Support for small and medium-sized businesses on the agenda of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the International Trade Center

Geneva, September 15, 2023 – Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the WTO and International Economic Organizations Zhanar Aitzhan, during a meeting with the Executive Director of the International Trade Center (hereinafter referred to as ITC) Pamela Coke-Hamilton, reported on the priorities of Kazakhstan in the field of new economic policy, noted in the President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev`s State of the Nation Address on September 1, 2023. In particular, in the field of development of trade and domestic industry, the President focused on systemic support for entrepreneurship and emphasized that foreign and domestic investments in the manufacturing sectors of the economy will be exempt from taxes and other mandatory payments in the first three years. At the same time, the economy of Kazakhstan will remain open to the world and take into account the interests of business.

According to the President's Address, when providing financial support, the state will give priority to competitive small and medium-sized enterprises. In this regard, the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan noted that cooperation with ITC within the framework of the Ready4Trade Central Asia project contributes to the implementation of the tasks set in the President’s address on the development of small and medium-sized businesses (hereinafter referred to as SMEs).

The head of ITC said that as a result of the project to support SMEs in their e-commerce activities, more than 40 Kazakh enterprises made online sales of approximately US$500,000 in 2022, and these numbers continue to grow. These achievements are especially noteworthy for micro-manufacturers who joined the project with limited digital skills and online sales experience.

Ms. P. Coke-Hamilton also noted that ITC, together with QazTrade, successfully launched the Kazakhstan Trade Portal, which provides easy access to information on cross-border trade procedures for more than 40 product groups, and since its launch it has been visited by more than 4,000 users.

The Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan also informed that the Head of State in his Address, outlined the key role of the Trans-Caspian route for strengthening the transport and logistics potential of Kazakhstan, and set the task of strengthening the country’s position as a transit hub in Eurasia. In response, Executive Director P. Coke-Hamilton expressed ITC's readiness to provide technical assistance on trade facilitation issues as part of the development of the Middle Corridor transport route.

In conclusion of the meeting, Permanent Representative Zh. Aitzhan thanked ITC experts for developing recommendations for improving national legislation in the field of electronic commerce, which were presented to the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan within the framework of the Ready4Trade Central Asia project.

Kazakhstan will continue to collaborate with ITC to promote more efficient and inclusive trade in the region and beyond, and achieve concrete results in the coming years.