Financial Centre was established on the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev within the framework of the Plan of the Nation “100 Steps to Implement Five Institutional Reforms”.
On July 2, 2020, within the framework of the meeting of the AIFC Management Council, the Development Strategy of the Centre until 2025 was adopted.
In accordance with it, the vision of the AIFC is to become a leading international financial centre in the region, including Central Asia, the Caucasus, the EAEU countries, Western China, Mongolia and Eastern Europe.
The mission of the AIFC is to promote sustainable long-term development of the region. As the Head of State K. Tokayev noted, “The AIFC with its unique capabilities can act as a universal platform connecting the countries of the region.”
Strategic directions for sustainable development of the AIFC include the development of a circular economy, financial technology and a “digital financial centre”.
The Fintech Hub AIFC is a meeting point for global startups, entrepreneurs, corporations, investors, leading industry experts and specialists. The development of fintech at the AIFC includes programs to support startups, corporate innovations, the venture capital market, specially developed rules and a regulator that allow testing products and solutions in the field of fintech.
Astana Finance Days (AFD) is one of the largest financial conferences in the region annually hosted by the Astana International Financial Centre. Over 2018-2020, the AFD attracted over 13,000 participants from 100 countries of the world. In 2020, the conference had a significant attendance with more than 5,000 registered participants from over 100 countries.
