Over 55 thousand Kazakhstanis registered on Wildberries - Ministry of Trade
In Kazakhstan, the share of e-commerce for 11 months of 2023 reached about 2.2 trln tenge, or 13% of retail sales. This was announced at a weekly meeting of the Government by the Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Arman Shakkaliev, El.kz reports with reference to the press service of the ministry.
For comparison, in 2022, the volume of e-commerce was 12.5%, which is slightly more than 1.9 bln tenge. The main goods that Kazakhstanis most often bought on Internet platforms were household goods, clothing and footwear, food, cosmetics and medicines.
At the same time, the e-commerce market for services at the end of 2022 amounted to almost 1.2 bln tenge, of which 50.3% or 596.8 bln tenge accounted for passenger transportation services.
As Arman Shakkaliev noted, the Ministry of Trade and Integration is faced with the task of bringing the share of e-commerce to 20% by 2030. In this regard, the Action Plan for the Development of Electronic Commerce until 2025 was approved. To ensure the protection of consumer rights in the field of e-commerce, amendments have been developed, which, within the framework of the Draft Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights, are being considered in the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
"In particular, special sections for Kazakh products have been created on some electronic trading platforms, priority is given in displaying search results for Kazakh goods. National pavilions have been opened on large Chinese marketplaces Alibaba and JD.com. Today, 7,500 domestic products are presented on the Alibaba platform, JD.com there are about 30 items of Kazakh products, which are in demand among 1 million subscribers of the marketplace from China,"
As of December 2023, the volume of sales of Kazakh products through JD.com exceeded 140 thousand dollars
There are also the largest Russian online trading platforms in Kazakhstan - Ozon and Wildberries. At the end of 2023, 45,400 and 55,704 Kazakh sellers were registered on these platforms, respectively.
Arman Shakkaliev recalled that since January 1 last year, the so-called Google tax (import tax) has been introduced for foreign companies selling goods online for the provision of services in electronic form to individuals. As a result, in 2023, 60 foreign companies underwent conditional registration in Kazakhstan, and the amount of taxes paid by them for two years amounted to 34.8 billion tenge (2022 – 16.4 billion tenge, 2023 – 18.4 billion tenge).
One of the conditions for the development of e-commerce is the availability of warehouse and logistics infrastructure.
"As part of the execution of the instructions of the Head of State by the end of 2024, it is planned, together with the Chinese side, to work out the issue of creating a regional warehouse infrastructure in Kazakhstan to stimulate cross-border e-commerce. The development of fulfillment centers and a network of bonded warehouses in the cities of Aktobe and Aktau will also continue," Arman Shakkaliev shared his plans.
According to the minister, Kazakhstan plans to increase the volume of trade with other countries through electronic sales channels by $100 million annually. To this end, the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan intends to discuss with partners from Central Asia the opening of a joint pavilion on world marketplaces, for example, the goods of artisans of the region can be presented under the brand "Nomads of Central Asia".
To provide comprehensive state support to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, e-commerce training centers will be opened in all regions together with the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs. Today, such centers operate only in four regions of the country.
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