Central Asia Regional Women's Economic Empowerment Working Group in Geneva

Geneva, 7 December 2023 – Central Asia Regional Women's Economic Empowerment Working Group met at the annual E-Week at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The event was initiated by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Commercial Law Development Program in coordination with the Executive Office of the President, United States Trade Representative.

As part of the U.S.-Central Asia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), the Working Group works to advance women's economic empowerment in Central Asia by increasing regional cooperation between women entrepreneurs and businesses, identifying regulatory and financial barriers to women's full participation in trade and economic activities, and developing practical recommendations for consideration by governments to advance these issues in the region.

Zhanar Aitzhan, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the WTO and International Economic Organisations, shared with the event participants the development and promotion of legislative and practical measures in the field of e-commerce in Kazakhstan, including programmes to support women's participation in the digital economy.

PR Zhanar Aitzhan noted that the e-commerce market in Kazakhstan continues to grow rapidly. Thus, in 2022, almost 50 million online purchases were made in Kazakhstan. The volume of e-commerce in the country increased by 30% and reached 1.3 trillion tenge, which is 8.2% of the total retail trade turnover. This was made possible, among other things, due to the high level of digitalisation in Kazakhstan.

At the same time, the Permanent Representative emphasised that today women make a great contribution to the economy of Kazakhstan, including actively participating in the development of entrepreneurship. There are 4.3 million employed women in Kazakhstan, which is 48 per cent of the total employed population, of whom 35 per cent work in trade and services.

In order to promote the digital agenda, Kazakhstan cooperates with leading international organisations in the field of trade facilitation. Thanks to this cooperation, the project of the International Trade Centre "Ready4Trade-Central Asia" has been implemented in Kazakhstan in recent years.

One of the main objectives of the project is to improve cross-border e-commerce and increase the capacity of women entrepreneurs. Thus, one of the project components is "Enhancing the readiness of Central Asian women entrepreneurs for cross-border e-commerce". Kazakhstani women entrepreneurs received training on e-commerce, as well as individual counselling. In particular, the project promotes textile and garment artisans of Kazakhstan on various international trading platforms such as eBay, Alibaba, Etsy, NOVICA and others. 30 of the participating companies have completed the entire cycle of the 18-month programme and have collectively reported online sales of about $500,000. In addition, 30 of the participating companies have completed the entire 18-month programme cycle and collectively reported online sales of approximately $500,000 since joining the programme and opening or improving their online channels.

The Permanent Representative also informed that Kazakhstan is participating in the ongoing negotiations in the WTO on the development of e-commerce.

90 WTO Members are currently negotiating trade-related aspects of e-commerce with the aim of enhancing the benefits of e-commerce for businesses, consumers and the global economy. The negotiations aim to create a framework of rules for e-commerce in goods and services, promoting a more harmonised and inclusive approach to e-commerce globally.